Provides network-connectivity-as-a-service between interface devices that are managed by other OpenStack services, usually Compute. Enables users to create and attach interfaces to networks. Like many OpenStack services, OpenStack Networking is highly configurable due to its plug-in architecture. These plug-ins accommodate different networking equipment and software. Consequently, the architecture and deployment vary dramatically.
Includes the following components:
neutron-server. Accepts and routes API requests to the appropriate OpenStack Networking plug-in for action.OpenStack Networking plug-ins and agents. Plugs and unplugs ports, creates networks or subnets, and provides IP addressing. These plug-ins and agents differ depending on the vendor and technologies used in the particular cloud. OpenStack Networking ships with plug-ins and agents for Cisco virtual and physical switches, NEC OpenFlow products, Open vSwitch, Linux bridging, Ryu Network Operating System, and the VMware NSX product.
The common agents are L3 (layer 3), DHCP (dynamic host IP addressing), and a plug-in agent.
Messaging queue. Most OpenStack Networking installations make use of a messaging queue to route information between the neutron-server and various agents as well as a database to store networking state for particular plug-ins.
OpenStack Networking interacts mainly with OpenStack Compute, where it provides networks and connectivity for its instances.
