virt8ra, the IPCEI-CIS software stack for virtualization
Using European Open Source Technologies to Build a Sovereign, Multi-Provider Edge Cloud for the EU
About the IPCEI Cloud
In December 2023, the European Union approved the Important Project of Common European Interest on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructures and Services (IPCEI-CIS), a multi-billion investment initiative for the creation of the first interoperable European cloud-edge computing continuum.
By fostering the development of open source technologies “made in Europe”, the IPCEI-CIS aims to speed up the emergence of “proximity cloud” service providers while reducing Europe’s industrial dependency on Big Tech vendors and hyperscalers.
This strategic €3B EU project is being implemented by more than 100 European companies from 12 EU Member States, and represents the largest open source project in the history of the EU. OpenNebula Systems chairs the IPCEI-CIS Industry Facilitation Group.
About the virt8ra testbed
The virt8ra initiative—coordinated by OpenNebula Systems—is the main deliverable of the IPCEI-CIS Integration Cluster on Virtualization, and its primary objective is to define an architectural model and an integration framework for supporting advanced management and orchestration capabilities in multi-provider cloud-edge infrastructures.
This collaborative effort aims to deliver a robust open source alternative for managing digital infrastructures, providing European businesses and public organizations with greater flexibility, technological sovereignty, and the ability to regain control over their IT environments without the constraints of restrictive licensing and support models.
The first outcome of the virt8ra initiative has been the establishment of a cloud-edge infrastructure testbed that combines bare-metal resources from 8 IPCEI-CIS partners across 6 EU Member States. This approach enables the creation of distributed cloud-edge spaces that span the entire computing continuum, fostering innovation and enabling pilot deployments in strategic industrial sectors.
The virt8ra testbed is based on a sovereign, open source software stack that instantiates the IPCEI-CIS virtualization architecture by integrating infrastructure resources and technological components from different partners so that next-generation cloud capabilities such as scalability, interoperability, workload portability, monitoring, AI/ML, security, and sustainability can be tested in a live environment.
Key Capabilities
The software stack powering the virt8ra testbed provides a number of unique cloud-edge capabilities:
SCALABILITY
Manage thousands of nodes across multiple infrastructure providers and edge locations through a single pane of glass
INTEROPERABILITY
Deploy seamlessly the same virtualized workload across different cloud providers, ensuring consistency and simplicity
PORTABILITY
Migrate workloads across providers (including hyperscalers) with minimal downtime, unlocking true vendor-neutrality and flexibility
Testbed Partners
A growing number of IPCEI-CIS partners are involved in providing the virt8ra testbed with additional technological capabilities and cloud/edge infrastructure resources across the 12 EU Member States supporting this project:
“The virt8ra testbed represents a turning point in the way in which EU tech champions are coming together to fix the cloud market. We are finally building a sovereign cloud-edge continuum based on vendor-neutrality and European open source.”
Ignacio M. Llorente, CEO of OpenNebula Systems
Contact Us
Contribute to Europe’s First Multi-Provider Cloud-Edge Infrastructure!
Are you a cloud or edge infrastructure provider? You can now be part of the future of Europe’s first scalable, interoperable, and portable cloud-edge continuum.
Join the virt8ra testbed today!
This initiative is supported by the European Union and co-funded by the NextGenerationEU instrument through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
