compute-api/v2/section_concepts.xml
Constanze Kratel 38a1681acd Fix: Updated Cloud Servers concepts after code review
Closes-Bug: 1295718
Change-Id: Ie128f353c5bcc963fff6e234a949762bfd6c19ac
2014-06-21 14:28:13 -05:00

111 lines
5.5 KiB
XML

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xml:id="concepts">
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<title>Concepts</title>
<para>To use the OpenStack Compute API effectively, you should
understand several key concepts:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Server</emphasis></para>
<para>A virtual machine (VM) instance in the compute
system. Flavor and image are requisite elements when
creating a server.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Flavor</emphasis></para>
<para>An available hardware configuration for a server.
Each flavor has a unique combination of disk space,
memory capacity and priority for CPU time.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Image</emphasis></para>
<para>A collection of files used to create or rebuild a
server. Operators provide a number of pre-built OS
images by default. You may also create custom images
from cloud servers you have launched. These custom
images are useful for backup purposes or for producing
“gold” server images if you plan to deploy a
particular server configuration frequently.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Reboot
action</emphasis></para>
<para>Performs a soft or hard reboot of a server. With a
soft reboot, the operating system is signaled to
restart, which allows for a graceful shutdown of all
processes. A hard reboot is the equivalent of power
cycling the server. The virtualization platform should
ensure that the reboot action has completed
successfully even in cases in which the underlying
domain/VM is paused or halted/stopped.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Rebuild
action</emphasis></para>
<para>Removes all data on the server and replaces it with
the specified image. Server ID and IP addresses remain
the same.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Resize
action</emphasis></para>
<para>Converts an existing server to a different flavor,
in essence, scaling the server up or down. The
original server is saved for a period of time to allow
rollback if there is a problem. All resizes should be
tested and explicitly confirmed, at which time the
original server is removed. All resizes are
automatically confirmed after 24 hours if you do not
confirm or revert them.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Pause action</emphasis></para>
<para>Pauses a server and causes it to run in a frozen
state. To pause a server, make a <link
xlink:href="http://docs.openstack.org/api/openstack-compute/2/content/POST_os-admin-actions-v2_pause__v2__tenant_id__servers__server_id__action_ext-action.html"
>Pause server</link> request. This request stores
the state of the VM in RAM.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Suspend
action</emphasis></para>
<para>Suspends a server, which stores its VM state on
disk, writes all memory to disk, and stops the virtual
machine. Suspending an instance is similar to placing
a device in hibernation; memory and vCPUs become
available to create other instances. Administrative
users might want to suspend an infrequently used
instance or suspend an instance to perform system
maintenance.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Unpause
action</emphasis></para>
<para>Unpauses a paused server. To unpause a server, make
an <link
xlink:href="http://docs.openstack.org/api/openstack-compute/2/content/POST_os-admin-actions-v2_unpause__v2__tenant_id__servers__server_id__action_ext-action.html"
>Unpause server</link> request.</para>
</listitem>
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