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Deployment models for OpenShift/OpenShift Virtualization

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OpenShift Container Platform deployment models are categorized primarily by the infrastructure they run on (cloud vs. on-premises) and how they are managed (by Red Hat or the customer). OpenShift Virtualization can be installed on the OpenShift Container platform.

Key deployment models include

  1. Managed Services (Red Hat Managed): In this model, Red Hat manages the OpenShift Container Platform infrastructure and operations. The customer is responsible for managing their applications and workloads on top of the platform. Examples include:

    1. Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA): A managed service that allows for easy integration with AWS services. OpenShift Virtualization is installed on EC2 bare metal instances on AWS.

    2. Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO): This is a Managed Service on Azure Cloud. OpenShift Virtualization operates on top of Azure Virtual Machines.

    3. Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated (OSD): A fully managed service deployed on Google Cloud, managed by Red Hat. OpenShift Virtualization is deployed on Google Cloud bare metal instances.

  2. Self-Managed Services (Customer Managed): In this case, the OpenShift Container Platform is deployed and managed directly by the customer on their own infrastructure. The infrastructure could be on either public cloud or on-premises.

    1. Public Cloud: Deployed on AWS, Azure or GCP using either Installer-Provisioned infrastructure (IPI) or User-Provisioned Infrastructure (UPI)

    2. Bare Metal: Deployed directly on physical hardware.

    3. Virtualization: Deployed on platforms like VMware vSphere.

Infrastructure deployment Options

  1. Installer-provisioned infrastructure (IPI): The installation program automates the provisioning of infrastructure components, such as networking and machines.

  2. User-provisioned infrastructure (UPI): The user manually creates and manages the infrastructure, providing more control over the environment.

Specialized Deployment Models

  1. Single-node OpenShift (SNO): A full OpenShift cluster installed on a single physical or virtual machine, often used for edge computing.

  2. Disconnected (Air-gapped) Deployment: Deployed in restricted network environments with no external internet access.

  3. Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine: A bare metal-only, virtualization infrastructure, purpose-built to provide enterprises with a reliable, enterprise-grade solution for deploying, managing, and scaling VMs. A subset of OpenShift functionality, this edition of OpenShift is targeted at virtual machine-only workloads.

Additional Resources

For complete details on OpenShift Container platform, refer to the Red Hat documentation here.

For complete details on OpenShift Virtualization, refer to the Red Hat documentation here.