DOCUMENTATION

Not another pane of glass.
A layer of command.

All layers of a datacenter in one platform

OPEN THE TECHNICAL GUIDE Illustrated procedures, administration, operations and troubleshooting.

RACK-SCALE INFRASTRUCTURE

Scale the infrastructure.
Not just the application.

STRATUM brings application-style scale to virtual datacenters, switching, physical uplinks, storage, compute workers and GPU fabrics. From individual racks to a distributed Continuum, the infrastructure itself becomes orchestrated software.

RACK SCALE ARCHITECTURE ↗WATCH THE AI FACTORY DEMO ↗

USER GUIDE

Operate STRATUM from NOC to Mission Planner.

Network Operations Center

The STRATUM Network Operations Center gives operators one global view of every datacenter. Search and filter the estate, see online, partial, attention, offline and locked states, inspect workload and STRATUMops observations, and open a selected datacenter directly in Mission Planner. STRATUM is designed to operate across fixed datacenters, clouds, edge sites and mobile infrastructure, including maritime, undersea, airborne, floating and orbital or satellite edge platforms participating in the STRATUM Continuum.

Virtual Datacenters

On top right of the Mission Planner interface, select Datacenter. Create or select a virtual datacenter. You have can have many datacenters that are virtually isolated from each other.

Data Layers

Left pane is a drawer that lets you select what you want to show on the Mission Planner canvas. The screenshot here shows no layers selected so its cleaner but without contextual details.

System Arsenal

System Arsenal pull-out drawer on the right side of the datacenter canvas lists all virtual system templates. Switches, firewalls, routers, virtual machines. Deploy to the canvas by clicking one.

Selection Details

Click a node on the canvas and the right pane shows selection details. Runtime state, interfaces, template used, worker execution host, capacity, GPU details.

Right Click Menu

Right click a node on the canvas gives a radial menu for editing and controlling the node. Open the node’s console, edit system, create network or serial link, suspend/resume, hibernate, snapshot management, and move/migrate to another STRATUM worker.

Snapshots

From the right-click radial menu you can manage snapshots. You can include snapshotting memory runtime as well, not just disk. Due to the nature of massive scaling capabilities (10s of thousands of stratum workers), the current version of STRATUM will not let you migrate/move a VM to another host while snapshots are enabled. To migrate/move you will need to press the button ‘Consolidate to Shared Storage’.

Migrate VM

From the right-click radial menu you can move/migrate VMs to specific hosts when there is a specific need to do so. STRATUM shows you what target hosts are compatible with resources, GPUs, ARM vs x86 architecture, etc…

Node Editor (runtime)

From the right-click radial menu you can edit a node. Name, template used, payload image used, ethernet interfaces, and runtime details enabling or disabiling: acceleration, 3D acceleration (OpenGL shared with host), encrypted runtime (memory of VM), and high availability (HA). HA is active-passive, meaning if a VM crashes or its host goes offline, the VM will be rescheduled to run on another worker. Memory state is not preserved with HA in the current STRATUM version.

Node Editor (GPU)

Scrolling down in the node editor gives more settings, removable media and STRATUM’s AI/GPU Accelerator Fabric. You can attach local-to-host PCIe passthrough, but STRATUM also can attach remote accelerators. Any GPU in your datacenter can be shared and are accessible as paravirtual GPU PCIe devices in your VM. You do not need to install any GPU-over-IP software and maintain GPU-over-IP software, just enable the STRATUM GPU device and it enables a paravirtual GPU as a PCIe device. The current version of STRATUM’s special GPU PCI device only supports NVIDIA CUDA runtime.

VM Console

From the right-click radial menu you can open the console. Depending on your VM setup, this could be the display console or a serial port. Serial ports are often used with switches, routers, and firewalls.

Removable Media (runtime)

From the console UI, on the top right is a button with a CDrom icon. That opens up the removable media interface to add or swap ISO images, or add STRATUM’s guest tools image. Guest tools are needed for STRATUM’s paravirtual PCIe GPU device enabling access to remote GPUs as if local. Windows-based VMs should also install STRATUM Guest Tools to enable VirtIO device drivers for performance. Your modern Linux platforms already come with VirtIO device drivers.

All Nodes UI

The All Nodes view provides a centralized table for managing virtual machines and network devices at scale. View CPU, memory, ethernet, GPU, image, and runtime details, edit configurable settings, and manage each node individually or perform lifecycle actions across all selected nodes at once.

