Platform and architecture
This page describes how the platform is built, in general terms. It doesn't name equipment models, addresses or other internal details.
Software
| OpenNebula 7.4 | The cloud management platform: virtual machines, images, networks, quotas, multi-VM services (OneFlow) and the FireEdge web console. |
| Ubuntu 26.04 + KVM | The hypervisor hosts run Ubuntu 26.04 with the Linux 7 kernel and KVM. The new kernel makes live migration of running VMs between hosts as smooth as on VMware ESXi, so planned maintenance doesn't stop your VMs. |
| VyOS 1.5 (Stream 2026.03) | All network functions are VyOS routers running as VMs: tenant gateways, internet and corporate edges, route reflectors and L2 channel ends. |
| Claugine portal | Self-service and operations: organizations, tenants, approvals, deployment and changes, users and roles, and the record of resources and addresses. |
Hardware
- Compute: current-generation server CPUs with many cores and large memory. GPU servers have the GPUs passed through to the VM whole (PCI passthrough), never shared or overcommitted.
- Storage: fast flash storage for VM disks and images, reached over NFS or iSCSI, plus local disks where that fits better. Backups are kept on separate storage.
- Network: redundant switching with VLANs for the infrastructure and VXLAN/EVPN overlays for tenant networks. Routes are exchanged with BGP through route reflectors.
Structure
| Site | A data center: its hosts, storage systems and networks. |
| Platform | An OpenNebula installation at a site. A management platform runs the provider's own services and network functions. Shared platforms host the tenants. A platform can span sites, with one front end and a zone per site. |
| Cluster | A group of hosts of a platform with their datastores and networks. A tenant orders resources on a cluster. Kinds: management, shared (tenants), dedicated (one organization), edge (network functions), portal, and clusters managed by an external platform. |
| Datastore | Storage of a platform on a storage volume: VM disks, images, files or backups. |
Network design
Each tenant's traffic goes through two routers:
- The tenant gateway (igw) is the tenant's own VyOS VM. It routes the tenant's private networks, translates their addresses (SNAT) to the public address, and carries extra public networks. The tenant administers it with ssh keys.
- The provider edge (egw) belongs to the provider. It limits bandwidth to what was ordered, lets only the tenant's own public addresses pass, and announces them to the internet through the exchange network.
Corporate tenants connect to the corporate network through a corporate edge in the same way. An L2 channel bridges a VLAN at the client's site into a tenant network over the provider's network. Route reflectors spread routes inside each site. All provider routers are managed only from a separate management network.