#introduction to openshift

[seodigital7]

Hybrid Cloud Application: The Smart Future of Business IT

Introduction

In today’s digital-first environment, businesses are constantly seeking scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions to stay competitive. One solution that is gaining rapid traction is the hybrid cloud application model. Combining the best of public and private cloud environments, hybrid cloud applications enable businesses to maximize performance while maintaining control and security.

This 2000-word comprehensive article on hybrid cloud applications explains what they are, why they matter, how they work, their benefits, and how businesses can use them effectively. We also include real-user reviews, expert insights, and FAQs to help guide your cloud journey.

What is a Hybrid Cloud Application?

A hybrid cloud application is a software solution that operates across both public and private cloud environments. It enables data, services, and workflows to move seamlessly between the two, offering flexibility and optimization in terms of cost, performance, and security.

For example, a business might host sensitive customer data in a private cloud while running less critical workloads on a public cloud like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.

Key Components of Hybrid Cloud Applications

Public Cloud Services – Scalable and cost-effective compute and storage offered by providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Private Cloud Infrastructure – More secure environments, either on-premises or managed by a third-party.

Middleware/Integration Tools – Platforms that ensure communication and data sharing between cloud environments.

Application Orchestration – Manages application deployment and performance across both clouds.

Why Choose a Hybrid Cloud Application Model?

1. Flexibility

Run workloads where they make the most sense, optimizing both performance and cost.

2. Security and Compliance

Sensitive data can remain in a private cloud to meet regulatory requirements.

3. Scalability

Burst into public cloud resources when private cloud capacity is reached.

4. Business Continuity

Maintain uptime and minimize downtime with distributed architecture.

5. Cost Efficiency

Avoid overprovisioning private infrastructure while still meeting demand spikes.

Real-World Use Cases of Hybrid Cloud Applications

1. Healthcare

Protect sensitive patient data in a private cloud while using public cloud resources for analytics and AI.

2. Finance

Securely handle customer transactions and compliance data, while leveraging the cloud for large-scale computations.

3. Retail and E-Commerce

Manage customer interactions and seasonal traffic spikes efficiently.

4. Manufacturing

Enable remote monitoring and IoT integrations across factory units using hybrid cloud applications.

5. Education

Store student records securely while using cloud platforms for learning management systems.

Benefits of Hybrid Cloud Applications

Enhanced Agility

Better Resource Utilization

Reduced Latency

Compliance Made Easier

Risk Mitigation

Simplified Workload Management

Tools and Platforms Supporting Hybrid Cloud

Microsoft Azure Arc – Extends Azure services and management to any infrastructure.

AWS Outposts – Run AWS infrastructure and services on-premises.

Google Anthos – Manage applications across multiple clouds.

VMware Cloud Foundation – Hybrid solution for virtual machines and containers.

Red Hat OpenShift – Kubernetes-based platform for hybrid deployment.

Best Practices for Developing Hybrid Cloud Applications

Design for Portability Use containers and microservices to enable seamless movement between clouds.

Ensure Security Implement zero-trust architectures, encryption, and access control.

Automate and Monitor Use DevOps and continuous monitoring tools to maintain performance and compliance.

Choose the Right Partner Work with experienced providers who understand hybrid cloud deployment strategies.

Regular Testing and Backup Test failover scenarios and ensure robust backup solutions are in place.

Reviews from Industry Professionals

Amrita Singh, Cloud Engineer at FinCloud Solutions:

"Implementing hybrid cloud applications helped us reduce latency by 40% and improve client satisfaction."

John Meadows, CTO at EdTechNext:

"Our LMS platform runs on a hybrid model. We’ve achieved excellent uptime and student experience during peak loads."

Rahul Varma, Data Security Specialist:

"For compliance-heavy environments like finance and healthcare, hybrid cloud is a no-brainer."

Challenges and How to Overcome Them

1. Complex Architecture

Solution: Simplify with orchestration tools and automation.

2. Integration Difficulties

Solution: Use APIs and middleware platforms for seamless data exchange.

3. Cost Overruns

Solution: Use cloud cost optimization tools like Azure Advisor, AWS Cost Explorer.

4. Security Risks

Solution: Implement multi-layered security protocols and conduct regular audits.

FAQ: Hybrid Cloud Application

Q1: What is the main advantage of a hybrid cloud application?

A: It combines the strengths of public and private clouds for flexibility, scalability, and security.

Q2: Is hybrid cloud suitable for small businesses?

A: Yes, especially those with fluctuating workloads or compliance needs.

Q3: How secure is a hybrid cloud application?

A: When properly configured, hybrid cloud applications can be as secure as traditional setups.

Q4: Can hybrid cloud reduce IT costs?

A: Yes. By only paying for public cloud usage as needed, and avoiding overprovisioning private servers.

Q5: How do you monitor a hybrid cloud application?

A: With cloud management platforms and monitoring tools like Datadog, Splunk, or Prometheus.

Q6: What are the best platforms for hybrid deployment?

A: Azure Arc, Google Anthos, AWS Outposts, and Red Hat OpenShift are top choices.

Conclusion: Hybrid Cloud is the New Normal

The hybrid cloud application model is more than a trend—it’s a strategic evolution that empowers organizations to balance innovation with control. It offers the agility of the cloud without sacrificing the oversight and security of on-premises systems.

