Open Cloud Reference Architecture

The OpenNebula Open Cloud Reference Architecture White Paper is a blueprint to guide IT architects, consultants, administrators, and field practitioners in the design and deployment of public and private clouds fully based on open-source platforms and technologies.

It has been created from the collective information and experiences from hundreds of users and cloud client engagements.

Besides main logical components and interrelationships, this reference documents software products, configurations, and requirements of infrastructure platforms recommended for a smooth OpenNebula installation. Three optional functionalities complete the architecture: high availability, cloud bursting for workload outsourcing, and a federation of geographically dispersed data centers.

The Open Cloud Reference Architecture White Paper describes the reference architecture for Basic (small to medium-scale) and Advanced (medium to large-scale) OpenNebula Clouds and provides recommended software for main architectural components and the rationale behind them.

Each section also provides information about other open-source infrastructure platforms tested and certified by OpenNebula to work in enterprise environments. To complement these certified components, the OpenNebula add-on catalog can be browsed for other options supported by the community and partners.

To complement these certified components, the OpenNebula add-on catalog can be browsed for other options supported by the community and partners. Moreover, there are other components in the open cloud ecosystem that are not part of the reference architecture, but are nonetheless important to consider at the time of designing a cloud, like for example Configuration Management and Automation Tools for configuring cloud infrastructure and manage large number of devices.