New features and services for enterprise-class open source solutions were introduced to meet demands as cloud-native applications, containers, and Kubernetes become more commonly used.
This week’s virtual Red Hat Summit focused on developments in open source technology for high-performing Linux, cloud, automation and management, container, and Kubernetes technologies.
Along with keynote speakers, product demonstrations, and technical sessions, there were numerous announcements. For those who did not attend, Red Hat:
- Added to its open hybrid cloud technology portfolio with new managed cloud services. Red Hat OpenShift API Management, Red Hat OpenShift Streams for Apache Kafka, and Red Hat OpenShift Data Science are designed to deliver a fully managed and streamlined user experience to build, deploy, manage, and scale cloud-native applications across hybrid environments. These services are tightly integrated with Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated and help mitigate the operational complexities of highly complex modern IT environments without sacrificing developer productivity, providing a common set of capabilities across the full breadth of the open hybrid cloud and on multiple clouds.
- Announced Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus, a new edition of the enterprise Kubernetes platform designed to provide a holistic solution to help customers adopt DevSecOps across the entirety of the hybrid cloud. Offering a complete Kubernetes stack out of the box, Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus brings together everything needed to build, deploy and run nearly any application wherever OpenShift runs. Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus builds on the capabilities of OpenShift Container Platform, taking it a step further by providing a solution that includes advanced security features, day 2 management capabilities, and a global container registry. With Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus, organizations can more consistently implement security features and manage applications wherever they live in the open hybrid cloud and at any point in the software lifecycle.
- Introduced new capabilities and enhancements to its enterprise Linux platform, furthering Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a foundation for the open hybrid cloud, from the data center to the edge. Generally available in the coming weeks, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 refines the platform’s role as a lightweight, production-grade operating system for edge deployments, adding new Linux container deployment and management capabilities scaled for the needs of edge computing. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the established foundation for the Red Hat Edge initiative, which aims to deliver the capabilities of Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud portfolio to edge applications across industries, from telecommunications and transportation to smart automobiles and enterprise devices.
- Expanded Red Hat Insights, its predictive analytics offering, across the open hybrid cloud with the launch of Red Hat Insights for Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and with expanded capabilities for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). With enhanced visibility from on-premises environments to multiple public clouds included in their subscriptions, Red Hat OpenShift, Ansible Automation Platform, and RHEL customers will now have greater visibility and analysis into hybrid cloud operating environments.
Expanding the role of open source in strategic markets
One of the biggest industry trends is the increased use of open source in some of the most demanding environments and application areas. Several announcements from the summit confirmed this trend.
Regarding the use of open source in edge applications, Red Hat introduced new capabilities and enhancements to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Generally available in the coming weeks, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 refines the platform’s role as a lightweight, production-grade operating system for edge deployments, adding new Linux container, deployment and, management capabilities scaled for the needs of edge computing.
See also: Space Edge Computing Insights Apply to All Edge Use Cases
In another critical market, several telecom and communications service providers (CSPs) across the world have chosen Red Hat to help them modernize networks to better meet the challenges of an incredibly competitive, evolving, and growing marketplace. For example, many telcos are turning to open source because they need to provide an open platform for developing, provisioning, managing, and monitoring 5G services so that third parties and partners (device vendors, service providers, analytics firms, etc.) can develop secure, innovative solutions.
And rounding out the markets, Red Hat announced its intent to deliver a functionally safe, evolving Linux operating system for the automotive industry. Built from components of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and in collaboration with exida, a leader in functional safety across multiple industries, this operating system will be designed for continuous updates throughout its lifecycle while still retaining crucial functional safety certifications. Specifically, Red Hat has engaged with exida to help prepare for ISO 26262 certification, an international standard governing the functional safety of electronic systems. The standard provides guidance on how all electronic systems in a vehicle, including software, should be developed and tested. It also defines a safety lifecycle and verification that a system offers an acceptable level of measures to detect and minimize risk, including proven layers of redundancy in complex automotive software and systems.