STRATUM Switch

While you can use any virtual switch appliance/VM, from Cisco, Arista, Palo Alto, etc.. STRATUM does provide an integrated, fast, and powerful software L2 and L3 switch that uses a familiar interface. Setup VLANs, setup port mirroring, everything you would do in a physical switch. On the right selection panel, you can get more switch and individual port details.

Link Impairment Profile

Selecting a network link on the canvas shows its details in the selection pane on the right. This is useful for testing labs to similiate latency, jitter, and packet loss. Some of our customers use STRATUM as a digital twin, complete with network realism of satelitte communications and large geographical distances.

Edit Link Impairment

Editing a link Impairment profile lets the user enter custom latency, jitter, or packet loss settings or choose from a set of prepared mission effects profiles: clean, high-latency backhaul, degraded RF, or contested link.

Interfaces

Selected Data Layers show in-line details such as Interfaces. A fast operational way to see the digital landscape.

Multi-Wire Connections

Connect the same two systems with multiple independent cables and explicit port-to-port mappings. STRATUM keeps every link as a real topology relationship while presenting parallel wires cleanly on the canvas. Right-click the connection group to inspect member links and work with the individual port mappings. Each link remains independent; configure LACP, bonding or teaming inside the connected systems when the design requires it.

Annotation and Grouping

Annotate a mission planner canvas and add grouping boxes around systems. Access these tools from the bottom dock.

Execution

Selelcted Data Layers show in-line details such as execution/worker host context. With 100s or thousands of STRATUM worker hosts, you can clearly see impact and mission risk quickly.

Storage

Selected Data Layers show in-line details operationally such as storage. STRATUM uses a storage protocol and data is stored on the Controller. STRATUM is also unique in that template VM data is immutable, the individual VMs store deltas but still using the same storage protocl, However snapshots, hibernation, and paused VMs (memory runtime) store that specific metadata locally on the worker node.

Arsenal Forge: Templates

Everything in STRATUM is a template. You deploy a template to the canvas and run it. Think of templates like how Linux container images are to applications. You can deploy 100 application using the same image. Arsenal Forge lets you create, manage, import, and export templates.

Arsenal Forge: Image Create

After you create a template, you need to create a VM image folder using that same template name and a version# (template name = test, VM folder = test-1.0.0). Then click the create VM image button to add a VM disk image into that folder.

Arsenal Forge: VM Images

Your VM images should be in folders that are the same name as its related template, with a version number after it. ISO images can be added in Arsenal Forge too.

Arsenal Forge: ISOs

The STRATUM Arsenal Forge uploads, versions, and manages ISO images used across your virtual datacenters. Administrators can organize, inspect, download, rename, and track image history from one central library.

STRATUM Ops

Operations interface is a datacenter visualization in real-time and is accessible from a button on the left rail. Operational layers include all assets, physical, worker scheduler, workloads, networks, GPU, Storage, and assets requriing operational attention. If you have 100s of nodes, they will show up as their own drill-down node that can be expanded or collapsed. Relationships are key here, and identifying the blast radius to a failure, lineage, or resource contention.

STRATUM Ops Analysis

Analysis interfaces explain clearly the state of distributed datacenters and AI accelerator, network, storage, and compute infrastructure. Visualize exposure, relationships, resource distribution, efficiency, and capacity throughout the fleet.

STRATUM AI: Infrastructure Reasoning.

A datacenter that thinks. STRATUM AI is a movable, context-aware infrastructure interface that can reason directly over the live datacenter. Building and modifying environments, analyzing topology and capacity, explaining selected objects, troubleshooting failures, and inspecting network captures across the fabric. With vision-enabled VM Console Computer Use, it can also enter guest consoles to install, configure, test, debug, click, and type while you watch its actions directly alongside the datacenter canvas.

AI Mission Control

Mission Control exposes AI work while it is happening. For guest VM and device operations, STRATUM shows the delegated task, current goal, execution state and live screen observations while the authorized AI operator works through Guest Tools, commands, Serial or a granted graphical console. Operators can watch, inspect and intervene in AI-driven infrastructure work from the same Mission surface.

AI Mission History

Every STRATUM AI Mission leaves an operational record. Mission History shows the requested outcome, completion state, executed steps, required outcome checks, verification results and recent activity so an operator can see what STRATUM AI actually did and what evidence established success. An optional downloadable debug bundle can provide deeper diagnostic information; its availability is controlled from the AI Administration page.

AI Execution Trace

AI TRACE turns STRATUM AI activity into a visual operational graph of the STRATUM harness. Follow the active path from user intent through Skills, specialist Roles, planning and execution while structured tool events and Mission activity occur. The trace shows which parts of the configured AI Operator influenced the Mission without exposing private model reasoning.