If your organization is looking to modernize its IT infrastructure while staying compliant, resilient, and efficient, then hybrid cloud application development is the way forward.

At diglip7.com, we help businesses build scalable, secure, and agile hybrid cloud solutions tailored to their unique needs. Ready to unlock the future? Contact us today to get started.

[hawkstack]

Creating and Configuring Production ROSA Clusters (CS220) – A Practical Guide

Introduction

Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) is a powerful managed Kubernetes solution that blends the scalability of AWS with the developer-centric features of OpenShift. Whether you're modernizing applications or building cloud-native architectures, ROSA provides a production-grade container platform with integrated support from Red Hat and AWS. In this blog post, we’ll walk through the essential steps covered in CS220: Creating and Configuring Production ROSA Clusters, an instructor-led course designed for DevOps professionals and cloud architects.

What is CS220?

CS220 is a hands-on, lab-driven course developed by Red Hat that teaches IT teams how to deploy, configure, and manage ROSA clusters in a production environment. It is tailored for organizations that are serious about leveraging OpenShift at scale with the operational convenience of a fully managed service.

Why ROSA for Production?

Deploying OpenShift through ROSA offers multiple benefits:

Streamlined Deployment: Fully managed clusters provisioned in minutes.

Integrated Security: AWS IAM, STS, and OpenShift RBAC policies combined.

Scalability: Elastic and cost-efficient scaling with built-in monitoring and logging.

Support: Joint support model between AWS and Red Hat.

Key Concepts Covered in CS220

Here’s a breakdown of the main learning outcomes from the CS220 course:

1. Provisioning ROSA Clusters

Participants learn how to:

Set up required AWS permissions and networking pre-requisites.

Deploy clusters using Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager (OCM) or CLI tools like rosa and oc.

Use STS (Short-Term Credentials) for secure cluster access.

2. Configuring Identity Providers

Learn how to integrate Identity Providers (IdPs) such as:

GitHub, Google, LDAP, or corporate IdPs using OpenID Connect.

Configure secure, role-based access control (RBAC) for teams.

3. Networking and Security Best Practices

Implement private clusters with public or private load balancers.

Enable end-to-end encryption for APIs and services.

Use Security Context Constraints (SCCs) and network policies for workload isolation.

4. Storage and Data Management

Configure dynamic storage provisioning with AWS EBS, EFS, or external CSI drivers.

Learn persistent volume (PV) and persistent volume claim (PVC) lifecycle management.

5. Cluster Monitoring and Logging

Integrate OpenShift Monitoring Stack for health and performance insights.

Forward logs to Amazon CloudWatch, ElasticSearch, or third-party SIEM tools.

6. Cluster Scaling and Updates

Set up autoscaling for compute nodes.

Perform controlled updates and understand ROSA’s maintenance policies.

Use Cases for ROSA in Production

Modernizing Monoliths to Microservices

CI/CD Platform for Agile Development

Data Science and ML Workflows with OpenShift AI

Edge Computing with OpenShift on AWS Outposts

Getting Started with CS220

The CS220 course is ideal for:

DevOps Engineers

Cloud Architects

Platform Engineers

Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of OpenShift administration (recommended: DO280 or equivalent experience) and a working AWS account.

Course Format: Instructor-led (virtual or on-site), hands-on labs, and guided projects.

Final Thoughts

As more enterprises adopt hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, ROSA emerges as a strategic choice for running OpenShift on AWS with minimal operational overhead. CS220 equips your team with the right skills to confidently deploy, configure, and manage production-grade ROSA clusters — unlocking agility, security, and innovation in your cloud-native journey.

Want to Learn More or Book the CS220 Course? At HawkStack Technologies, we offer certified Red Hat training, including CS220, tailored for teams and enterprises. Contact us today to schedule a session or explore our Red Hat Learning Subscription packages. www.hawkstack.com

[nitizsharmaglobaltech]

Enhancing Application Performance in Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Environments with Cisco ACI

1 . Introduction to Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Environments

As businesses adopt hybrid and multi-cloud environments, ensuring seamless application performance becomes a critical challenge. Managing network connectivity, security, and traffic optimization across diverse cloud platforms can lead to complexity and inefficiencies. 

Cisco ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure) simplifies this by providing an intent-based networking approach, enabling automation, centralized policy management, and real-time performance optimization. 

With Cisco ACI Training, IT professionals can master the skills needed to deploy, configure, and optimize ACI for enhanced application performance in multi-cloud environments. This blog explores how Cisco ACI enhances performance, security, and visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud architectures.

2 . The Role of Cisco ACI in Multi-Cloud Performance Optimization

Cisco ACI is a software-defined networking (SDN) solution that simplifies network operations and enhances application performance across multiple cloud environments. It enables organizations to achieve:

Seamless multi-cloud connectivity for smooth integration between on-premises and cloud environments.

Centralized policy enforcement to maintain consistent security and compliance.

Automated network operations that reduce manual errors and accelerate deployments.

Optimized traffic flow, improving application responsiveness with real-time telemetry.

