USE CASE
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for edge computing
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.
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
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.
IDC MarketScape report: Red Hat a leader in cloud management
Red Hat was named a leader in IDC’s 2024 assessment of vendors for multicloud and hybrid cloud management with automation. According to IDC, enterprises can confidently choose Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, thanks to its “comprehensive capabilities and broad support in accelerating automation maturity.”
Customer success stories
Southwest Airlines builds more reliable networks
Ansible Automation Platform helps the airline standardize configurations and scale operations to ensure better uptime across distributed airport locations.
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
Blog
Let’s level set at the edge
Red Hat experts define near edge and far edge, and give examples across multiple industries.
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Edge Automation with NetGitOps on Ansible Automation Platform 2
See how to automate wireless network access point settings at scale through an SD-WAN controller.
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Ansible validated content: Introduction to infra.osbuild collection
Learn how to easily deploy the osbuild components and build a Red Hat Enterprise Linux® edge image for your deployments.
