Core Infra User Guide (Rackspace Cloud)

How to use this guide

We created this guide to help you get the most from your Rackspace cloud and especially from its core infrastructure:

• Cloud Servers
• Cloud Networks
• Cloud Images
• Cloud Block Storage
• Cloud Files

The guide is meant to simplify your startup process. It doesn’t replace the detailed technical documentation for these services, but it should give you a clear picture of what you can do in the Rackspace cloud.

• Introducing the Rackspace cloud provides a high-level overview of our core infrastructure, explains how our cloud hosting differs from other kinds of hosting, gives a brief tour of Rackspace cloud services, and connects you to our collection of user stories.
• Interacting with the cloud suggests several ways of controlling your configuration, including the GUI-based Cloud Control Panel and several CLIs, APIs, and SDKs.
• Establishing your cloud configuration, focuses on the core infrastructure, providing facts and suggestions to help you quickly establish a useful and manageable cloud configuration.
• Preparing for productivity specifies pre-production steps you should take to harden your cloud server and make it ready for work.
• Succeeding in the cloud identifies ongoing responsibilities and suggests special-interest topics that may interest you after you are established in the cloud.

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Assumptions

We wrote this guide for you, imagining “you” as someone who:

• is already a Rackspace customer

We want to help you understand what’s available to you in the Rackspace cloud. You might already be familiar with other Rackspace products and services.

• knows quite a lot about your own application

We want to show you how your cloud configuration can give you new ways to get your work done. You’ve already decided what that work is.

• works confidently with computing outside the cloud

We haven’t written an introduction to computing; if we use a term and don’t define it, that’s because we’re using it in an industry-standard way that is clear to you or easy for you to discover.

• knows a little about cloud computing and now wants to know a lot about cloud computing at Rackspace

We’ll explain key ideas and how they relate to each other. Your situation is unique, and we want to help you recognize topics to investigate and options to pursue as you move your work into the Rackspace managed cloud.

• is willing to follow links from this brief guide to more detailed Rackspace resources

We’ll point you toward case studies, step-by-step tutorials, API references, and more. As you get started in the Rackspace managed cloud, learning to use supporting information will help you become confident and successful.

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Alternatives and additional information

If you aren’t the “you” we imagined in writing this guide, you might find other Rackspace resources more suited to your needs. Here are some starting points:

• To become a Rackspace customer, start at Create an account.
• To manage your account, log in to the Cloud Control Panel.
• To learn about the Rackspace cloud through tutorials, case studies, and white papers, start at Rackspace How-To.
• To develop your own software to interact with cloud services, start at the Rackspace Developer Center.

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Contact us

We want to hear what you think about this guide. Here are some good ways to share your suggestions, questions, and comments:

• Check the list of GitHub issues. If you see something similar to what you’re thinking about, open that issue and add a comment. Otherwise, create a new issue explaining what concerns you about this guide and, if you have a solution in mind, telling us what you propose we could do about it.
  To learn more about GitHub issues, read GitHub’s Mastering Issues.
• Send email to the guide’s maintainers at [email protected]. We’ll answer as promptly as we can.

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Note: If you are seeking emergency help from Rackspace, contact Rackspace Support using one of the methods suggested at Getting support.

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Document history

Last updated: June 15, 2021

This version of the guide replaces and obsoletes all previous versions.

The guide is continuously improved. Our documentation source repository is open for review; to learn about everything that has changed recently, begin by taking the repository’s pulse.

Highlights of the most recent changes are described in the table below:

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Disclaimer

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE RACKSPACE DEVELOPER DOCUMENTATION IS INTENDED FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING SERVICE MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS USING THE RACKSPACE APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (API). THE DOCUMENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS PROVIDED “AS IS.”

Except as set forth in Rackspace general terms and conditions, cloud terms of service and/or other agreement you sign with Rackspace, Rackspace assumes no liability whatsoever, and disclaims any express or implied warranty, relating to its services including, but not limited to, the implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.

Although part of the document explains how Rackspace services may work with third party products, the information contained in the document is not designed to work with all scenarios. Any use or changes to third party products and/or configurations should be made at the discretion of your administrators and subject to the applicable terms and conditions of such third party. Rackspace does not provide technical support for third party products, other than specified in your hosting services or other agreement you have with Rackspace and Rackspace accepts no responsibility for third-party products.

Rackspace cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

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