3 . Application-Centric Policy Automation with ACI

Traditional networking approaches rely on static configurations, making policy enforcement difficult in dynamic multi-cloud environments. Cisco ACI adopts an application-centric model, where network policies are defined based on business intent rather than IP addresses or VLANs.

Key Benefits of ACI’s Policy Automation:

Application profiles ensure that policies move with workloads across environments.

Zero-touch provisioning automates network configuration and reduces deployment time.

Micro-segmentation enhances security by isolating applications based on trust levels.

Seamless API integration connects with VMware NSX, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and cloud-native services.

4 . Traffic Optimization and Load Balancing with ACI

Application performance in multi-cloud environments is often hindered by traffic congestion, latency, and inefficient load balancing. Cisco ACI enhances network efficiency through:

Dynamic traffic routing, ensuring optimal data flow based on real-time network conditions.

Adaptive load balancing, which distributes workloads across cloud regions to prevent bottlenecks.

Integration with cloud-native load balancers like AWS ALB, Azure Load Balancer, and F5 to enhance application performance.

5 . Network Visibility and Performance Monitoring

Visibility is a major challenge in hybrid and multi-cloud networks. Without real-time insights, organizations struggle to detect bottlenecks, security threats, and application slowdowns.

Cisco ACI’s Monitoring Capabilities:

Real-time telemetry and analytics to continuously track network and application performance.

Cisco Nexus Dashboard integration for centralized monitoring across cloud environments.

AI-driven anomaly detection that automatically identifies and mitigates network issues.

Proactive troubleshooting using automation to resolve potential disruptions before they impact users.

6 . Security Considerations for Hybrid and Multi-Cloud ACI Deployments

Multi-cloud environments are prone to security challenges such as data breaches, misconfigurations, and compliance risks. Cisco ACI strengthens security with:

Micro-segmentation that restricts communication between workloads to limit attack surfaces.

A zero-trust security model enforcing strict access controls to prevent unauthorized access.

End-to-end encryption to protect data in transit across hybrid and multi-cloud networks.

AI-powered threat detection that continuously monitors for anomalies and potential attacks.

7 . Case Studies: Real-World Use Cases of ACI in Multi-Cloud Environments

1. Financial Institution

Challenge: Lack of consistent security policies across multi-cloud platforms.

Solution: Implemented Cisco ACI for unified security and network automation.

Result: 40% reduction in security incidents and improved compliance adherence.

2. E-Commerce Retailer

Challenge: High latency affecting customer experience during peak sales.

Solution: Used Cisco ACI to optimize traffic routing and load balancing.

Result: 30% improvement in transaction processing speeds.

8 . Best Practices for Deploying Cisco ACI in Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Networks

To maximize the benefits of Cisco ACI, organizations should follow these best practices:

Standardize network policies to ensure security and compliance across cloud platforms.

Leverage API automation to integrate ACI with third-party cloud services and DevOps tools.

Utilize direct cloud interconnects like AWS Direct Connect and Azure ExpressRoute for improved connectivity.

Monitor continuously using real-time telemetry and AI-driven analytics for proactive network management.

Regularly update security policies to adapt to evolving threats and compliance requirements.

9 . Future Trends: The Evolution of ACI in Multi-Cloud Networking

Cisco ACI is continuously evolving to adapt to emerging cloud and networking trends:

AI-driven automation will further optimize network performance and security.

Increased focus on container networking with enhanced support for Kubernetes and microservices architectures.

Advanced security integrations with improved compliance frameworks and automated threat detection.

Seamless multi-cloud orchestration through improved API-driven integrations with public cloud providers.

Conclusion

Cisco ACI plays a vital role in optimizing application performance in hybrid and multi-cloud environments by providing centralized policy control, traffic optimization, automation, and robust security.

 Its intent-based networking approach ensures seamless connectivity, reduced latency, and improved scalability across multiple cloud platforms. By implementing best practices and leveraging AI-driven automation, businesses can enhance network efficiency while maintaining security and compliance.

 For professionals looking to master these capabilities, enrolling in a Cisco ACI course can provide in-depth knowledge and hands-on expertise to deploy and manage ACI effectively in complex cloud environments.

[qcs01]

Top Trends in Enterprise IT Backed by Red Hat

Introduction:

In the rapidly evolving landscape of enterprise IT, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for businesses to remain competitive. Red Hat, a leading provider of open-source solutions, plays a significant role in shaping these trends. This blog post will explore some of the top trends in enterprise IT backed by Red Hat, including:

1. Hybrid Cloud Computing:

What it is: A cloud computing environment that combines on-premises infrastructure with public cloud services.

Red Hat's role: Red Hat offers a wide range of hybrid cloud solutions, including Red Hat OpenShift, a container platform that can run anywhere.

Benefits: Flexibility, scalability, cost optimization, and improved disaster recovery.

Keywords: hybrid cloud, cloud computing, on-premises, public cloud, Red Hat OpenShift, container platform

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML):

What they are: AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines, while ML is a subset of AI that allows machines to learn from data without being explicitly programmed.   

Red Hat's role: Red Hat provides AI and ML platforms, such as Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, that help businesses automate and manage AI and ML workloads.

Benefits: Improved decision-making, increased efficiency, and new business opportunities.

