VEXXHOST Logo
Purple pattern background

Cloud Orchestration with OpenStack Heat - An Introduction

Mohammed NaserMohammed Naser

Cloud orchestration tools such as OpenStack Heat play an important role in simplifying and unifying infrastructures for users. Read more.

Cloud orchestration plays an essential role in simplifying and unifying an infrastructure. As many enterprises transition into the cloud, there is a need for faster, hassle-free deployments. Automated deployment and orchestration tools such as OpenStack Heat can significantly reduce the time and resources taken to process requests such as virtual machines (VM) that otherwise would take days or weeks when done manually. Here is a basic overview.

What is Cloud Orchestration?

In simple terms, cloud orchestration uses programming language (codes) to automate interactions between different cloud workloads, enabling easy deployment or configuration. A cloud orchestration tool can build a cohesive workflow by connecting the various automated tasks. Even though some attributes of orchestration might sound similar to the ones of configuration management, it is not entirely the same.

Some of the various functions of cloud orchestration tools include:

  • Provisioning and deploying servers
  • Enabling storage capacity
  • Help manage networking
  • Help create VMs
  • Integrate access checks for security and compliance

The cloud orchestration solution for the open source platform OpenStack is known as Heat. It is one of the many OpenStack services used to build a complete cloud environment. Let's dive in.

OpenStack Heat as a Cloud Orchestration Tool

OpenStack Heat is a tool that implements orchestration engines and enables the launch of different cloud applications. This implementation is based on certain fully configurable templates, basically text files that can be treated as programming codes.

With the help of a cloud provider and the above-mentioned templates, customers can deploy duplicates of their existing environments to the cloud quickly and easily. With Heat, many manual tasks are eliminated or automated, saving valuable time and resources. Here is a look at the other key benefits.

Advantages of OpenStack Heat

Firstly, customizable templates. The templates of OpenStack Heat are fully configurable. Cloud orchestration with Heat will enable users to create files defining multiple resources, from networks to Kubernetes clusters. Cloud providers can help users categorize and manage these templates with the help of tagging systems.

Secondly, Heat comes with dependency knowledge which users can make use of. The cloud orchestration tool is smart enough to know the order of creation and aids resource implementation with ease.

Finally, let us look at the consistency and efficiency factors of Heat. OpenStack Heat's ability to simplify the management of server environments, make the template configurations repeatable, and know which items are done in parallel, make deployments more efficient while speeding up the process considerably.

VEXXHOST Cloud with Orchestration by Heat

VEXXHOST uses a multitude of OpenStack services including Heat, to deploy clouds for various user-scenarios, allowing teams to get started with ease. At VEXXHOST, we help companies with their digital transformation by providing enterprise-grade OpenStack-based cloud solutions, including dedicated and highly secure private cloud environments.

Speaking of private clouds, you can now run on a fully agile and customized cloud from VEXXHOST, with no licensing fees and smooth 2-week migration. In fact, we're ready to put our money where our mouth is. We're so confident in being able to save you at least 20% or more on your current cloud infrastructure expenditure that if proven wrong- we'll give you $1,000 credit to our public cloud.

Excited? Find out more.

Share on social media

Virtual machines, Kubernetes & Bare Metal Infrastructure

Choose from Atmosphere Cloud, Hosted, or On-Premise.
Simplify your cloud operations with our intuitive dashboard.
Run it yourself, tap our expert support, or opt for full remote operations.
Leverage Terraform, Ansible or APIs directly powered by OpenStack & Kubernetes