Benefits of using OpenStack

OpenStack provides various benefits to the professionals who use it, such as:

• Affordability: In some cases, using OpenStack might be cheaper than going through a cloud provider because you don't pay anything to build with it.

• Flexibility: You can implement the features you want in the way that meets your requirements, without worrying about services you pay for but don't use because they come bundled with the ones you need.

• Vendor neutrality: You can go with any additional services because you're not in danger of vendor lock-in.

• Community backing: Despite being open-source with no dedicated support team, there is a large community of volunteers you can turn to for help if you run into any technical issues with OpenStack. They’re active online and in real-world OpenStack conferences.

OpenStack tutorial curriculum

The OpenStack course or tutorial you choose could cover the basics of cloud computing in the introductory sections. After this, you may learn how to set up an OpenStack instance that you can run locally. As soon as you have an active environment, you can practice how to create and operate clusters, either from a dashboard or the console.^{Footnote 2}

As you advance in your learning journey, you may examine how the various components work in intermediate and advanced courses, which may also delve into the underlying architecture.

Learning about how to use OpenStack and similar tools can supplement your knowledge of programming and cloud development. edX offers a variety of educational opportunities for learners interested in studying these topics, as well as a host of other disciplines. A boot camp can provide flexible, hands-on learning for those who want to upskill quickly, while executive education programs are designed for busy professionals. You can also pursue a more comprehensive curriculum in a bachelor’s degree program or, for more advanced learners, a master’s degree program. Find the right learning path for you.

Explore OpenStack jobs

Some of the jobs you can pursue with a knowledge of OpenStack include working as a:

• Back-end developer: Manages back-end functions such as authentication and storage for digital products.^{Footnote 3}

• DevOps engineer: Implements practices that facilitate rapid software development.^{Footnote 4}

• Kubernetes engineer: Builds containers to run apps on the cloud.^{Footnote 5}

• Cloud platform engineer: Builds private or public cloud platforms.^{Footnote 6}

• Technical writer: Creates blog posts, copy, articles, documentation, and other written pieces of content on cloud technology.^{Footnote 7}

• Technical recruiter: Sources talent to work on cloud platform development.^{Footnote 8}

OpenStack mainly uses Python, so a solid command of the programming language could be advantageous. A coding boot camp might be a good way to get started building practical experience with the language.

How to use OpenStack in your career

In a development role like back-end or DevOps engineering, you can use OpenStack to speed up the process of building your own cloud platform, whether you intend for it to be public or private. With all the components and their modules at your disposal, you can implement features faster than you would if you were building everything from scratch.^{Footnote 9} Features include:

• Compute: Contains separate services for virtual servers and containers.

• Hardware lifecycle: Allows for bare metal provisioning and lifecycle management of accelerators.

• Storage: Handles object stores, block storage, and shared file systems.

• Networking: Manages networks, load balancing, and domain name system (DNS) services.

• Shared services: Provides identity, placement, and image services and key management tools.

• Orchestration: Handles orchestration, clustering, workflow, messaging, resource reservation, and alarming services.

• API proxies: Supports Amazon EC2 to run virtual machines.

• Web front-ends: Handles current and next-generation dashboards.

In an assistive capacity, such as in support or technical writing, you can use the expertise from your education to fill in knowledge gaps around the software. Like most open-source projects, OpenStack does not have a dedicated support team and instead relies on its developer community.

Some examples of ways learners can be a contributor to the project include:

• Adding to the code base

• Reporting and fixing bugs

• Testing new features

• Mentoring new users

• Updating and maintaining documentation