Essay Sample on OpenStack: Cloud Computing Deployment & Management Made Easy

Introduction

OpenStack is a set of software tools intended for the development and management of cloud computing boards for the private and public cloud. It enables the users to deploy virtual machines and other instances that deal with different tasks for the management of a cloud setting on the fly. Also, OpenStack makes horizontal scaling straightforward, meaning that functions that gain from operating concurrently can serve more efficiently or even a few users on the fly by revolving up more illustrations. An example is where a mobile application that requires communicating with a remote server might be able to divide the work of communicating with every user across numerous different instances. As such, they will all be communicating with one another but mounting effortlessly and quickly as more users are gained on the application (Berezin, 2015). On the other hand, there is another cloud platform referred to as Ubuntu and the most popular in the world. It creates optimized and certified server images for partners such as Oracle, Amazon AWS, and IMB Cloud, among others. Ubuntu is secure, versatile, and has a policy of regular updates making it the leading cloud guest OS and the only unrestricted cloud operating system with the possibility of enterprise-grade viable support (Kouka, 2015).

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Strengths and Weaknesses of the Platforms

OpenStack

OpenStack has strengths and weaknesses that can be explored. One of the benefits of OpenStack is that it facilitates quick modernization. Its orchestration and even self-service competences offer the IT staff and creators the fastest and better contact to IT assets. Since developers can provide machines rapidly and even on-demand, they can fundamentally minimize development and testing durations. They also have more liberty to experiment with innovative philosophies. There is also the issue of reducing the time undertaken to market with OpenStack. When there is a faster disposition of IT resources, it denotes that business units and end-users do not have to wait for weeks or days to start utilizing the network services and applications that they need (Denton, 2016). Moreover, OpenStack promotes scalability and the utilization of the resource. It is not entirely scalable as public clouds. However, OpenStack can offer a vital scalability degree. One can still spin up and down the servers that are on demand. As such, when one department experiences a surge in demand for the computing resources, the IT resources may be redirected temporarily from other departments to where it is currently in demand (Albaroodi, Manickam & Bawa, 2014).

OpenStack also has other benefits to offer over public clouds and registered cloud resolutions. One of these is that it eases governing agreement. It enables the creation of private and on-premise clouds and can thus assist in the regulation of agreement activities. When one has a cloud in their data center, they will be able to exercise more regulation of contact rights, security strategies, and measure as well. Besides, one can take advantage of ensuring that the procedures for safeguarding individual and monetary facts as well as other confidential and regulated information are enforced instead of it just being put in writing (Denton, 2016).

The utilization of a proprietary solution offers one major problem, which is vendor lock-in. When one is dissatisfied with the vendor's services, or they close up their shop, then it is not easy to go to the next one. OpenStack backs a variety of exclusive technologies and can also function in a clutter of the hypervisor and simple metal settings. It can operate with commodity hardware and provides more flexibility in selecting resolutions based on a broader variety of proficiencies and expenditures (Albaroodi et al., 2014).

Weaknesses

OpenStack has certain limitations. One of these is the scarcity of talent. Initially, it appears to offer a cheaper alternative to the proprietary equivalents, but in actuality, that is not the situation. The ability pool for most of the open-source resolutions is relatively restricted. As such, the hourly degrees of the specialists in the field get to be advanced. Therefore, the amount that one may save on license fees will be offset by the professional expenses, mainly when one is operating a small business and lacks the needed talent in-house (Denton, 2016).

Additionally, OpenStack may take long to implement. It involves a steep learning curve and might take long before it can be fully implemented, which is a delay of processes. However, when it is available, then the support for a specific proprietary solution begins to decrease or even absolutely disappears (Albaroodi et al., 2014). As such, the pay scale of the engineers of that solution, and also the accompanying technologies will logically increase. An OpenStack setting will not be exposed much to this type of risk since it is unrestricted from vendor lock-in. OpenStack needs numerous testing to ensure that it works with other networking protocols in the telco infrastructure. It also requires specialized knowledge and skills, making it unattractive to the small and mid-sized operators (Denton, 2016).

Ubuntu

Ubuntu has a simplified installation, which is a primary advantage. It has substantially contributed more to simplify and even polish the necessary setup as compared to any other distribution. Also, the modern account of Ubuntu of its installer entails simple checkboxes for numerous selections, such as whether to download apprises while connecting or even encrypting the home dialectal (Sobell, 2014). It is vital to note that the language of the installer has been developed to the extent that it has eradicated much of the fear of connecting a functioning system.

