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5 essential OpenShift use cases for IT operations teams
OpenShift can be used for application modernization, DevOps pipeline integration, infrastructure and compute resource management, and onboarding and training environments.
Standard containerization quickly outgrew single-instance deployments, resulting in products such as Kubernetes that support the orchestration of container clusters. Red Hat OpenShift, which is built on Kubernetes, provides more effective management, including container deployment and scaling.
Although container orchestration on Kubernetes is the essential function of OpenShift, the platform offers many benefits and capabilities. It includes the following primary features:
- Security and compliance. Enhanced security capabilities include security context constraints, authentication, access controls and an enterprise container registry. These features go well beyond standard Kubernetes security settings.
- Enterprise-class platform. OpenShift is designed for enterprise use, with integrated monitoring and logging, centralized cluster management and self-service capabilities for operational stability.
- Scalability. Supporting variable workloads is an essential component of OpenShift.
- Integrated tools. Developer tools are built into OpenShift, easing the process of building applications. OpenShift assumes integration into CI/CD pipelines for automated build, test and deployment workflows.
This article explains the primary use cases for OpenShift from a strategic perspective, providing insights on how its container management features integrate with an organization's application management goals.
Get started with OpenShift
This article does not cover OpenShift deployment or configuration, but it's useful to have some idea of how to begin. Use the following general steps to get started:
- Review documentation and guides, including Kubernetes content.
- Consider installing OpenShift locally as a learning resource. Once you're familiar with it, deploy it on-premises or in a cloud environment.
- Install the OpenShift CLI.
- Launch a test cluster and deploy a sample application.
- Familiarize yourself with OpenShift automation options.
Red Hat offers multiple OpenShift editions. You can choose cloud service editions for AWS, Azure, IBM Cloud or other cloud platforms. However, if you want to deploy OpenShift on your infrastructure, consider one of the self-managed editions. You will need a Red Hat subscription for an official deployment and related support options.
Many official and unofficial beginner resources are available online. There is also an extensive community for support and collaboration.
1. Support legacy applications
You can enhance application security and compliance for legacy applications using OpenShift. One approach is to modernize legacy applications by migrating them to containers. If that's not possible, consider supporting some functionality within the OpenShift deployment:
- Virtualization. Virtualize legacy applications and deploy them as pods inside OpenShift clusters. Benefits include security, network, scalability and automation.
- Gradual modernization. Incrementally migrate application functionality to containerized environments and microservices.
- Sidecar containers. To improve capabilities without reauthoring the application, support tasks such as monitoring, security and logging can be offloaded to sidecar containers attached to legacy applications.
Another way of supporting legacy applications is to run VMs and containers side by side in the same pods. OpenShift Virtualization integrates traditional virtualization with container orchestration into a single unified platform. This powerful feature supports not only legacy applications but also modern programs where needed.
2. DevOps and CI/CD integration
One of OpenShift's key features is orchestrating build, test and deployment processes for containerized applications. The primary component is OpenShift Pipelines, which breaks down steps into scalable containers for repeatable automated workflows.
However, OpenShift includes more than just its own automation components. Its APIs and resources also integrate with the industry's leading DevOps tools, such as GitOps, Jenkins, GitLab and GitHub Actions.
OpenShift Pipelines reduces deployment friction by minimizing bottlenecks and infrastructure requirements. It includes these specific features to improve the deployment process:
- A serverless platform for OpenShift Pipelines to reduce operational overhead.
- GitOps integration for reliable and automated workflows.
- A self-service environment for developers to create pipelines, audit logs and manage resources.
- Extensive tool availability, including OpenShift Console, a command-line environment and IDE integration.
- Application deployments based on containerized deployment steps to ensure consistency across development, test and production environments.
OpenShift offers similar benefits to other automation and orchestration utilities and processes, making it an excellent choice for efficient and customizable containerized application deployment.
3. Infrastructure management
Consider using OpenShift to support your organization's broader infrastructure, including edge computing and scalable infrastructure as code (IaC) initiatives.
OpenShift's flexible deployment options enable provisioning within more limited spaces, such as edge computing environments. For environments with limited space and network resources, deploy single-node clusters. You could also deploy remote worker nodes while retaining centralized management.
Scale these deployments using OpenShift's native container orchestration capabilities, integrating its features into your organization's larger IaC infrastructure.
4. Compute resource management
OpenShift relies on various compute resources to support application availability. The platform integrates cloud-native containerization and orchestration to run workloads on high-performance computing platforms.
It also enables deployment of essential applications for availability and security, such as in the following areas:
- Mission-critical applications. OpenShift also provides high availability, scalability and security for enterprise applications, enabling it to support resource-intensive workloads.
- Microservices. Developers use OpenShift to host microservices, using Kubernetes container orchestration and lifecycle management. These loosely coupled services offer application flexibility, maintainability and testability. Integrating microservice development with CI/CD pipelines enables rapid deployment and scaling.
One area of growing concern for application developers and maintainers is supply chain management. Enhancing program security and satisfying compliance requirements are essential goals for developers.
Organizations can orchestrate the digital supply chain using OpenShift, ensuring secure data transfers from various sources. As a scalable and highly available environment, OpenShift helps ensure compliance with common requirements.
5. Onboarding and training environments
OpenShift enables effective and efficient developer onboarding by providing tools and workflows for reduced complexity and increased productivity.
Specific examples include the following:
- Integrated developer tools for a familiar environment.
- Integration with CI/CD pipelines to simplify deployments and enable frequent iterative development.
- Available developer resources, including templates and blueprints for easier workflow management.
- Rapid provisioning of learning, test and production environments to enable new developers to work directly with OpenShift tools.
- Available collaborative development environments, including dashboards, monitoring and logging, providing visibility into application progress and health.
OpenShift makes an excellent internal development and learning platform, which helps streamline training and onboarding processes.
Conclusion
OpenShift's security, compliance, scalability and tool integration features benefit automated application development and deployment. You can use it to develop modern containerized apps and support the legacy applications you can't get rid of yet. Don't forget to make it available as an onboarding and training tool for the developer team. It will fold nicely into your DevOps environment with strong CI/CD support.
Damon Garn owns Cogspinner Coaction and provides freelance IT writing and editing services. He has written multiple CompTIA study guides, including the Linux+, Cloud Essentials+ and Server+ guides, and contributes extensively to TechTarget Editorial, The New Stack and CompTIA Blogs.
