OpenStack is an open source software that helps organizations build their Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud. It allows organizations to create a pool of compute, storage and networking resources. These resources are then allocated to the departments as per their requirements. This helps organizations consolidate their all IT resources and manage effectively. OpenStack provides Dashboard or API to make management easier.

OpenStack was a project started by Rackspace Hosting and NASA. It is now managed by the OpenStack Foundation. It is written in Python.

OpenStack is a collection of components providing different services. Some of the major components are mentioned here. The Nova component manages compute resources. The Neutron component manages networking resources. The Keystone component provides Identity services. The Swift component provides the object storage. The Cinder component provides block storage feature. The Glance component serves as imaging service. The Horizon is the dashboard of OpenStack.