Monday, October 20, 2014

OpenStack Juno Debuts with 342 New Features

Last week, the OpenStack Foundation  released the tenth version of its open source software for building public, private, and hybrid clouds.

OpenStack Juno boasts 342 new features to support software development, big data analysis and application infrastructure at scale. It also makes 3,219 bug fixes, signaling a continuing maturation of the software as the most widely-supported cloud platform. A total of 1,419 individuals employed by more than 133 organizations contributed to the Juno release. Top companies contributing code to the Juno release were Red Hat, HP, IBM, Mirantis, Rackspace, SUSE, OpenStack Foundation, B1 Systems, VMware, NEC and independents.

OpenStack Juno adds a new data processing service to the existing suite of cloud capabilities, including Compute, Object and Block Storage, Networking, Orchestration, Identity and Database Services. All services are available through open APIs and a web-based Dashboard. OpenStack Juno also brings NFV-specific capabilities for the first time.

Some new Juno Features:

  • OpenStack Compute (Nova): Operational updates to Compute include improvements for rescue mode that enable booting from alternate images with the attachment of all local disks. Also, per-network settings are now allowed by improved nova-network code; scheduling updates to support scheduling services and extensibility; and internationalization updates.
  • OpenStack Networking (Neutron): Neutron features support for IPv6 and better third-party driver testing to ensure consistency and reliability across network implementations. Release enables plug-ins for the back-end implementation of the OpenStack Networking API and blazes an initial path for migration from nova-network to Neutron. Supporting Layer 3 High Availability, the networking layer now allows a distributed operational mode.
  • OpenStack Identity Service (Keystone): Federated authentication improvements allow users to access private and public OpenStack clouds with the same credentials. Keystone can be configured to use multiple identity backends, and integration with LDAP is much easier.
  • OpenStack Orchestration (Heat): In Juno, it is easier to roll back a failed deployment and ensure thorough cleanup. Also, administrators can delegate resource creation privileges to non-administrative users.
  • OpenStack Dashboard (Horizon): Apache Hadoop clusters can now be deployed with a few mouse clicks, giving users the ability to rapidly scale data processing based on custom parameters. The RBAC system is extended to support Compute, Networking and Orchestration.
  • OpenStack Database Service (Trove): A new capability included in Juno allows users to manage relational database services in an OpenStack environment. 

The next release of OpenStack, called Kilo, is expected April 30, 2015. New capabilities in the Kilo release will include a fully integrated Bare Metal provisioning service (code-named Ironic), which is currently available for users via a Compute driver.

http://www.openstack.org/software/juno/

  • In September, The OpenDaylight Project, which is the community-led and industry-supported open source platform to advance SDN and NFV, officially released Helium, its second generation open source software code.
    Helium features 11 new protocols, applications and technologies for creating interoperability across software-defined networks.
Some highlights:


  • A new user interface provides a much simpler and customizable installation process.
  • The use of the Apache Karaf containers enables users to build on-demand combinations of components and features.
  • Deeper integration with OpenStack, including significant improvements in the Open vSwitch Database Integration project. 
  • A technology preview of advanced OpenStack shoes features such as Security Groups, Distributed Virtual Router and Load Balancing-as-a-Service.
  • Improvements in high availability, clustering and security.
  • Strengthening and adding new protocols like OpenFlow Table Type Patterns, PacketCable MultiMedia, an application policy framework.
  • New tools for Service Function Chaining.
The OpenDaylight Project also confirmed that over a dozen vendors are building their controllers on top of OpenDaylight,.