compute-api/v2/section_concepts.xml
Constanze Kratel f004b3bc8f Fix: Adding changes made by Diane back into the files
Closes-Bug: 1295718
Author: Constanze Kratel <constanze.kratel@rackspace.com>
Change-Id: I6e0461eb5cca3a5eff47a2ccabd0d1bf7a9a442d
2014-06-23 19:33:14 -05:00

98 lines
4.8 KiB
XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE section [
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xml:id="concepts">
<?dbhtml stop-chunking?>
<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</emphasis></para>
<para>Use this function to perform either 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</emphasis></para>
<para>Use this function to remove 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</emphasis></para>
<para>Use this function to convert 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</emphasis></para>
<para>You can pause a server by making a pause request. This
request stores the state of the VM in RAM. A paused
instance continues to run in a frozen state.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><emphasis role="bold">Suspend</emphasis></para>
<para>Administrative users might want to suspend an
instance if it is infrequently used or to perform
system maintenance. When you suspend an instance, its
VM state is stored on disk, all memory is written to
disk, and the virtual machine is stopped. Suspending
an instance is similar to placing a device in
hibernation; memory and vCPUs become available to
create other instances.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</section>