Red Hat launches OpenShift 4.16 with AI & edge enhancements

Red Hat has announced the release of Red Hat OpenShift 4.16, introducing significant enhancements to its Kubernetes-powered hybrid cloud application platform. The update aims to facilitate a more seamless management and deployment experience for organisations, focusing on integrating diverse workloads, including AI and edge applications.

The latest version of OpenShift is designed to help organisations connect their varied workloads, striving for a consistent management and deployment experience across applications and environments. According to Red Hat, this approach is crucial for businesses seeking to implement AI and edge-focused applications in conjunction with existing traditional infrastructure.

The new update features several capabilities to support the evolving needs of virtualised workloads. Key enhancements include Metro disaster recovery for virtual machines (VMs) using Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation and Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. This aims to provide regional disaster recovery support.

Additionally, the 'hot-add CPU' feature allows users to add extra vCPU resources to a running VM in a declarative manner, improving memory density and enabling easier VM scaling. Another significant feature is the multi-cluster virtualisation monitoring with Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management, which allows users to monitor VMs across multiple OpenShift clusters and generate more detailed reports.

Red Hat's Vice President and General Manager for Hybrid Cloud Platforms, Mike Barrett, commented, "Being able to more quickly modernise both infrastructure and applications are crucial capabilities to better support customer needs—but this can't be done overnight. As organisations make technology decisions in support of their AI strategies, both for today and tomorrow, they need platforms that set them up for future success while also balancing the demands of their legacy applications and environments."

The latest enhancements also focus on improving customer experiences at the edge. Red Hat OpenShift 4.16 introduces image-based updates (IBU) for single-node OpenShift. This feature allows users to perform a significant portion of the update process in a pre-production environment, reducing downtime during production updates. If a failed update occurs, users can roll back to the pre-update state to restore service promptly.

Furthermore, the OpenShift-based Appliance Builder has been introduced as a technology preview. This container-based utility enables Red Hat partners to build customised appliances that contain Red Hat OpenShift instances. The Agent-based Installer facilitates the installation of multiple OpenShift clusters, which is especially beneficial for remote edge sites.

Security remains a pivotal concern for businesses utilising Kubernetes environments. Red Hat's 2024 State of Kubernetes Security Report indicates that 67% of respondents cited security issues as a reason for delaying or slowing down application development. Addressing these concerns, Red Hat has made its Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service generally available. This fully managed Kubernetes-native security service supports Red Hat OpenShift and other Kubernetes platforms, including Amazon EKS, Google GKE, and Microsoft AKS.

"Red Hat OpenShift helps customers prepare their infrastructure for the demands of AI while managing and maintaining traditional, mission-critical applications and infrastructure like virtualised environments, all from a single platform," Barrett added.

Red Hat OpenShift 4.16 and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service are now generally available. The latter aims to enable organisations to secure workloads across various cloud environments efficiently without adding significant overhead or complexity.