Unlocking Modernization: SUSE Virtualization on Arm64 With Harvester

As the number of data centers and their size grow worldwide, requiring increased efficiency, scalability, and agility from IT infrastructure, the convergence of virtual machines (VMs) and cloud-native technologies is crucial for success.

A recent conversation between Dave Neary of Ampere Computing and Alexandra Settle, Product Manager for SUSE Virtualization, highlights a significant step forward: the general availability of SUSE Virtualization for Arm64 architecture, and Harvester’s pivotal role within SUSE’s ecosystem. This white paper summarizes their discussion, highlighting how SUSE is empowering organizations to modernize infrastructure with energy-efficient, high-performance solutions.

SUSE Virtualization and Harvester: A Hyperconverged Foundation

SUSE Virtualization, powered by its open-source upstream project Harvester, emerges as a robust hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution designed to simplify IT operations. It unifies the management of virtual machines, containers, distributed storage, and comprehensive observability under a single, intuitive platform. Built on a Linux base, Harvester leverages Kubernetes (specifically RKE2) as its orchestration engine. This foundation integrates key cloud-native technologies, such as KubeVirt for virtual machine management, Longhorn for persistent block storage, and Prometheus/Grafana for monitoring and analytics.

The core value proposition of SUSE Virtualization is its ability to bridge the gap between legacy VM workloads and modern containerized applications. It enables organizations to run both side-by-side, facilitating a smoother, incremental transition towards cloud-native architectures without the need to replace existing investments. This approach addresses the prevalent challenge of modernization, where virtual machines, despite the rise of containers, continue to play a critical role. SUSE further supports this journey through partnerships with migration specialists, assisting customers in transitioning VMs to Harvester and ultimately to container-based architectures as appropriate.

The Strategic Advantage of Arm64 With Ampere

A critical enabler of this modernization strategy is the integration of Arm64 architecture support. Ampere Computing is at the forefront of designing energy-efficient, many-core processors specifically tailored for cloud workloads. The advantages of Arm64 processors, particularly Ampere’s offerings, are compelling: they deliver single-threaded cores for predictable vCPU performance, enabling higher core density per rack. This translates into significantly lower power consumption and substantial cost benefits, positioning Arm as an attractive, greener alternative for cloud operators and enterprises alike. These attributes directly align with customer demands for enhanced performance, reduced operational costs, and environmentally sustainable infrastructure.

A Phased Rollout and Community Engagement

The path to general availability for Arm64 support has been a collaborative effort. Harvester first introduced Arm64 as a technical preview in its 1.3 release. Through extensive testing and QA with partners like Ampere, and invaluable community input, Arm64 achieved general availability and full support with the SUSE Virtualization 1.5 release (community release 1.5.0 in late May '25), with the enterprise “Prime” release following shortly thereafter. 

This commitment extends across the SUSE ecosystem, with components like Longhorn already supporting Arm64, and future plans targeting Rancher Manager for multi-cluster management on Arm64 in FY25. SUSE actively encourages users to test Harvester on Arm64, provide feedback, and engage with the active community channels on the Rancher Users Slack. This collaborative approach recognizes that real-world testing across diverse environments is crucial for platform refinement and robustness.

Conclusion: A Path to Efficient Cloud Modernization

The partnership between SUSE and Ampere, underscored by the general availability of SUSE Virtualization on Arm64, represents a significant leap forward in cloud modernization. It offers organizations a powerful, energy-efficient, and cost-effective path to integrate their existing VM infrastructure with the agility of cloud-native containers. This strategic alignment empowers businesses to build resilient, scalable, and sustainable IT environments for the future.

Key points:

• SUSE Virtualization (Harvester) is an HCI solution for VMs, containers, storage, and observability, built on Kubernetes.
• It bridges legacy VMs with modern cloud-native applications, enabling incremental modernization.
• Arm64 support is now generally available, offering significant benefits like lower power consumption, higher core density, and reduced costs.
• Ampere Computing provides energy-efficient, high-performance Arm64 processors tailored for cloud workloads.
• The platform leverages KubeVirt, Longhorn, Prometheus/Grafana, all integrated with Kubernetes (RKE2).

To gain deeper insights and see the full discussion, we invite you to watch the complete video:

Check out the full Ampere article collection here.