Red Hat announced updated versions of its Kubernetes-focused OpenShift and Advanced Cluster Management (ACM) platforms, highlighting the vendor’s focus on providing organizations with more flexibility in managing their container-based infrastructure in edge locations.

OpenShift 4.9 now supports a single-node architecture targeted at edge environments. This option combines worker and control capabilities into one server, which reduces the need to rely on a centralized Kubernetes control plane and addresses the challenge of space-constrained environments with a smaller deployment footprint.  

OpenShift continues to offer support for 3-node clusters and remote worker nodes.

Red Hat also introduced the 2.4 version of its ACM platform, which is a Kubernetes-based application that runs on top of OpenShift. This update includes full management of a company’s application portfolio, and is compatible across single node OpenShift, 3-node clusters, and remote worker nodes.

Red Hat ACM gives users a consistent view of Kubernetes clusters regardless of deployment environment — the edge, data centers, or cloud environments. This allows for reliable management of large numbers of clusters without a permanent connection between Red Hat ACM and the deployment site.

The ACM update introduces additional features for edge deployment, including edge management at scale. Users can manage under 2,000 single node OpenShift clusters through one ACM hub, even in low-bandwidth environments with high-latency connections.

Hub-side policy templating lowers the amount of policies needed to manage clusters and instead reads one policy on the ACM hub and applies that policy to various cluster scenarios. 

Red Hat also announced validated patterns to simplify the job of building a full edge stack. Validated patterns defines, builds, and verifies software configurations needed for edge deployments, and the vendor can then deliver edge stacks as code.

Validated patterns is designed to adapt to future software updates. Re-validation occurs as needed, minimizing customer risk. These patterns are also open, the vendor said, and contributors can collaborate within the community and suggest changes to the tool.