Deepen Your Knowledge of OpenStack with Rackspace Training

Are you interested in getting some OpenStack training, but don’t know where to begin?

Many take the first step by doing a Google search. But that returns thousands of articles about different OpenStack topics, from commentary about official OpenStack projects to case studies on companies who have successfully used OpenStack to expand their business to articles on how to enable different features within an OpenStack environment.

Instead, start by figuring out what type of OpenStack user you’ll be:

• a regular user who consumes OpenStack resources in an environment managed by someone else;
• an OpenStack administrator, taking care of an OpenStack environment, or
• an OpenStack operator, handling the deployment and care of a private cloud environment.

Understanding your expected role will help you focus on the type of information that you will need. The next step is to develop an understanding of what OpenStack is and what it has to offer.

OpenStack can be defined as a set of open source software tools for building and managing a cloud computing platform — but even that straightforward definition can be a landmine to understand. OpenStack has so many projects, interactions across projects and complexities that just calling it a set of software tools discounts just how much knowledge it takes to deliver successful outcomes.

OpenStack training anywhere

Luckily, there’s guided help. Rackspace, a founder and leading operator of OpenStack clouds, has created a learning path that can benefit anyone, regardless of experience.

Our training includes live web-based courses that cover various elements of OpenStack. It’s a great starting point for anyone interested in OpenStack, can be consumed anywhere — and won’t break the bank.

“Hello World” introduces newbies to the infrastructure and building blocks of OpenStack. The class begins by reviewing OpenStack components, including: compute (Nova), networking (Neutron), and storage (Cinder/Swift). It also covers important terminology like volumes, flavors and images that are used in OpenStack environments.

To get an idea what our web-based training sessions are like, check out this recording of “Understanding the Cloud and OpenStack.”

https://youtu.be/4AW0f0ySZ2A

Once your foundation is set, learners can progress via the training dashboard, learning to spin up instances and connect to them. This will help anyone seeking a basic working knowledge of OpenStack.

Into the classroom

For technical individuals who want to go deeper, or for current OpenStack users who need to further their expertise, Rackspace offers classroom based training that can be taught at your location or Rackspace headquarters.

During our four day OpenStack Essentials class, our expert instructors will cover more in-depth material encompassing OpenStack compute and OpenStack storage. This class will help users understand the architecture, installation and configuration of an OpenStack environment. The class includes lectures, discussion and hands-on demos.

More experienced technologists can tackle OpenStack networking (Neutron) in our three-day class. Users will learn how to use the CLI (command line interface) to build and configure their networking infrastructure. Through this hands-on class, students will learn how to create load balancers and firewalls while using network virtualization throughout their environment.

For those looking to make a career of it, Rackspace also offers a course to prep for the Certified OpenStack Administrator exam, an industry-standard qualification. The course includes hands-on labs to help ensure that you ace the exam, and even a voucher for the exam itself.

With new classes being added regularly, Rackspace’s OpenStack training paths can assist users along all parts of the OpenStack journey.

Want a free sample? Sign up now for “Hello World” at training.rackspace.com, using promo code RACKBLG2018 to get either the Jan. 30 or Feb. 20 class for FREE. You can also sign up for other web-based classes at training.rackspace.com, or email us with questions to training@rackspace.com.