Deploy workloads in resource-constrained devices at the far edge

October 3, 2023•
Resource type: Datasheet
Download PDF

Bringing workloads to the far edge

Red Hat® Device Edge comes equipped with the capabilities needed to deploy and manage edge devices and their workloads at scale. Using Red Hat build of MicroShift, it brings together lightweight Kubernetes, Red Hat Enterprise Linux®, and Red Hat Ansible® Automation Platform to meet the needs of workloads running in resource-constrained, field-deployed devices.  

Features and benefits 

Through this single platform, users choose the capabilities that meet their needs. They can deploy the operating system (OS) and add Kubernetes orchestration later, using Red Hat build of MicroShift, or deploy the OS and Red Hat build of MicroShift at the same time. In either case, Red Hat Device Edge offers a consistent management experience via Ansible Automation Platform. 

With Red Hat Device Edge, users benefit from:

  • A platform that supports workload deployments in small, resource-constrained devices in challenging environments (like industrial controllers, point of sales terminals, drones, etc.). 
  • A smaller platform footprint so device resources are preserved for the deployed workload rather than used to run the device itself. 
  • A consistent operational experience from small edge devices all the way to large IT systems in the datacenter and cloud.
  • The flexibility to deploy and manage bare-metal, virtual, containerized, or Kubernetes workloads.     

Table 1. Platform and edge-specific capabilities

PlatformCapability
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Customizable OS image generationProvides IT teams with the ability to create purpose-built OS images through image builder optimized for various edge architectures and customizable for compact edge deployments
Efficient over-the-air updates

Transfer significantly less data, as only the difference between software versions is transmitted for remote sites with limited or intermittent connectivity that provides each install to happen during scheduled downtime or when device owners choose to apply them

Delta OS updates via rpm-ostree

Intelligent device updates are optimized to reduce bandwidth utilization by only transferring updated bits (deltas) of the OS image 

Intelligent rollbacks

Provides application-specific health checks to detect issues and automatically revert an OS update, preventing downtime, which is important when devices are in locations with limited accessibility or specialized, on-site IT teams (oil rigs, satellites, etc.)

Red Hat build of MicroShift
Cluster services
  • Containers: Red Hat Device Edge provides all of the standard Kubernetes application programming interfaces (APIs) and services for container orchestration, using cri-o as the container runtime.
  • Networking: As Container Network Interface (CNI) driver, Red Hat Device Edge uses Open Virtual Network-Kubernetes (OVN-Kubernetes), which is also used by OpenShift.
  • Ingress: Red Hat Device Edge carries over both the ingress controller and Red Hat OpenShift Route API to simplify exposing a service at a host name.
  • Storage: Red Hat Device Edge comes bundled with the logical volume manager (LVM) storage and Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver to provide advanced storage capacities like thin provisioning or volumes snapshots with local storage from the edge devices.

Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Certified Kubernetes distribution

Red Hat build of MicroShift is a CNCF certified distribution of Kubernetes, providing a consistent Kubernetes API to ensure operational consistency across hybrid cloud deployments (public, on-premise, hybrid, edge, or any combination thereof). 
Application portability

Red Hat build of MicroShift extends Kubernetes to the farthest reaches of the edge, allowing applications to where they are most needed—from core to cloud to edge.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Ansible Content Collections available in Ansible automation hub (console.redhat.com) and private automation hub

2 Ansible validated content collections are available in Ansible automation hub to support rpm-ostree images and Red Hat build of MicroShift life cycle use cases at scale:

  • edge.microshift to build rpm-ostree-based images to run, configure, and upgrade Red Hat build of MicroShift and deploy Kubernetes workloads on Red Hat build of MicroShift
  • infra.osbuild collection to provide the automation content needed to build an osbuild server, an Apache HTTP Server to host images, and a role to build installer images and rpm-ostree updates 

All of these components allow user to build rpm-ostree-based images

Red Hat Device Edge technical specifications

2 buying options

Red Hat Device Edge includes:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the edge-optimized OS.
  • Red Hat build of MicroShift—a lightweight, Kubernetes-based container orchestration derived from Red Hat OpenShift and focused on minimizing users’ footprint.
  • Ansible Automation Platform to manage Day 1 device deployments and Day 2 ongoing platform and workload operations.
  • SKUs:
    • MW02577 (Premium)
    • MW02581 (Standard)

Red Hat Device Edge Essentials includes:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the edge-optimized OS.
  • Red Hat build of MicroShift—a lightweight, Kubernetes-based container orchestration derived from Red Hat OpenShift and focused on minimizing users’ footprint.
  • SKUs:
    • MW02240 (Premium)
    • MW02241 (Standard)

Resource requirements

For more information, visit red.ht/deviceedge.

Tags:Edge computing