HP Helion OpenStack Deployment on HP BladeSystem Blades

    In a previous post, we talked about the HP Helion Rack turnkey solution for building a private cloud based on HP Helion OpenStack software and HP ProLiant DL360 / DL380 Gen9 rack servers. HP also offers other options for implementing HP Helion OpenStack, depending on the needs of the customer and the level of qualification of his IT staff, including self-deployment of the cloud on the HP BladeSystem blade servers using HP-prepared reference configurations. But before describing the installation process of HP Helion OpenStack on blades, it’s worthwhile to talk about the deployment architecture of this software package itself.



    HP Helion OpenStack Deployment Architecture


    To simplify the deployment process, HP Helion OpenStack includes several ready-to-use OpenStack services software images that are installed on servers designed to serve the cloud. These images are automatically deployed when you install HP Helion OpenStack using TripleO services.

    TripleO uses the concept of deploying a starting instance of OpenStack, which is then used to install and configure the entire HP Helion OpenStack cloud infrastructure used by end users. This starter dungeon called "the cloud» (undercloud) and its main purpose - to prepare the deployment of productive, or high cloud (overcloud), then undercloud used only to administer overcloud, in which all end-user applications are:


    Model deployment HP Helion OpenStack

    For The HP Helion OpenStack installation starts the installation process using the Seed VM, a seed virtual machine, deployed on the KVM node (currently the Ubuntu 13.10 and 14.04LTS operating systems are certified for the KVM node of the start VM).

    When the Seed VM host virtual machine is installed and booted, an undercloud instance is deployed with it. Undercloud you need to provide a description of the hardware allocated for the cloud and the required overcloud configuration, on the basis of which the overcloud controllers and necessary services will be deployed (for example, Swift, nodes of the software-defined storage system VSA Cinder and computing nodes KVM).

    Overcloud


    Overcloud is a productive cloud in which end users request and receive services. It is deployed on dedicated servers and in a minimal configuration consists of:

    • Three cloud controllers, which are deployed on separate physical servers for high availability and assembled into a failover cluster with data replication and implementation of active failover.

    • Swift startup failover cluster deployed on two physical servers. The Swift cluster is used by the Glance service for storing images and instant snapshots of instances, for backing up user virtual machines, and also provides the ability to organize a horizontally scalable object data warehouse.

    • One or more KVM computing servers or existing VMware ESXi clusters used to host user-defined virtual machines requested in the cloud.

    Depending on the tasks of a particular implementation, options may also be included in the cloud:

    • A horizontally scalable Swift Scale-Out cluster for organizing a large object storage (currently the maximum size is 0.5 Pbytes).

    • Cinder block storage based on StoreVirtual VSA software-defined storage systems (for high availability, you can use two- and three-node VSA clusters). StoreVirtual VSA storage systems are deployed on ProLiant servers and combine their internal drives into a single disk pool.

    • Cinder high-performance block storage based on the HP 3PAR disk array, which can be shared with other Helion OpenStack instances. (To implement Cinder block storage, you need VSA, HP 3PAR, HP P4000, or Ceph.)

    Overcloud configuration (clickable): The top cloud controllers run the main HP Helion OpenStack services: Nova, Keystone, Glance, Cinder, Heat, Neutron, Ceilometer and Horizon.





    Undercloud


    Undercloud is deployed on one physical server, and only the cloud administrator has access to it. Among its functions are the provision of DHCP services and network boot for overcloud controllers, monitoring and recording of overcloud events, as well as its updating.

    Start VM


    The Seed VM runs the seed helper software included with the HP Helion OpenStack to deploy the HP Helion OpenStack cloud environment. Also included in the package of HP Helion OpenStack are scripts for creating a starting VM on the KVM node.

    Also, the starting VM executes scripts for backup and recovery of HP Helion OpenStack management servers, therefore, for storing backup copies of images, at least 1 TB of disk capacity is required.

    HP Helion OpenStack Deployment Example on HP BladeSystem with HP Blade Servers HP BL460c Gen9


    In this example, the HP BladeSystem server blades are used to deploy the HP Helion OpenStack Universal Start Cloud. The storage system uses the HP 3PAR 7400 disk array, which is connected to the HP BladeSystem chassis using a Fiber Channel switch and Virtual Connect modules installed in the chassis.

    BL460c Gen9 half-height blades are used to host computing nodes and manage cloud infrastructure. The HP BladeSystem c7000 chassis accommodates 16 such blades, and nine compute nodes are required to deploy the entire HP Helion OpenStack cloud. Thus, a single c7000 chassis is enough to deploy the cloud. Blades download over the network from 3PAR drives.

    This configuration includes the initial Swift infrastructure, which is deployed on two BL460c Gen9 blades. The Swift service is mainly used for storing Glance images, snapshots, Content Delivery Network (CODN) updates, and Cinder backups.

    The main components of this HP Helion OpenStack configuration on the BL460c Gen9 blades are shown in the table:
    Blade designationNumber of bladesCPUMemoryStorage systemNetwork connections
    Seed VM host11 x 6 Core 2.4Ghz Intel Xeon16GB SAN Download: 2TB LUN at 3PAR 10Gb FlexFabric LOM
    Top cloud controller12 x 6 Core 2.4Ghz Intel Xeon64GBSAN Download: 2TB LUN at 3PAR10Gb FlexFabric LOM
    Lower cloud controller32 x 12 Core 2.6Ghz Intel Xeon64GBSAN Download: 2TB LUN at 3PAR10Gb FlexFabric LOM
    Starter swift22 x 6 Core 2.4Ghz Intel Xeon32GBSAN Download: 4TB LUN at 3PAR10Gb FlexFabric LOM
    KVM Compute1 - 1002 x 14 Core 2.6Ghz Intel XeonFrom 384GBSAN Download: 4TB LUN at 3PAR10Gb FlexFabric LOM
    In addition to the blades, cloud infrastructure maintenance requires one to seven c7000 chassis depending on the size of the system, two 48-port SAN switches and an HP 3PAR 7400 disk array with four controller nodes. In the recommended starting configuration, it is recommended to use an array with 72 10K disks of 1.2 TB each and 24 7.2RPM disks of 1 TB each.

    The following is the layout of the components of the HP Helion OpenStack start configuration on the HP BladeSystem c7000 blade system:


    The HP Helion OpenStack start configuration on the HP BladeSystem c7000 blade system

    Thank you for your attention! Ready to answer your questions in the comments.

    Our previous publications:
    » HP Helion Rack - solution for rapid deployment of a private cloud based on OpenStack
    »HP OpenStack Helion - first acquaintance
    » the HP StormRunner the Load. A practical guide. Part II
    » HP StormRunner Load. A practical guide. Part I
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    » Cost-effective HP servers for SMB and providers
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    » HP MSA disk arrays as the basis for data consolidation
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