OpenNebula and NetApp team up for enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure

OpenNebula Systems has partnered with NetApp to combine cloud orchestration and data management for secure, multi-tenant enterprise cloud, AI Factory and AI Gigafactory environments. The integration is meant to help organizations run virtual machines, containers and GPU workloads with stronger isolation, resilience and storage efficiency.

Why it matters: - Enterprises are under pressure to run cloud and AI workloads across shared infrastructure without sacrificing isolation, performance or governance. - The OpenNebula-NetApp integration is designed to give organizations a unified foundation for virtualized, containerized and GPU-accelerated environments. - The partnership targets private cloud, hybrid deployments and AI Factory workloads, where data control and operational efficiency are increasingly important.

What happened: - OpenNebula Systems announced a partnership with NetApp on August 4, 2026, in Madrid. - The collaboration combines NetApp ONTAP with OpenNebula’s cloud orchestration platform. - The goal is to support secure, multi-tenant infrastructure for enterprise cloud, AI Factory and AI Gigafactory environments. - OpenNebula said the partnership gives organizations a common framework to manage virtualized, containerized and AI workloads more consistently.

The details: - The OpenNebula drivers for NetApp ONTAP support snapshots, replication, thin provisioning, deduplication and compression. - The integration also supports incremental backups without guest agents. - FlexClone technology enables zero-copy cloning of non-persistent images. - The solution supports NAS, SAN and CSI-based storage interfaces. - Multipath iSCSI connectivity and per-host configuration are included to support high availability and throughput at scale. - Automated host management is intended to reduce operational overhead. - OpenNebula provides role-based access control and workload isolation for shared infrastructure. - Communications are secured through authenticated HTTPS REST API calls. - NetApp’s built-in cyber resilience features include AI-powered ransomware detection, identity verification and malicious file blocking. - OpenNebula Systems said the integration helps organizations modernize infrastructure while maintaining security, performance and operational efficiency.

Between the lines: - The partnership reflects a broader push toward digital sovereignty in Europe, where buyers want more control over data and infrastructure choices. - NetApp framed the deal as part of a shift toward open, flexible cloud and AI environments. - OpenNebula is positioning itself as an option for organizations looking for a VMware replacement while also supporting large-scale AI deployments. - The combination of orchestration and storage management suggests both companies are aiming at infrastructure buyers that want fewer moving parts across compute, storage and AI stacks.

What's next: - Organizations interested in sovereign cloud or AI infrastructure can evaluate the combined platform for new deployments or modernization projects. - OpenNebula and NetApp are likely to use the integration to expand into enterprise cloud and AI factory use cases that need secure shared infrastructure. - NetApp directs readers to learn more for additional company information.

The bottom line: - The partnership pairs OpenNebula’s orchestration layer with NetApp’s storage platform to simplify and secure enterprise cloud and AI infrastructure at scale.