Keywords: AI, machine learning, automation, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

3. Edge Computing:

What it is: Processing data closer to the source, such as in devices and sensors, rather than in a centralized data center.

Red Hat's role: Red Hat offers edge computing solutions, such as Red Hat Ceph Storage, that help businesses store and process data at the edge.

Benefits: Reduced latency, improved performance, and increased data security.

Keywords: edge computing, data processing, data storage, Red Hat Ceph Storage

4. DevOps:

What it is: A set of practices that combine software development and IT operations to shorten the systems development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality.   

Red Hat's role: Red Hat provides DevOps tools and platforms, such as Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat OpenShift, that help businesses automate and streamline their DevOps processes.

Benefits: Faster time-to-market, improved collaboration, and increased efficiency.

Keywords: DevOps, automation, continuous delivery, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Red Hat OpenShift

5. Cybersecurity:

What it is: The practice of protecting computer systems and networks from unauthorized access or attack.

Red Hat's role: Red Hat offers a wide range of cybersecurity solutions, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Insights, that help businesses protect their IT infrastructure.

Benefits: Reduced risk of data breaches, improved compliance, and increased trust.

Keywords: cybersecurity, data security, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Insights

Conclusion:

Red Hat is a key player in driving these and other important trends in enterprise IT. By leveraging Red Hat's open-source solutions, businesses can gain a competitive advantage and achieve their digital transformation goals.

For more details www.hawkstack.com 

[codezup]

Optimizing Containerization with Kubernetes and OpenShift

Optimizing Containerization with Kubernetes and OpenShift Introduction Containerization with Kubernetes and OpenShift has revolutionized the way we develop, deploy, and manage applications. By using containers, we can ensure consistency and reliability across different environments. In this tutorial, we will explore how to optimize containerization with Kubernetes and OpenShift, and take our…

[amritatechh]

Amrita Technologies - Red Hat OpenShift API Management

Introduction:

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an all-encompassing system created to improve organizational automation. It offers a centralized control and management structure, making automated processes more convenient to coordinate and scale. Ansible playbooks can now be created and managed more easily with The Automation Platform’s web-based interface, which opens it up to a wider spectrum of IT specialists

Automation has emerged as the key to efficiency and scalability in today’s continuously changing IT landscape. Red Hat Ansible is one name that stands out in the automation field. An open-source automation tool called Red Hat Ansible, a Red Hat Automation Platform component optimizes operations and speeds up IT processes. In this blog, we will explore Red Hat Ansible’s world, examine its function in network automation, and highlight best practices for maximizing its potential.

Red hat ansible course:

Before we dig deeper into Red Hat Ansible’s capabilities, let’s first discuss the importance of proper training. Red Hat offers detailed instructions on every aspect of Ansible automation.These sessions are essential for IT professionals wanting to learn the tool. Enrolling in one of their courses will give you hands-on experience, expert guidance, and a solid understanding of how to use Red Hat Ansible.

Red hat ansible automation:

Automated Red Hat Ansible: The “Red Hat” Ansible’s process automation tools make it simpler for IT teams to scale and maintain their infrastructure. Administrators can concentrate on higher-value, more strategic duties since it makes mundane chores easier. YAML, a straightforward, human-readable automation language that is simple to read and write, is used by Ansible to do this. 

Red hat ansible for network automation:

Ansible for Red Hat to automate networks: Network automation is a critical demand for contemporary businesses. An important player in this sector, Red Hat Ansible, allows businesses to automate network setups, check the health of their networks, and react quickly to any network-related events. Network engineers can use Ansible to repeat and automate laborious tasks prone to human error

Red hat Ansible Network Automation Training:

Additional training is required to utilize Red Hat Ansible’s network automation capabilities properly. Red Hat provides instruction on networking automation procedures, network device configuration, and troubleshooting, among other things. This training equips IT specialists with the skills to design, implement, and manage network automation solutions effectively.

Red hat security: Securing container:

Security in the automation world is crucial, especially when working with sensitive data and important infrastructure. Red Hat Ansible’s automation workflows embrace security best practices. Therefore, security is ensured to be a priority rather than an afterthought throughout the procedure. Red Hat’s security ethos includes protecting containers frequently used in modern IT systems.Red hat ansible automation platform

Red Hat Ansible’s best practices include:

Now, let’s talk about how to use Red Hat Ansible effectively. These methods will help you leverage the advantages of your automation initiatives while maintaining a secure and productive workplace. Specify your infrastructure and configurations in code to embrace the idea of infrastructure as code. Infrastructure as code. As a result, managing the version of your infrastructure, testing it, and duplicating it as needed is easy.Red hat ansible automation platform

Utilising the concept of “modular playbooks,” dissect your Ansible playbooks into their component elements. As a result, they are more reusable and easier to maintain. Additionally, it enables team members to work together on various automated components. Maintaining inventory Keep an accurate inventory of your infrastructure. Ansible needs a trustworthy inventory to target hosts and finish tasks. In inventory management, automation can reduce human mistakes .RBAC (role-based access control) should be employed to restrict access to Ansible resources. By doing this, it is ensured that only individuals with the required authorizations may work.

