USE CASE

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for edge computing

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Overview

Edge computing moves processing power closer to data sources, allowing organizations to deploy latency-sensitive applications, gather data from IoT devices, and create sites that can operate even when a connection to the datacenter or cloud is lost.

But scaling operations across distributed edge architectures can be challenging, as limited staff are often forced to deal with incompatible technology at sites that vary in size, network connectivity, and energy use. Red Hat® Ansible® Automation Platform uses containerization to distribute and run automation across environments, helping operations teams standardize configuration and deployment from datacenters, across clouds, and all the way to edge locations.

Ansible Automation Platform offers a single, consistent view of your IT landscape, so that your teams can reliably manage thousands of sites, network devices, and clusters. This unified approach to automation can help you lower operational expenses and deliver smoother customer experiences at edge sites, where resources are limited.

Automate with confidence at the network edge. Video duration: 1:18

Features and benefits

Scale rapidly

Automation mesh quickly and reliably scales capacity for local and remote automation workloads to meet automation volume demands.

Reduce risk

Native features like hop nodes introduce fault tolerance and redundancy capabilities to reduce the impact of external dependencies.

Execute consistently

Automated health checks determine the optimal route and node to run automation jobs based on key metrics before sending staff into the field.

Scale with improved security

Execute automation workflows closer to edge endpoints through an encrypted and distributed architecture, while keeping a centralized control layer with enterprise-grade capabilities.

Execute locally

Increase resilience to high latency and connection disruptions by running automation closer to the endpoints.

Automate across your enterprise

Manage infrastructure across vendors, locations, and domains where there are few or no IT staff. Use Event-Driven Ansible to respond automatically to environmental changes and mitigate performance issues.

Automate your enterprise. All the way to the edge.

Ansible Automation Platform uses automation mesh, a flexible and scalable architecture, to ease the distribution of work across a large and dispersed collection of workers. It connects remote execution nodes to a centralized automation controller.

Automation mesh allows you to automate:

  • Distributed computing elements
  • Inventory Internet of Things (IoT) device endpoints at the far edge
  • Network edge devices
  • Application life cycle management on Windows and Linux® endpoints
  • Actions in response to user input at the infrastructure edge
Automation mesh distributes workloads across a wide dispersion of workers

Diagram: Automation mesh distributes workloads across a wide dispersion of workers

Protect endpoint devices

Modern IT environments have an ever-growing number of devices on the network—particularly with the increase in remote workers. Endpoint protection platforms (EPPs) detect, investigate, and remediate malicious activities on endpoint devices, the most numerous and vulnerable elements of an IT infrastructure. With Ansible Automation Platform, you can integrate EPP tools into larger security processes, providing event-driven detection, quarantining, and remediation. 

Manage edge deployments at scale with Red Hat Device Edge

Red Hat Device Edge combines the native edge capabilities of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and MicroShift, a lightweight Kubernetes distribution based on Red Hat OpenShift®. It offers a consistent, scalable operational experience and the flexibility to deploy bare metal, virtual, or containerized workloads to resource constrained edge devices—all with a single platform.

Industries automating at the edge

Retail and restaurants

Automate endpoints to simplify infrastructure operations, reinforce security policies, and standardize device configuration across branches. Plus, reduce the time to deploy IT resources when expanding or relocating.

Transportation

Automate the life cycle of edge devices with updates delivered to field devices as needed with minimal disruption to users and operations teams.

Financial services

Automate software patches, configuration compliance, and security policies to reinforce network security across devices and remote locations.

Industrial

Automate configurations of virtualization, IoT devices, networks, and applications in industrial and manufacturing facilities.

Healthcare

Configure and manage healthcare devices, data collection, and networks across your entire healthcare IT infrastructure.

Energy

Simplify applications updates and solve dependencies including certificates and licenses management across your Human-Machine Interface (HMI) devices.

Red Hat named a leader in infrastructure automation

Forrester Research named Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform a leader in The Forrester WaveTM: Infrastructure Automation, Q1, 2023—with the highest score in the strategy category.

Customer success stories

Alstom: Transforming railway communications

Alstom uses Red Hat technologies to modernize and manage applications while delivering new business innovation.

Siemens improves communications security

Siemens, a German technology company, automates its public key infrastructure with Red Hat to help secure communications and IoT solutions.

Retailer Schwarz Group automates IT

The Schwarz Group uses self-service capabilities to quickly deploy innovative digital services and stay competitive.

Keep learning

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