diff --git a/doc/networking-guide/source/config-services-agent.rst b/doc/networking-guide/source/config-services-agent.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1299de9625
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/networking-guide/source/config-services-agent.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+.. _config-services-agent:
+
+===================
+Services and agents
+===================
+
+A usual neutron setup consists of multiple services and agents running on one
+or multiple nodes (though some setups may not need any agents).
+Each of these services provide some of the networking or API services.
+Among those of special interest are:
+
+#. The neutron-server that provides API endpoints and serves as a single point
+   of access to the database. It usually runs on the controller nodes.
+#. Layer2 agent that can utilize Open vSwitch, Linux Bridge or other
+   vendor-specific technology to provide network segmentation and isolation
+   for project networks.
+   The L2 agent should run on every node where it is deemed
+   responsible for wiring and securing virtual interfaces (usually both
+   compute and network nodes).
+#. Layer3 agent that runs on network node and provides east-west and
+   north-south routing plus some advanced services such as FWaaS or VPNaaS.
+
+Configuration options
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The neutron configuration options are segregated between
+neutron-server and agents. Both services and agents may load the main
+``neutron.conf`` since this file should contain the oslo.messaging
+configuration for internal neutron RPCs and may contain host specific
+configuration, such as file paths. The ``neutron.conf`` contains the
+database, keystone, nova credentials, and endpoints strictly for
+neutron-server to use.
+
+In addition, neutron-server may load a plugin-specific configuration file, yet
+the agents should not. As the plugin configuration is primarily site wide
+options and the plugin provides the persistence layer for neutron, agents
+should be instructed to act upon these values through RPC.
+
+Each individual agent may have its own configuration file. This file should be
+loaded after the main ``neutron.conf`` file, so the agent configuration takes
+precedence. The agent-specific configuration may contain configurations which
+vary between hosts in a neutron deployment such as the
+``external_network_bridge`` for an L3 agent. If any agent requires access to
+additional external services beyond the neutron RPC, those endpoints should be
+defined in the agent-specific configuration file (for example, nova metadata
+for metadata agent).
diff --git a/doc/networking-guide/source/config.rst b/doc/networking-guide/source/config.rst
index 21f9dc187c..dd3d3a411d 100644
--- a/doc/networking-guide/source/config.rst
+++ b/doc/networking-guide/source/config.rst
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Configuration
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 2
 
+   config-services-agent
    config-ml2
    config-address-scopes
    config-auto-allocation