The latest version of OpenStack, version 27, has been released by the OpenStack project. While there are no groundbreaking innovations with the open source cloud software, the new version offers a revised release scheme. For many years, OpenStack has been in a development mode of evolution rather than revolution, meaning that the components of the suite develop at different speeds and changes between versions are mostly manageable.
Antelope is no exception to this trend, but it does offer some improvements. The storage component, Cinder, now has backends for HP XP storage and for NetApp ONTAP devices, which are connected via NVMe. It can also handle IBM Spectrum Memory much better, as a memory manager in OpenStack. However, support for the IET iSCSI target, which was discontinued several releases ago, is no longer available.
Meanwhile, the virtualizer Nova can now switch off CPUs assigned to individual projects that are not needed, providing benefits for green IT. In terms of security, the developers have eliminated weaknesses in several components, and OpenStack offers a permission system based on roles and permissions, including new permission configurations using Nova, Glance, and Neutron.
The platform’s DNS service, Designate, can now share DNS zones between projects, providing benefits for companies that have multiple projects for different teams in OpenStack. Skyline is also set for significant improvements, with plans for it to replace the somewhat outdated GUI Horizon as the standard graphical interface for OpenStack.
Antelope also introduces a new release cycle, with one release per year considered as a Skip Level Upgrade Release Process (SLURP release). The update between two of these releases should work as smoothly as that from one OpenStack version to the other, giving administrators and manufacturers the option to skip non-SLURP releases, which saves work and effort.
Overall, Antelope represents a step forward for OpenStack, and it is already available for download on the official OpenStack download servers. However, it may take a few days before the major distributors offer certified OpenStack packages.