Handling Error: Include error handling in your playbooks. Use Ansible’s built-in error-handling mechanisms to handle errors gently and generate meaningful error messages.Red hat ansible automation platform

Testing and Validation:

Always test your playbooks in a secure environment before using them in production. Utilize Ansible’s testing tools to confirm that your infrastructure is in the desired state. Verify your infrastructure is in the desired state using Ansible’s testing tools. Red hat ansible automation platform

Red Hat Ansible Best Practice’s for Advanced Automation:

Red Hat Ansible Best Practices for Advanced Automation: Consider these cutting-edge best practices to develop your automation: Implement dynamic inventories to find and add hosts to your inventory automatically. In dynamic cloud systems, this is especially useful. When existing Ansible modules do not satisfy your particular needs, create unique ones. Red Hat enables you to increase Ansible’s functionality to meet your requirements. Ansible can be integrated into your continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline to smoothly automate the deployment of apps and infrastructure modifications.Red hat ansible automation platform

Conclusion:

Red Hat Ansible is a potent automation tool that, particularly in the context of network automation, has the potential to alter how IT operations are managed profoundly. By enrolling in a Red Hat Ansible training course and adhering to best practices, you can fully utilize the possibilities of this technology to enhance security, streamline business processes, and increase productivity in your organization. In the digital age, when the IT landscape constantly changes, being agile and competitive means knowing Red Hat Ansible inside and out.

[govindhtech]

Dominate NLP: Red Hat OpenShift & 5th Gen Intel Xeon Muscle

Using Red Hat OpenShift and 5th generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, Boost Your NLP Applications

Red Hat OpenShift AI

Her AI findings on OpenShift, where have been testing the new 5th generation Intel Xeon CPU, have really astonished us. Naturally, AI is a popular subject of discussion everywhere from the boardroom to the data center.

There is no doubt about the benefits: AI lowers expenses and increases corporate efficiency.

It facilitates the discovery of hitherto undiscovered insights in analytics and expands comprehension of business, enabling you to make more informed business choices more quickly than before.

Beyond only recognizing human voice for customer support, natural language processing (NLP) has become more valuable in business. These days, natural language processing (NLP) is utilized to improve machine translation, identify spam more accurately, enhance client Chatbot experiences, and even employ sentiment analysis to ascertain social media tone. It is expected to reach a worldwide market value of USD 80.68 billion by 2026 , and companies will need to support and grow with it quickly.

Her goal was to determine how Red Hat OpenShift‘s NLP AI workloads were affected by the newest 5th generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors.

The Support Red Hat OpenShift Provides for Your AI Foundation

Red Hat OpenShift is an application deployment, management, and scalability platform built on top of Kubernetes containerization technology. Applications become less dependent on one another as they transition to a containerized environment. This makes it possible for you to update and apply bug patches in addition to swiftly identifying, isolating, and resolving problems. In particular, for AI workloads like natural language processing, the containerized design lowers costs and saves time in maintaining the production environment. AI models may be designed, tested, and generated more quickly with the help of OpenShift’s supported environment. Red Hat OpenShift is the best option because of this.

The Intel AMX Modified the Rules

Intel released the Intel AMX, or fourth generation Intel Xeon Scalable CPU, almost a year ago. The CPU may optimize tasks related to deep learning and inferencing thanks to Intel AMX, an integrated accelerator.

The CPU can switch between AI workloads and ordinary computing tasks with ease thanks to Intel AMX compatibility. Significant performance gains were achieved with the introduction of Intel AMX on 4th generation Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs.

After Intel unveiled its 5th generation Intel Xeon Scalable CPU in December 2023, they set out to measure the extra value that this processor generation offers over its predecessor.

Because BERT-Large is widely utilized in many business NLP workloads, they explicitly picked it as deep learning model. With Red Hat OpenShift 4.13.2 for Inference, the graph below illustrates the performance gain of the 5th generation Intel Xeon 8568Y+ over the 4th generation Intel Xeon 8460+. The outcomes are Amazing These Intel Xeon Scalable 5th generation processors improved its predecessors in an assortment of remarkable ways.

Performing on OpenShift upon a 5th generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8568the value of Y+ with INT8 produces up to 1.3x improved natural-language processing inference capability (BERT-Large) than previous versions with Inverse.

OpenShift on a 5th generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y with BF16 yields 1.37x greater Natural Language Processing inference performance (BERT-Large) compared to previous generations with BF16.

OpenShift on a 5th generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y+ with FP32 yields 1.49x greater Natural Language Processing inference performance (BERT-Large) compared to previous generations with FP32.

They evaluated power usage as well, and the new 5th Generation has far greater performance per watt.

Natural Language Processing inference performance (BERT-Large) running on OpenShift on a 5th generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y+ with INT8 has up to 1.22x perf/watt gain compared to previous generation with INT8.

Natural Language Processing inference performance (BERT-Large) running on OpenShift on a 5th generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y+ with BF16 is up to 1.28x faster per watt than on a previous generation of processors with BF16.

Natural Language Processing inference performance (BERT-Large) running on OpenShift on a 5th generation Intel Xeon Platinum 8568Y+ with FP32 is up to 1.39 times faster per watt than it was on a previous generation with FP32.

