Netframe: Enterprise Virtualisation Platform

The foundation

Built for the servers you already run.

Netframe is a complete virtualisation stack with a proven, long-term-supported enterprise Linux core at its heart. That heritage gives it one of the broadest hardware compatibility footprints in the industry, covering virtually every modern server, NIC, HBA, and storage controller from the major vendors.

If a server, NIC, HBA, or storage controller is certified for modern enterprise Linux, Netframe runs on it. We do not maintain a separate hardware certification list because the wider Linux ecosystem already does that work, at far greater scale than any single vendor could.

Verify hardware support on the certification list

Baseline requirements for every host

64-bit x86 CPU
Intel VT-x or AMD-V enabled in firmware
A boot device Netframe can install on
A network adapter with modern Linux driver support

Anything beyond these baselines is a question of performance and supportability, not whether Netframe will boot.

Deployment tiers

Two ways to deploy. One platform.

Netframe is generous about what it will run on, but production support has a clear bar. Use the left column for evaluation, lab, and home environments. The right column is what we will stand behind for a production deployment.

Lab, pilot, proof of concept

Best effort

For home labs, evaluation environments, and pilots. Anything Netframe will install on is fair game.

Any modern server, workstation, or mini-PC that meets the baseline requirements
Gigabit Ethernet is enough for functional evaluation
Local disks Netframe can recognise
Single host or a small cluster of mixed hardware

Officially supported production

Supported

What you need for SLA-backed support and predictable performance under real workloads.

Server-class hardware with current enterprise Linux certification
ECC memory strongly recommended
10 GbE or faster for system, VM, and management networking
10 GbE or faster for storage when shared storage is Ethernet-attached
Redundant network paths and dual PSUs for HA clusters
Out-of-band management (IPMI, iDRAC, iLO, or equivalent)

10 GbE is the floor for production. Slower links will install and run, but live migration, NFS storage I/O, and cluster heartbeat traffic will suffer under load. Plan for 10 GbE or faster on both system and storage networks when storage is Ethernet-attached.

Storage

Standardised on NFS by design.

NFS is the protocol the storage industry standardised on years ago. Every enterprise NAS, SAN gateway, and software-defined storage platform speaks it natively, which means Netframe drops cleanly into the storage tier you already operate. No specialised fabric, no proprietary protocol, no LUN micromanagement.

For workloads that do not need cluster failover, Netframe also places VMs directly on a host's local disks or local directories. When shared NFS is reached over Ethernet, plan for 10 GbE or faster on that path in production.

NFS v3 and v4 Shared storage for clusters

The shared-storage backend for Netframe clusters. Works with any compliant enterprise NAS, SAN gateway, or storage server, and lights up cleanly across every node.

Local disk and local directory Single-host placement

Place VMs directly on a host's own disks or local directories for workloads that do not need cluster failover. Ideal for edge nodes, single-host deployments, and non-critical tiers. VMs placed on local storage cannot be restarted on another node if a host goes offline.

Networking

Open vSwitch is the network stack.

Open vSwitch (OVS) is Netframe's default cluster network stack. NIC support comes from the wider Linux ecosystem, so any NIC with current enterprise Linux certification will work. 10 GbE or faster is required for production.

Open vSwitch (OVS)

Netframe's default cluster network stack.

VLAN tagging (802.1Q)

Standard VLAN segmentation across cluster and tenant networks.

LACP bonding

Active link aggregation across multiple NICs for throughput and resilience.

Jumbo frames

Up to 9000 MTU for storage and east-west traffic.

SR-IOV

Supported on validated Intel and Mellanox NICs. Case by case validation required.

Guest operating systems

Run the guests you already run.

Netframe runs any guest the underlying KVM hypervisor can boot. The list below covers the operating systems we test and support in production. Netframe paravirtual drivers are included for Windows.

Linux and BSD

Ubuntu Server 20.04, 22.04, 24.04
Debian 11, 12
RHEL 8 and 9, plus binary-compatible rebuilds
SUSE Linux Enterprise 15
Oracle Linux 8 and 9
FreeBSD 13 and 14

Windows

Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022
Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise
Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise

Netframe paravirtual drivers are included for all supported Windows versions.

Not sure if your kit will fit?

Talk to us before you buy.

We are happy to validate specific server, NIC, HBA, and storage configurations before you commit. Send us your bill of materials and we will confirm whether it will be supported in production.

Talk to the team About Netframe Core

Hardware compatibility.