This section describes both networking of virtual machines and the network configuration of the Abiquo platform.
Virtual Machine Network Types
Virtual machines running on the Abiquo platform can be connected to three different networks. These include:
- the public network
- external networks
- private networks.
Public Network
In Abiquo, a virtual datacenter can be given access to public networks because specific public IP addresses can be assigned to virtual machines – for example, for use with a gateway virtual machine, Internet web server or load balancer.
External Network
 | New Feature This feature has been available since version 1.8.5 |
From 1.8.5, the networking model in Abiquo has been extended to include an additional network type called an external network. This type of network allows user-defined IP ranges, with a netmask of at least /22 (giving a maximum of 1024 IP addresses) and a user-defined VLAN tag, to allow the virtual datacenters to be connected directly to each other, or to other networks outside of the virtual infrastructure. An external network belongs to an enterprise.
Private Network
A private network has IP addresses in a private IP range (10/24, 172.16/12, 192.168/16). To ensure the VLAN is unique to the virtual datacenter, the VLAN tag is automatically assigned to the network by Abiquo and only a user with permission to modify infrastructure can set the VLAN range for a rack and reserve VLAN tags.
Default Virtual Machine Networks
Prior to version 1.8.5, the default network for virtual machines is always a private network.
| New Feature This feature has been available since version 1.8.5 |
It is now possible to assign an external network as the default network for virtual machines.
Virtual Machine Networking Scenarios
Some possible networking scenarios are shown in the diagram below.
Abiquo Platform Network Configuration
The requirements of Abiquo do not differ greatly from those of a fully virtualized environment in a datacenter. This configuration enables you to maximize server consolidation and significantly reduce costs.
You can set up a minimal Cloud Platform with a single NIC per server. This NIC manages all the traffic of each network type, and this can be suitable for testing purposes, but it is not adequate for production environments.
If you are considering Abiquo for production environments, then you need a minimum of three NICs per server — one to connect to the Management Network, a second to connect to the Cloud Cluster Network, and a third for the Public Network to connect to Internet. If you want to deploy Abiquo Enterprise you will need an extra NIC to connect to the Storage Network. Abiquo recommends NIC teaming for redundancy.
Each network has different attributes because of the nature of the traffic over it. This is the list of basic features of the network devices required:
- Use NICs and Network Devices with transmission speed rates above 1Gb.
- Use dedicated switches for the platform.
Abiquo supports 802.1q VLANs for all types of network.
The sections below describe all of the networks configured for the Abiquo platform.