Methodology of Testing

Using an Intel-optimized TensorFlow framework and a pre-trained NLP model from Intel AI Reference Models, the workload executed a BERT Large Natural Language Processing (NLP) inference job. With Red Hat OpenShift 4.13.13, it evaluates throughput and compares Intel Xeon 4th and 5th generation processor performance using the Stanford Question Answering Dataset.

FAQS:

What is OpenShift and why it is used?

Developing, deploying, and managing container-based apps is made easier with OpenShift. Faster development and release life cycles are made possible by the self-service platform it offers you to build, edit, and launch apps as needed. Consider pictures as molds for cookies, and containers as the cookies themselves.

What strategy was Red Hat OpenShift designed for?

Red Hat OpenShift makes hybrid infrastructure deployment and maintenance easier while giving you the choice of fully managed or self-managed services that may operate on-premise, in the cloud, or in hybrid settings.

Read more on Govindhetch.com

[networkinsight]

Identity Security

In today's digitized world, where everything from shopping to banking is conducted online, ensuring identity security has become paramount. With cyber threats rising, protecting our personal information from unauthorized access has become more critical than ever. This blog post will delve into identity security, its significance, and practical steps to safeguard your digital footprint.

Identity security is the measures taken to protect personal information from being accessed, shared, or misused without authorization. It encompasses a range of practices designed to safeguard one's identity, such as securing online accounts, protecting passwords, and practicing safe online browsing habits. Maintaining robust identity security is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it helps prevent identity theft, which can have severe consequences, including financial loss, damage to one's credit score, and emotional distress. Secondly, identity security safeguards personal privacy by ensuring that sensitive information remains confidential. Lastly, it helps build trust in online platforms and e-commerce, enabling users to transact confidently.

Table of Contents

Identity Security

Back to basics: Identity Security

Example: Identity Security: The Workflow 

Starting Zero Trust Identity Management

Challenges to zero trust identity management

Knowledge Check: Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

The Move For Zero Trust Authentication

Considerations for zero trust authentication 

The first action is to protect Identities.

Adopting Zero Trust Authentication 

Zero trust authentication: Technology with risk-based authentication

Conditional Access

Zero trust authentication: Technology with JIT techniques

Final Notes For Identity Security 

Zero Trust Identity: Validate Every Device

Quick Links

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Highlights: Identity Security

Sophisticated Attacks

Identity security has pushed authentication to a new, more secure landscape, reacting to improved technologies and sophisticated attacks. The need for more accessible and secure authentication has led to the wide adoption of zero-trust identity management zero trust authentication technologies like risk-based authentication (RBA), fast identity online (FIDO2), and just-in-time (JIT) techniques.

New Attack Surface

If you examine our identities, applications, and devices, they are in the crosshairs of bad actors, making them probable threat vectors. In addition, we are challenged by the sophistication of our infrastructure, which increases our attack surface and creates gaps in our visibility. Controlling access and the holes created by complexity is the basis of all healthy security. Before we jump into the zero-trust authentication and components needed to adopt zero-trust identity management, let’s start with the basics of identity security.

Related: Before you proceed, you may find the following posts helpful

SASE Model

Zero Trust Security Strategy

Zero Trust Network Design

OpenShift Security Best Practices

Zero Trust Networking

Zero Trust Network

Zero Trust Access

Zero Trust Identity 

Key Identity Security Discussion Points:

Introduction to identity security and what is involved.

Highlighting the details of the challenging landscape along with recent trends.

Technical details on how to approach implementing a zero trust identity strategy.

Scenario: Different types of components make up zero trust authentication management. 

Details on starting a zero trust identity security project.

Back to basics: Identity Security

In its simplest terms, an identity is an account or a persona that can interact with a system or application. And we can have different types of identities.

Human Identity: Human identities are the most common. These identities could be users, customers, or other stakeholders requiring various access levels to computers, networks, cloud applications, smartphones, routers, servers, controllers, sensors, etc. 

Non-Human: Identities are also non-human as operations automate more processes. These types of identities are seen in more recent cloud-native environments. Applications and microservices use these machine identities for API access, communication, and the CI/CD tools. 

♦Tips for Ensuring Identity Security:

1. Strong Passwords: Create unique, complex passwords for all your online accounts. Passwords should contain a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Do not use easily guessable information, such as birthdates or pet names.

2. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Enable 2FA whenever possible. This adds an extra layer of security by requiring an additional verification step, such as a temporary code sent to your phone or email.

3. Keep Software Up to Date: Regularly update your operating system, antivirus software, and other applications. These updates often include security patches that address known vulnerabilities.

4. Be Cautious with Personal Information: Be mindful of the information you share online. Avoid posting sensitive details on public platforms or unsecured websites, such as your full address or social security number.

5. Secure Wi-Fi Networks: When connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, ensure they are secure and encrypted. Avoid accessing sensitive information, such as online banking, on public networks.

6. Regularly Monitor Accounts: Keep a close eye on your financial accounts, credit reports, and other online platforms where personal information is stored. Report any suspicious activity immediately.

7. Use Secure Websites: Look for the padlock symbol and “https” in the website address when providing personal information or making online transactions. This indicates that the connection is secure and encrypted.

Example: Identity Security: The Workflow 

The concept of identity security is straightforward and follows a standard workflow that can be understood and secured. First, a user logs into their employee desktop and is authenticated as an individual who should have access to this network segment. This is the authentication stage.

