The core of networking – Neutron plugins
Neutron supports the use of plugins and drivers, which use different software and hardware technologies provided by open source communities or vendor solutions. There are two types of Neutron plugins:
- Core plugin: Enables L2 connectivity functions and orchestration of network elements, including virtual networks, subnets, and ports
- Service plugin: Enables additional network capabilities, including routing, private networks, firewalls, and load balancing
Important note
The code for plugins is run on the Neutron server, which can be configured as part of the cloud controller node(s).
The following section will dive into the most adopted core plugins.
Core plugin – Modular Layer 2
The most widely adopted core plugin in Neutron is Modular Layer 2 (ML2). The introduction of ML2 to the OpenStack networking service has increased the flexibility of designing network architectures. The secret sauce of ML2...
