A private cloud platform is the software that turns hardware you own into self-service cloud — compute, storage, networking, multi-tenancy, managed data services and a provisioning surface, under your own governance. This page explains what the category has to provide, and how the open-source Kubernetes-native option compares with VMware Cloud Foundation, OpenStack and OpenShift Virtualization.
The open-source reference implementation here is Cozystack — a CNCF project under Apache 2.0, created and maintained by Ænix, running in production with banks, telecom operators and AI/GPU operators across the EU and Central Asia. If you are evaluating the supported commercial version for a regulated estate, that is Ænix Private Cloud Platform.
Who runs a private cloud platform
- Service providers — operating multi-tenant cloud products for enterprise customers
- Banks and insurers — regulated workloads under DORA / sectoral compliance
- Telecom operators — sovereign-cloud product launches
- AI / GPU operators — sustained-utilization GPU workloads where hyperscaler economics don’t fit
- Public-sector and quasi-public — sovereignty-mandated infrastructure under procurement rules
- Enterprise platform teams — internal developer platforms with multi-BU isolation
What a private cloud platform has to provide
1. Compute — VMs and containers on one platform KubeVirt for VMs (KVM-based with live migration, snapshots, templates) plus Kubernetes containers, side by side. No separate VM platform; no separate container platform.
2. Storage — replicated block + S3 object storage LINSTOR (DRBD) for replicated block storage at scale; SeaweedFS for S3-compatible object storage used by applications and backups.
3. Networking — eBPF-native Cilium as the CNI: L4/L7 policies, observability, MetalLB integration, BGP fabric support. NSX-equivalent functionality without NSX licensing.
4. Multi-tenant control plane Tenant CRD model with nested tenants, per-tenant quotas, RBAC, audit. Suitable for service-provider model (multi-customer) or enterprise multi-BU.
5. Managed data services PostgreSQL (CloudNativePG), MariaDB, MongoDB, ClickHouse, Valkey, OpenSearch, Kafka, NATS, RabbitMQ and Qdrant — provisioned as first-class platform services, not bolted-on Helm charts.
6. GPU as a service NVIDIA GPU Operator with HAMi fractional sharing and PCI passthrough for containers, NVIDIA vGPU for VMs. Validated on A100, H100, H200, L40S and Blackwell.
7. Observability VictoriaMetrics + VictoriaLogs included — low-overhead, sovereignty-friendly. Optional Grafana on top.
8. Backup and DR Velero + S3 + per-database PITR for managed services.
9. Self-service portal and billing Cozystack Dashboard for service provisioning, plus a production-ready WHMCS integration for operators that bill their tenants.
How the options compare
| VMware (VCF) | OpenStack | OpenShift Virtualization | Cozystack | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License | Subscription only | Apache 2.0 | Red Hat commercial | Apache 2.0 |
| Compute | vSphere + ESXi | Nova + KVM | KubeVirt | KubeVirt |
| Multi-tenancy | vCloud Director | Keystone projects | Namespaces | Tenant CRD (Kubernetes-native) |
| Managed databases | Limited | DBaaS optional | Available | First-class |
| Self-service portal | vCD | Horizon | Console | Cozystack Dashboard |
| Operational footprint | Heavy (VCF) | Heavy (OpenStack) | Medium (OpenShift) | Light (Kubernetes-native, single platform) |
| Vendor relationship | Closed source US vendor | Foundation, vendor distros | Red Hat | Open source, no vendor lock-in |
| Best for | Existing VMware | Large telco / OpenStack-fluent teams | Existing Red Hat customers | Service providers, regulated multi-tenant, sovereign cloud |
How to start
Two paths:
- Self-deploy — Cozystack is open source. Architecture, install and operations documentation: cozystack.io. CNCF community Slack and Telegram for support.
- Buy the supported product — Ænix Private Cloud Platform adds built DORA and NIS2 architecture, multi-DC runbooks, customer-managed keys, audit-ready logging, an enterprise SLA and the optional developer self-service layer. Delivery runs through private cloud consulting.
For sovereignty / DORA / repatriation / AI-specific motivations, the relevant solution pages:
What’s running on Cozystack in production
Production deployments across the EU, DACH, and Central Asia. Customer base spans service providers, regulated enterprises, telcos, and AI/GPU operators.
"Running Nuvolos on sovereign bare metal meant we needed hyperscaler-grade multi-tenancy without the hyperscaler. Cozystack delivered exactly that — isolated tenants, shared GPUs, KubeVirt for legacy workloads — and it's why we can promise our customers infrastructure control, not just a workspace."
Alexandru PopescuCEO, Nuvolos
What it costs
Cozystack itself is open source under Apache 2.0 and free to run: no per-CPU, per-VM or per-core meter. The real cost of a private cloud platform is hardware plus the platform team that operates it — which is what an assessment sizes.
Ænix sells two things on top: subscription support for organizations running Cozystack themselves, from a published price list, and Ænix Private Cloud Platform as a scoped programme for regulated estates. Both are on the pricing page.
Get started
Or:
- Ænix Private Cloud Platform — the supported product for regulated estates
- cozystack.io — install and documentation
- Private cloud consulting — engineering services
- Platform Readiness Assessment — assessment methodology
- Private cloud providers comparison — full guide
Ænix is the team behind Cozystack (CNCF Project, Kubernetes Certified Distribution, OpenSSF Best Practices) and productizes it as Ænix Platform — Public Cloud Platform, Private Cloud Platform and AI Platform on one engine.