They have appropriate permissions assigned so they can navigate to the required assets (such as an application or file servers) and are authorized as someone who should have access to this application. This is the authorization stage.

As they move across the network to carry out their day-to-day duties, all of this movement is logged, and all access information is captured and analyzed for auditing purposes. Anything outside of normal behavior is flagged. Splunk UEBA has good features here.Diagram: Identity security workflow.

Identity Security: Stage of Authentication

Authentication: You need to authenticate every human and non-human identity accurately. After an identity is authenticated to confirm who it is, it only gets a free one for some to access the system with impunity. 

Identity Security: Stage of Re-Authentication

Identities should be re-authenticated if the system detects suspicious behavior or before completing tasks and accessing data that is deemed to be highly sensitive. If we have an identity that acts outside of normal baseline behavior, they must re-authenticate.

Identity Security: Stage of Authorization

Then we need to move to the authorization: It’s necessary to authorize the user to ensure they’re allowed access to the asset only when required and only with the permissions they need to do their job. So we have authorized each identity on the network with the proper permissions so they can access what they need and not more. 

Identity Security: Stage of Access

Then we look into the Access: Provide access for that identity to authorized assets in a structured manner. How can the appropriate access be given to the person/user/device/bot/script/account and nothing more? Following the practices of zero trust identity management and least privilege. Ideally, access is granted to microsegments instead of significant VLANs based on traditional zone-based networking.

Identity Security: Stage of Audit

Finally, Audit: All identity activity must be audited or accounted for. Auditing allows insight and evidence that Identity Security policies are working as intended. How do you monitor the activities of identities? How do you reconstruct and analyze the actions an identity performed?

An auditing capability ensures visibility into activities performed by an identity, provides context for the identity’s usage and behavior, and enables analytics that identify risk and provide insights to make smarter decisions about access.

Starting Zero Trust Identity Management

Now, we have an identity as the new perimeter compounded by identity being the new target. Any identity is a target. Looking at the modern enterprise landscape, it’s easy to see why. Every employee has multiple identities and uses several devices.

What makes this worse is that security teams’ primary issue is that identity-driven attacks are hard to detect. For example, how do you know if a bad actor or a sys admin uses the privilege controls? As a result, security teams must find a reliable way to monitor suspicious user behavior to determine the signs of compromised identities.

We now have identity sprawl,, which may be acceptable if only one of those identities has user access. However, they don’t, and they most likely have privileged access. All these widen the attack surface by creating additional human and machine identities that can gain privileged access under certain conditions. All of which will establish new pathways for bad actors.

We must adopt a different approach to secure our identities regardless of where they may be. Here, we can look for a zero-trust identity management approach based on identity security. Next, I’d like to discuss your common challenges when adopting identity security.Diagram: Zero trust identity management. The challenges.

Challenges to zero trust identity management

Challenge: Zero trust identity management and privilege credential compromise

Current environments may result in anonymous access to privileged accounts and sensitive information. Unsurprisingly, 80% of breaches start with compromised privilege credentials. If left unsecured, attackers can compromise these valuable secrets and credentials to gain possession of privileged accounts and perform advanced attacks or use them to exfiltrate data.

Challenge: Zero trust identity management and exploiting privileged accounts

So, we have two types of bad actors. First, there are external attackers and malicious insiders that can exploit privileged accounts to orchestrate a variety of attacks. Privileged accounts are used in nearly every cyber attack. With privileged access, bad actors can disable systems, take control of IT infrastructure, and gain access to sensitive data. So, we face several challenges when securing identities, namely protecting, controlling, and monitoring privileged access.

Challenge: Zero trust identity management and lateral movements

Lateral movements will happen. A bad actor has to move throughout the network. They will never land directly on a database or important file server. The initial entry point into the network could be an unsecured IoT device, which does not hold sensitive data. As a result, bad actors need to pivot across the network.

They will laterally move throughout the network with these privileged accounts, looking for high-value targets. They then use their elevated privileges to steal confidential information and exfiltrate data. There are many ways to exfiltrate data, with DNS being a common vector that often goes unmonitored. How do you know a bad actor is moving laterally with admin credentials using admin tools built into standard Windows desktops?

Challenge: Zero trust identity management and distributed attacks

These attacks are distributed, and there will be many dots to connect to understand threats on the network. Could you look at ransomware? Enrolling the malware needs elevated privilege, and it’s better to detect this before the encryption starts. Some ransomware families perform partial encryption quickly. Once encryption starts, it’s game over. You need to detect this early in the kill chain in the detect phase.

The best way to approach zero trust authentication is to know who accesses the data, ensure the users they claim to be, and operate on the trusted endpoint that meets compliance. There are plenty of ways to authenticate to the network; many claim password-based authentication is weak.

The core of identity security is understanding that passwords can be phished; essentially, using a password is sharing. So, we need to add multifactor authentication (MFA). MFA gives a big lift but needs to be done well. You can get breached even if you have an MFA solution in place.

Knowledge Check: Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

More than simple passwords are needed for healthy security. A password is a single authentication factor – anyone with it can use it. No matter how strong it is, keeping information private is useless if lost or stolen. You must use a different secondary authentication factor to secure your data appropriately.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

•Two-factor authentication: This method uses two-factor classes to provide authentication. It is also known as ‘2FA’ and ‘TFA.’