AI Schedule

Setup recurring AI operating tasks and events. Scan, backup, patch, analyze, review... tell STRATUM AI what you want done at what times.

Packet Capture

Launch Packet Capture directly from any STRATUM Switch to inspect live traffic without leaving the operations interface. Filter and decode packets, trace flows through the topology, inspect protocol details, and export PCAP files for deeper analysis or troubleshooting.

Network Flow

Turn packet capture into a topology-aware network relationship map. Network Flow separates directly observed traffic from paths inferred through the STRATUM topology, correlating IP and MAC endpoints, switch context, and workload identities in one live view. It gives operators a fast way to see the systems and relationships behind a packet set without losing the distinction between captured evidence and modeled inference.

Packet Capture Path Highlight

Turn captured traffic into an immediate visual path through the datacenter. STRATUM highlights every node and link involved in the selected flow with an animated pulse, making traffic paths, dependencies, and unexpected routing instantly visible on the live topology.

TUI & CLI

Some people like this. We know who you are. Operate global STRATUM infrastructure from a terminal-based UI with datacenters, workers, VMs, power controls, snapshots, placement and configuration in one keyboard-driven surface. The same STRATUM terminal application also accepts CLI arguments for direct and scripted datacenter control, making it useful over SSH, serial connections, constrained links, headless systems and repeatable automation.

Legacy UI: Virtual Machines

Prefer the classic virtualization-console experience? The optional Legacy UI presents datacenters and VMs through a familiar inventory-and-dashboard workflow with power controls, console access, snapshots, placement, configuration, runtime state, worker assignment and recent tasks. It gives teams accustomed to traditional enterprise virtualization management an immediately recognizable way into STRATUM.

Legacy UI: Networking & Switches

Inspect STRATUM virtual switches through a traditional infrastructure dashboard. View configured and attached ports, MTU, peer relationships, network type and a graphical port topology showing exactly how virtual machines and uplinks attach to the switch.

Legacy UI: Continuum

View STRATUM Continuum through a conventional infrastructure-management lens. Inspect Fabric nodes, network segments, virtual switches, endpoints, Fabric addresses and VM-to-network relationships from a dashboard-style topology view, with additional views for nodes, segments, policy and status.

NETWORK AS SOFTWARE

STRATUM SWITCH

DISTRIBUTED LAYER-2 SWITCHING

Version the wiring too.

Ports, trunks, VLANs, topology, and switch state move with the environment.

STRATUM Switch is a purpose-built distributed switching dataplane—not a switch VM or appliance. Its network definitions are part of the virtual datacenter, so the connections between systems can be versioned, moved, and restored alongside the systems themselves.

STRATUM Switch architecture showing VLAN-aware Layer-2 switching, protected ports, RSTP, LACP, SPAN and packet capture, LLDP and multicast, worker integration, and connections to virtual machines, storage and external networks — One switching model across virtual ports, physical networks, worker execution, and operational visibility. View full size ↗

Switch without the appliance.

Access and trunk ports, VLAN-aware learning, RSTP, LACP, LLDP, PVLANs, multicast snooping, and packet capture.

Carry the network model.

Keep port definitions, VLAN relationships, topology, and switch configuration with the datacenter artifact.

Realize it across workers.

Connect virtual workloads to bridges, VXLAN fabrics, and external networks through the same operating model.

DOWNLOAD SWITCH USER GUIDE ↓ PDF

ADMINISTRATOR GUIDE

Control the Fabrics, identity, AI, security, and execution policy.

Compute Fabric

Cluster-wide (all datacenters, clouds, labs, edge) partitions, jobs, nodes, and compute fabric status. Every VM, network switch, firewall,or router are submitted as jobs, similiar to how High Performance Computing (HPC) delivers massive execution scale.

AI Accelerator Fabric

Cluster-wide remote GPU capacity, placement, and VM attachment readiness. Users select AI/GPU capability only and STRATUM owns GPU placement, VM transport, and guest CUDA/NVML exposure.

Network Fabric

The STRATUM Continuum is encrypted mesh management paths and distributed private datacenter networks. All STRATUM worker nodes connect through this network fabric even if they are remote, Cloud, or edge. It provides a virtual datacenter network substrate across everything to form 1 platform. Workers initiate outbound HTTPS enrollment and connect into the distributed Continuum mesh autonomously. Their private tunnel keys never leave the worker. For manual enrollment, you download Token and Controller CA from this interface.

