OpenStack

OpenStack is the cloud services layer in CobaltCore. It provides the compute, networking, block storage, identity, and image APIs that users and automation tools interact with. CobaltCore deploys OpenStack via Helm charts, with each service configured to integrate with the underlying compute, storage, and networking layers.

Services

Service	API	Role
Nova	Compute	VM lifecycle, scheduling, live migration
Neutron	Networking	Virtual networks, ports, security groups via OVN
Cinder	Block Storage	Volume management backed by NetApp/NFS or Ceph RBD
Keystone	Identity	Authentication and service catalog
Glance	Image	VM image storage and distribution

Deployment model

All services are deployed as Kubernetes workloads via Helm into a dedicated namespace. Each service runs with its own MariaDB database and connects to a shared RabbitMQ cluster for async messaging.

Control Plane Cluster
├── openstack namespace
│   ├── nova (API, Conductor, Scheduler)
│   ├── neutron (API, OVN-NB, OVN-SB, OVN-NorthD)
│   ├── cinder (API, Volume Services)
│   ├── keystone
│   └── glance
│
Compute Clusters
└── Per node (daemonsets)
    ├── nova-compute-agent
    ├── ovn-controller
    └── (hypervisor agents - see Compute layer)

CobaltCore-specific choices

Why OVN for networking? Neutron's OVN backend replaces the per-node Open vSwitch agents with a centralized control plane (OVN-NB/SB databases) and distributed forwarding. This reduces per-node complexity and scales better at large node counts. See Networking - OVN.

Why NetApp/NFS for Cinder? In CobaltCore's reference configuration, Cinder uses a NetApp filer for block volumes delivered as NFS mounts. This enables thin provisioning and hardware-level snapshots. Ceph RBD is an alternative backend for environments without a NetApp filer.

Cells architecture: Nova's multi-cell architecture is available but simplified in CobaltCore's default configuration. See the Nova cells documentation for production cell design.