Overview

SUSE® Virtualization is a modern, open, interoperable, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution built on Kubernetes. It is an open-source alternative designed for operators seeking a cloud-native HCI solution. SUSE Virtualization runs on bare metal servers and provides integrated virtualization and distributed storage capabilities. In addition to traditional virtual machines (VMs), SUSE Virtualization supports containerized environments automatically through integration with SUSE® Rancher Prime. It offers a solution that unifies legacy virtualized infrastructure while enabling the adoption of containers from core to edge locations.

Architecture

The architecture consists of cutting-edge open-source technologies:

  • Linux OS. Elemental for SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 is at the core of SUSE Virtualization and is an immutable Linux distribution designed to remove as much OS maintenance as possible in a Kubernetes cluster.

  • Built on top of Kubernetes. Kubernetes has become the predominant infrastructure language across all form factors, and SUSE Virtualization is an HCI solution with Kubernetes under the hood.

  • Virtualization management with KubeVirt. KubeVirt provides virtualization management using KVM on top of Kubernetes.

  • Storage management with Longhorn. Longhorn provides distributed block storage and tiering.

  • Observability with Grafana and Prometheus. Grafana and Prometheus provide robust monitoring and logging.

architecture

Features

SUSE Virtualization is an enterprise-ready, easy-to-use infrastructure platform that leverages local, direct attached storage instead of complex external SANs. It utilizes Kubernetes API as a unified automation language across container and VM workloads. Some key features include:

  • Easy to get started. Since SUSE Virtualization ships as a bootable appliance image, you can install it directly on a bare metal server with the ISO image or automatically install it using iPXE scripts.

  • VM lifecycle management. Easily create, edit, clone, and delete VMs, including SSH-Key injection, cloud-init, and graphic and serial port console.

  • VM live migration. Move a VM to a different host or node with zero downtime.

  • VM backup, snapshot, and restore. Back up your VMs from NFS, S3 servers, or NAS devices. Use your backup to restore a failed VM or create a new VM on a different cluster.

  • Storage management. SUSE Virtualization supports distributed block storage and tiering. Volumes represent storage; you can easily create, edit, clone, or export a volume.

  • Network management. Supports using a virtual IP (VIP) and multiple Network Interface Cards (NICs). If your VMs need to connect to the external network, create a VLAN or untagged network.

  • Integration with SUSE Rancher Prime. Access SUSE Virtualization directly through SUSE Rancher Prime’s Virtualization Management page and manage your VM workloads alongside your Kubernetes clusters.

User Interface

SUSE Virtualization provides a powerful and easy-to-use web-based interface for visualizing and managing your infrastructure. Once installed, you can access the IP address for the UI from the node’s terminal.