License Management

License add, replace, download, and details

Users

User administration. Create, delete, edit, select role, select groups. Users are able to use CAC or YukiKey but those require a valid TLS certificate for STRATUM. The user sets those up from the login window.

Roles

Manage User roles such as platform administration, enabling users to edit mission topology where you can have users view-only and operate VMs and the network but cannot make changes.

Groups

Manage User groups.

Sessions

List users logged in and if active.

Audit

Administative action audit showing time, actor, action, and target.

Execution Hosts

STRATUM host execution enrollment is automated, but you are able to add worker nodes manually, edit, and delete them. Not usually necessary but it is here in case manual worker host configuration is needed.

Storage Fabric

The STRATUM Storage Fabric distributes controller-authoritative VM image replicas across dedicated STRATUM Storage nodes to reduce centralized storage load and place VM data closer to where it runs. Administrators assign templates to specific storage nodes, review the desired placement, and ‘Bake’ the Storage to replicate those images to their selected destinations. Storage nodes can operate across edge locations, cloud environments, multiple datacenters, or even disconnected platforms that have selective needs, while remaining connected through direct Continuum iSCSI paths. The controller retains the authoritative copy, giving STRATUM a consistent source of truth while allowing new VM disks to be served from the most appropriate storage location.

Directory Services

Connect STRATUM to Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Entra Domain Services (Azure AD DS), or any standards-based LDAP directory for centralized authentication.

STRATUM AI Configuration

Connect STRATUM to an OpenAI-compatible AI endpoint for infrastructure reasoning and assisted operations. Configure the model, authentication, request limits, and optional vision-based VM Console Computer Use while retaining STRATUM user permissions and administrative control. Multi-modal LLM is required for VM Console interfacing (installing OS, debug, troubleshoot, the AI needs to be able to ‘see’ your VM console and interact with it).

Install a Worker

Ensure mutual FQDN hostname resolution! Copy stratum-container.tar and stratum-host binary to the worker. STRATUM’s Network Fabric UI has a Worker Enrollment section to download stratum-enroll token and controller-ca files, including the commands to type on the worker. Copy these to the worker. Apply host settings: ./stratum-host apply -yes Copy/paste the host.yaml from the UI Run the commands shown in the Worker Enrollment UI.

Install a Storage Worker

Ensure mutual FQDN hostname resolution! Copy stratum-container.tar and stratum-host binary to the worker. STRATUM’s Network Fabric UI has a Worker Enrollment section to download stratum-enroll token and controller-ca files, including the commands to type on the worker. Copy these to the worker. Apply host settings: ./stratum-host apply -yes Copy/paste the host.yaml from the UI change role: worker to role: storage Run the commands shown in the Worker Enrollment UI.

Disk Encryption

Disk encryption is a property of the storage volume. Storage Fabric flow can distribute encrypted images. Enable or disable encryption on VM disks. NOTE: exporting an Arsenal bundle retains its encryption.

AI Studio

Operationalize STRATUM AI as a versioned infrastructure operator. AI Studio uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) to connect specialist Roles, Skills, live infrastructure context, guardrails, compliance policy, approvals, execution and verification. Typed wires carry intent, capabilities, authority, policy and evidence forward through the operator graph; invalid connections are rejected instead of becoming arbitrary workflow wiring. Publish and activate an Operator revision, simulate it without infrastructure mutation, and trace how policy or specialist behavior affected a Mission.

Compliance UI

Software supply-chain evidence belongs in the operating platform. STRATUM Administration includes a dedicated Compliance UI that exposes the platform SBOM and component detail directly to the operator. Government interest in SBOMs continues to increase, including proposed Federal Acquisition Regulation changes focused on software supply-chain security. STRATUM is delivered as a versioned Datacenter-as-an-Application artifact, giving operators one consistent platform and one visible software supply chain across the Continuum.

Post Quantum Crypto (PQC)

STRATUM is post-quantum. Enable PQC from Administration to add hybrid quantum-resistant protection to Continuum communications. STRATUM supports the NIST-standardized FIPS 203 ML-KEM, FIPS 204 ML-DSA, and FIPS 205 SLH-DSA algorithm families, with cryptographic-module validation tracked separately by module and version.

GPU Firewall

AI Infrastructure has a new security perimeter: the GPU. STRATUM GPU Firewall puts Allow / Pass and Deny / Drop enforcement directly into the virtual PCI GPU path, giving operators a STRATUM-owned security boundary between AI workloads and accelerator providers. Deep CUDA/NVML-aware inspection and automated GPU threat response are the next frontier now under development.

DEVSECOPS GUIDE

Package and deliver infrastructure through software pipelines.