There is also the importance of localization. Few distributors were concerned with language support before Ubuntu came into existence. Most of them were Anglocentric, and adjusting keyboard layouts and fonts just to support the Western European languages was tough (Dreyer, Dreyer, Foley & Nel, 2017). As such, Ubuntu's initial releases made the graphic exchange between numerous languages a custom.

There is the issue of regular release cycles. Ubuntu has regular releases such that it is impossible to remember the last one for an average user. There are also encrypted home directories, which are the leading security and privacy solution. However, the tools for generating them need a degree of expertise. Ubuntu was the initial major distribution to minimize the intricacy of home directory encryption to the choice of a checkbox and even making it a choice for desktop operators. As such, it is an insurance that few other distributors not obtained from Ubuntu have been concerned to contain it though the deferral in starting and halting the scheme and is insignificant on a contemporary computer (Sobell, 2014).

When Ubuntu first appeared, the idea of a new distribution seemed doubtful. However, it rapidly gained users and followers and now supports a large and enthusiastic community. It does not only support developers or even the documentation writers but volunteers and local communities as well. Ubuntu also emphasizes on usability. However, this has led to different reactions since there has been an over-emphasis of new users at the expense of the experienced ones. It was still necessary for the free desktop to attain its current development. The absence of Ubuntu would have led to usability receiving less prominence in the last decade (Dreyer et al., 2017).

Weaknesses

The forum support for Ubuntu has been observed to be wholly inadequate as it takes a long time to get a query solved, sometimes several weeks or even months. There is also an issue with its installation. It does not come installed in modern PCs, and one needs to fix it themselves. Also, when a user is switching from MAC or Windows, they will not like the user experience on Ubuntu and, most often, will have trouble operating the OS. Ubuntu OS also has little hardware support. There have been complains from some users that it becomes tough to configure the modem to start working on the internet (Sobell, 2014).

Management Guidelines for Moving From Non-cloud to Cloud-Based Systems per Platform

OpenStack

OpenStack clouds offer native support for the user and project management through the Keystone component. When moving from a non-cloud system to OpenStack, all the user accounts and projects on OpenStack are usually imported. IBM Cloud Manager does the importation. When in transaction mode, all activities performed in the IBM Cloud Manager are also done in OpenStack. For a connection to OpenStack to be done, the IMB Cloud Manager employs a service user account and a defa service tenant. Some links of OpenStack have user accounts specific to OpenStack elements. Concerning account management, reports are needed when the IMB Cloud Manager with OpenStack self-service billing is enabled. The account comprises a balance, owner, account balance threshold, invoices, and members (Aslan, Croes, Rosca & Stern, 2016).

Ubuntu

One of the guidelines for Ubuntu is that when a new user is produced, then the adduser convenience generates a different home directory named or username. As such, the default outline is then demonstrated after the matters in the list, which entails all the profile basics. There is also a firm password policy, which is one of the most relevant elements of the security position. When one intends to offer any form of isolated contact that involves their local password structure, then they should ensure that they sufficiently address the minimum password difficulty requirements, password lifetimes, and recurrent examinations of their verification systems (Puffer, 2015).

Procedures to Configure the Platforms

OpenStack

In the configuration of OpenStack, one needs to first obtain their credentials on the VEXXHOST Public Cloud. They can do this by initially logging into the customer center with their account details, then clicking on the 'API credentials' button on the sidebar, which should then send them to a page with all their material and setting variables. After all the information has been obtained, their environment will then be configured to include all the needed variables so that OpenStack can be used easily. After the process is complete, then OpenStack environment variables should be set entirely. It is essential to restart the open shell for the environment variables to be applied (Berezin, 2015).

Ubuntu

The initial step in the configuration of Ubuntu is to be keen on whether there is fresh installation of Ubuntu server and thus ensure the system all its components like the package managers and kernel have been restructured with the newest released versions and security coverings. One will then proceed to log in to the server's console with an account that has root privileges and run the commands needed to undertake the update and then upgrade the procedure. Once the update command has been run, various packages will be available for enhancing the method and the control employed for listing the packages upgrades. The process is to issue the following command to start the system upgrade process after all the packages available for upgrading have been consulted (Kouka, 2015).

Conclusion

The cloud platforms analyzed have been observed to facilitate the access of applications and information from any part of the world and also any device when one is connected to the internet. They are also flexible and enable users to scale their services to fit their needs. Users can also customize applications, and with some, such as OpenStack, it eases governing agreement. With it, the construction of private premises clouds is conceivable. It has further been observed that the utiliza...