Home Lab for OpenStack Testing
There are many ways to evaluate OpenStack and I will briefly discuss some options and what I selected to use.
Option 1: Public Cloud VM
Run your instances purely in a public cloud like AWS using DevStack. http://devstack.org/guides/single-vm.html
Option 2: Private Cloud VM [All-In-One]
- This method will allow you to create an “All in One” image of OpenStack using the Rackspace Private Cloud ISO. Eric Wright (DiscoPosse) has an excellent guide using VMware workstation
http://www.discoposse.com/index.php/2014/01/26/openstack-havana-all-in-one-lab-on-vmware-workstation/ - Run private instance of DevStack. http://devstack.org/guides/single-vm.html
Option 3: Private Cloud VM [Multiple Roles / Nested VMs]
This method uses a base hypervisor like ESXi, then you create additional VMs for the various OpenStack roles.
Option 4: Private Cloud All Physical
This method requires several physical servers, quantity dependent on level of High Availability [controllers, etc].
Selection
I chose “Option 3: Multiple Roles / Nested VMs”. I wanted to start with two physical servers and virtualize the workloads under ESXi. I’m also using this opportunity for building a home lab that can be repurposed for other testing [Hyper-V, VMware vSAN, vSphere 6 Beta, etc].
I also like the idea of fumbling through the install of each of the OpenStack components versus using an All-in-One image.
Hardware Inspiration
- Sean Massey’s blog has some excellent tips including one that you should start small
- Christopher Laco’s blog provided a great foundation on servers and OpenStack design, but I didn’t want to purchase that many servers [see start small].
- In the end, I’m using suggestions from Brian Seltzer’s blog based off a two node deployment with nested VMs [option 3].
Hardware List
Two of the following server configurations
- HP ProLiant Microserver Gen8 G2020T [ebay ~$350 used]
- HP iLO Advanced 4.0 License [eBay ~$25]
- 8GB to 16GB SD or spare thumb drives for ESXi boot [~$0-10]
- 250GB SSD Samsung 840 EVO-Series 2.5″ Drive [Amazon Warehouse Deals ~$110 like-new]
- 2.5″ to 3.5″ Drive Converter Bracket [Amazon ~$14 each]
- 750 GB SAS Drive [$0, had around the house]
- 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory [Newegg ~$149 promo]
Plus
- 1x HP 1910 switch [eBay ~$140 used HP 1910-16G]
- Supports Layer 3 Static Routes [Craig Kilborn’s blog has great post on how to enable]
- Depending on your lab size they have 8-16-24 port models in both 100MB and 1GB. 8-port-GB and non-GB switches are fanless [quiet] but too small for my needs.
- [Optional but highly recommended] Only $12 for a Managed WordPress site including a shiny new domain name [GoDaddy.com $12/yr] 😉
All in ~$1400-$1500. I purchased the SSD to test VMware vSAN eventually with [3] servers. I already have an existing HP Microserver Gen8 running my home server WS2012 R2 Std with Essentials Role.
There is a customization forum at homeservershow.com for the HP Microserver Gen8 which list other supported processors if I become CPU bound. I’ll save that upgrade project for another day.
Final thoughts
This is not a cheap solution, but I figured I could always resell the HP gear. There are many ways to justify the costs [continuing education, same cost as a MacBook Pro, similar to ten trips to Costco, etc] and you might be able to build a whitebox with higher specs at lower costs, but I liked the idea of building the solution on server class hardware that is quiet and efficient.