Workload Layering

Layer VM disks, templates, configuration, and platform content into a portable STRATUM OCI image for versioned Datacenter-as-an-Application delivery.

VIEW PROJECT ON GITHUB

Move from VMware to STRATUM

Convert VMware-exported OVA/OVF packages into portable STRATUM Arsenal Bundles and bring existing workloads into the versioned application model.

VIEW PROJECT ON GITHUB

Deliver Everywhere

Move the same operating model across Linux hosts, Kubernetes platforms, datacenters, cloud infrastructure, and distributed edge environments.

VIEW PROJECT ON GITHUB

INSTALL GUIDE

Get from a Linux host to a running STRATUM environment.

System Requirements

A 64-bit Linux host, container runtime, and hardware-assisted virtualization. Size for STRATUM and the guest workloads that will run alongside it.

STRATUM Host (TUI & CLI)

Use stratum-host to configure, plan, verify, and operate the platform from a terminal. Review actions before applying changes.

Optional Appliance Deployment

Deploy STRATUM on a dedicated appliance-style Linux host or as an infrastructure container on an existing compatible host.

Setup Host

Prepare the Linux host, hostname, networking, certificates, and role-specific settings with stratum-host.

Deploy Container

Load or pull the STRATUM OCI image using Docker or Podman and keep durable state outside the replaceable application image.

Start STRATUM

Start the controller, validate status, and open the configured HTTPS endpoint (default is port 8443) to begin building the datacenter.

Setup GPU

Run stratum-host TUI or CLI, configure host GPUs to be shared in the STRATUM GPU Fabric or as passthrough to local VMs.

Append Custom VMs

Append custom VMs into the STRATUM container or delivery and deployment. Add your preinstalled VMs to the container and distribute pre-installed datacenters to the fleet.

Sideload VMs

Inject custom VM images into STRATUM without going through Arsenal or templates. This is unsupported but is available or legacy VMs and network device images.

TLS Certificates

Change and update TLS certificates at /etc/stratum/certs.

Append Custom VMs

Append custom VMs into the STRATUM container or delivery and deployment. Add your preinstalled VMs to the container and distribute pre-installed datacenters to the fleet.

VMware Migrate

Migrate from VMware to STRATUM by converting the OVA/OVF, or VHDK from Hyper-V, to an stratumarsenel file.

VMware Migrate Part2

Import the created stratumarsenal bundle into STRATUM for immediate use in deployments.

Kubernetes Deploy

Deploy STRATUM into Kubernetes or OpenShift with the controller-first Helm workflow, then add worker roles as required.

Not another pane of glass.A layer of command.

Scale the infrastructure.Not just the application.

Operate STRATUM from NOC to Mission Planner.

Network Operations Center

Virtual Datacenters

Data Layers

System Arsenal

Selection Details

Right Click Menu

Snapshots

Migrate VM

Node Editor (runtime)

Node Editor (GPU)

VM Console

Removable Media (runtime)

All Nodes UI

STRATUM Switch

Link Impairment Profile

Edit Link Impairment

Interfaces

Multi-Wire Connections

Annotation and Grouping

Execution

Storage

Arsenal Forge: Templates

Arsenal Forge: Image Create

Arsenal Forge: VM Images

Arsenal Forge: ISOs

STRATUM Ops

STRATUM Ops Analysis

STRATUM AI: Infrastructure Reasoning.

AI Mission Control

AI Mission History

AI Execution Trace

AI Schedule

Packet Capture

Network Flow

Packet Capture Path Highlight

TUI & CLI

Legacy UI: Virtual Machines

Legacy UI: Networking & Switches

Legacy UI: Continuum

Version the wiring too.

Switch without the appliance.

Carry the network model.

Realize it across workers.

Control the Fabrics, identity, AI, security, and execution policy.

Compute Fabric

AI Accelerator Fabric

Network Fabric

License Management

Users

Roles

Groups

Sessions

Audit

Execution Hosts

Storage Fabric

Directory Services

STRATUM AI Configuration

Install a Worker

Install a Storage Worker

Disk Encryption

AI Studio

Compliance UI

Post Quantum Crypto (PQC)

GPU Firewall

Package and deliver infrastructure through software pipelines.

Workload Layering

Move from VMware to STRATUM

Deliver Everywhere

Get from a Linux host to a running STRATUM environment.

System Requirements

STRATUM Host (TUI & CLI)

Optional Appliance Deployment

Setup Host

Deploy Container

Start STRATUM

Setup GPU

Append Custom VMs

Not another pane of glass.
A layer of command.

Scale the infrastructure.
Not just the application.