Open-source Linux vendor Red Hat Inc. has thrown in support for OpenStack Neutron and other new technologies with the latest release of its software virtualization package, in what looks like a bid to steal customers away from VMware Inc.’s more widely-used solution.

Targeted at convergence, Red Hat Virtualization 4 is the first version of the platform that doesn’t include the word “enterprise,” in a move that suggests the company is hoping its virtualized stack will become the platform for convergence, rather than a server density product.

OpenStack Neutron is the open-source networking project used by Software-Defined Networks (SDNs), which up until now has only been available as a preview. Many have criticized Neutron’s development for lagging behind the rest of OpenStack’s code base, and Red Hat was one of several vendors to concede that things could be sped up a bit. With the inclusion of the software in Red Hat Virtualization, the company says its Linux platform can be used to run both cloud-enabled and “traditional” workloads in concert.

Also supported by the new platform is Red Hat Atomic Host, which Red Hat describes as an operating system for running Docker and Kubernetes on Linux hosts. Features include privileged support for containers as well as the ability to update and roll back images. In addition, Atomic Host supports a guest system which allows guest agents to run as, and report on, containers atop the Atomic Host VM.

Red Hat Virtualization also uses a much smaller hypervisor derived from its Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.2 platform, which only installs packages required to run the host as a hypervisor with no excessive packages, the company said.

The new hypervisor lets you “streamline the installation of system packages and driver updates, simplify the deployment of modern technologies, and provide better hardware support configuration management integration,” Red Hat said in a statement.

As for stealing customers away from VMware, Red Hat’s main pitch seems to be similar to what Oracle’s database competitors are saying – it’s more about the contractual requirements (or lack of them) than it is about the logistical and technical difficulties. The company points out that the lifecycle of current generation Intel hardware is ripe for a refresh, and at the same time, many VMware ELAs are also up for renewal, which means many businesses have a great opportunity to switch.

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