User`s guide

OpenVZ Philosophy 15
Main Principles of OpenVZ
Operation
Basics of OpenVZ Technology
In this section we will try to let you form a more or less precise idea of the way the OpenVZ
software operates on your computer. Please see the figure below:
Physical Server (Hardware Node) #3
Network
Hardware
Host Operating System
OpenVZ Layer
OpenVZ Templates
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
Physical Server (Hardware Node) #2
Network
Hardware
Host Operating System
OpenVZ Layer
OpenVZ Templates
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
Physical Server (Hardware Node) #1
Network
Hardware
Host Operating System
OpenVZ Templates
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
root
user
user
Application
Software
Virtual Private Server
OpenVZ Layer
Figure 1: OpenVZ Technology
This figure presumes that you have a number of physical servers united into a network. In fact,
you may have only one dedicated server to effectively use OpenVZ for the needs of your
network. If you have more than one OpenVZ-based physical server, each one of the servers will
have a similar architecture. In OpenVZ terminology, such servers are called
Hardware Nodes
(or
HN, or just Nodes), because they represent hardware units within a network.
OpenVZ is installed on Fedora Core 3 or 4 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 configured in a
certain way. For example, such customized configuration shall include the creation of a
/vz
partition, which is the basic partition for hosting Virtual Private Servers and which must be way
larger than the root partition. This and similar configuration issues are most easily resolved
during Linux installation on the Hardware Node. Detailed instructions on installing Linux
(called
Host Operating System, or Root Operating System in Figure 1) on the Hardware Node
are provided in the next chapter.