Entries by Boris Stoyanov

Troubleshooting CloudStack Virtual Routers

Cloudstack’s multi-tenant virtualised networking model is one of its strongest features. Abstracting complex networking concepts and allowing simple UI/API configuration of networks is something loved by users of Cloudstack clouds. But, as an operator/administrator of a Cloudstack cloud you’ll almost certainly have had to troubleshoot network  problems  – and that means troubleshooting CloudStack’s Virtual Routers (VRs) . As Roy says in the picture , turning it off and on again can often resolve issues with a VR (or restarting a VR in Cloudstack language). But if that doesn’t work, administrators need to troubleshoot the VR. In this article, I will […]

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Integration Testing within CloudStack – Marvin

Integration testing – What it is and why SDLC needs it. What is Integration testing? This is a type of testing where multiple components are combined and tested working together. There are different aspects of integration testing depending on the project and component scale, but usually it comes down to validating that different modules can work together and / or independently. This type of testing drives one out of the tunnel vision one could develop while working on a complex task and gives feedback how the work integrates with rest of the system. Integration testing in CloudStack Integration testing in […]

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How to deploy templates without using secondary storage on KVM

Introduction ShapeBlue have been working on a new feature for Apache Cloudstack 4.11.1 that will allow users to bypass secondary storage with KVM. The feature introduces a new way to use templates and ISOs, allowing administrators to use them without being cached on secondary storage. Using this approach Cloudstack administrators will not have to worry about massive secondary storage, since it will be simple bypassed, there won’t be any template sitting there waiting. As well it’s bypassing the SSVM since the download task will not be carried on by the SSVM, but the KVM agent itself. This will enable administrators […]

Layer 2 Networks in CloudStack

Layer 2 (also known as the Data Link Layer) is the second in the seven-layer OSI reference model for network protocol design, and is equivalent to the link layer (the lowest layer) in the TCP/IP network model. Layer 2 is the network layer used to transfer data between adjacent network nodes in a wide area network, or between nodes on the same local area network. We have recently introduced a new Layer 2 network offering in CloudStack. This enables all network services to be provided from network equipment external to CloudStack. As a result, the Virtual Router is not required, […]

Host-HA for KVM Hosts in CloudStack | CloudStack Feature Deep Dive

Intro What is HA? “High availability is a characteristic of a system, which aims to ensure an agreed level of operational performance, usually uptime, for a higher than normal period. ”  — Wikipedia HA in CloudStack is currently supported for VMs only. In order to have it enabled, the service offering of the VM should be HA enabled, otherwise the VMs would not been taken into consideration. There is no HA activity around hosts at this stage, so we don’t have a defense mechanism if a host goes down. All investigations are VM-centric and we’re unable to determine the health of […]