•Multi-factor authentication: use of two or more factor classes to provide authentication. This is also represented as ‘MFA.’

•Two-step verification: This method of authentication involves two independent steps but does not necessarily require two separate factor classes. It is also known as ‘2SV’.

•Strong authentication: authentication beyond simply a password. It may be represented by the usage of ‘security questions’ or layered security like two-factor authentication.

The Move For Zero Trust Authentication

No MFA solution is an island. Every MFA solution is just one part of multiple components, relationships, and dependencies. Each piece is an additional area where an exploitable vulnerability can occur.

Essentially, any component in the MFA’s life cycle, from provisioning to de-provisioning and everything in between, is subject to exploitable vulnerabilities and hacking. And like the proverbial chain, it’s only as strong as its weakest link.

The need for zero trust authentication: Two or More Hacking Methods Used

Many MFA attacks use two or more of the leading hacking methods. Often, social engineering is used to start the attack and get the victim to click on a link or to activate a process, which then uses one of the other methods to accomplish the necessary technical hacking. 

For example, a user gets a phishing email directing them to a fake website, which accomplishes a man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack and steals credential secrets. Or physical theft of a hardware token is performed, and then the token is forensically examined to find the stored authentication secrets. MFA hacking requires using two or all of these main hacking methods.

You can’t rely on MFA alone; you must validate privileged users with context-aware Adaptive Multifactor Authentication and secure access to business resources with Single Sign-On. Unfortunately, credential theft remains the No. 1 area of risk. And bad actors are getting better at bypassing MFA using a variety of vectors and techniques.

For example, a bad actor can be tricked into accepting a push notification to their smartphone to grant access in the context of getting admission. You are still acceptable to man-in-the-middle attacks. This is why MFA and IDP vendors introduce risk-based authentication and step-up authentication. These techniques limited the attack surface, which we will talk about soon.

Considerations for zero trust authentication 

Think like a bad actor.

By thinking like a bad actor, we can attempt to identify suspicious activity, restrict lateral movement, and contain threats. Try envisioning what you would look for if you were a bad external actor or malicious insider. For example, are you looking to steal sensitive data to sell it to competitors, or are you looking to start Ransomware binaries or use your infrastructure for illicit crypto mining? 

Attacks with happen

The harsh reality is that attacks will happen, and you can only partially secure some of their applications and infrastructure wherever they exist. So it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but a concern of “when.” Protection from all the various methods that attackers use is virtually impossible, and there will occasionally be day 0 attacks. So, they will get in eventually; It’s all about what they can do once they are in.Diagram: Zero trust authentication. Key considerations.

The first action is to protect Identities.

Therefore, the very first thing you must do is protect their identities and prioritize what matters most – privileged access. Infrastructure and critical data are only fully protected if privileged accounts, credentials, and secrets are secured and protected.

The bad actor needs privileged access.

We know that about 80% of breaches tied to hacking involve using lost or stolen credentials. Compromised identities are the common denominator in virtually every severe attack. The reason is apparent: 

The bad actor needs privileged access to the network infrastructure to steal data. However, without privileged access, an attacker is severely limited in what they can do. Furthermore, without privileged access, they may be unable to pivot from one machine to another. And the chances of landing on a high-value target are doubtful.

The malware requires admin access.

The malware used to pivot and requires admin access to gain persistence; privileged access without vigilant management creates an ever-growing attack surface around privileged accounts.

Adopting Zero Trust Authentication 

Zero trust authentication: Technology with Fast Identity Online (FIDO2)

Where can you start identity security with all of this? Firstly, we can look at a zero-trust authentication protocol. We need an authentication protocol that can be phishing-resistant. This is FIDO2, known as Fast Identity Online (FIDO2), built on two protocols that effectively remove any blind protocols. FIDO authentication Fast Identity Online (FIDO) is a challenge-response protocol that uses public-key cryptography. Rather than using certificates, it manages keys automatically and beneath the covers.

The FIDO2 standards

FIDO2 uses two standards. The Client to Authenticator Protocol (CTAP) describes how a browser or operating system establishes a connection to a FIDO authenticator. The WebAuthn protocol is built into browsers and provides an API that JavaScript from a web service can use to register a FIDO key, send a challenge to the authenticator, and receive a response to the challenge.

So there is an application the user wants to go to, and then we have the client that is often the system’s browser, but it can be an application that can speak and understand WebAuthn. FIDO provides a secure and convenient way to authenticate users without using passwords, SMS codes, or TOTP authenticator applications. Modern computers and smartphones and most mainstream browsers understand FIDO natively. 

FIDO2 addresses phishing by cryptographically proving that the end-user has a physical position over the authentication. There are two types of authenticators: a local authenticator, such as a USB device, and a roaming authenticator, such as a mobile device. These need to be certified FIDO2 vendors. 

The other is a platform authenticator such as Touch ID or Windows Hello. While roaming authenticators are available, for most use cases, platform authenticators are sufficient. This makes FIDO an easy, inexpensive way for people to authenticate. The biggest impediment to its widespread use is that people won’t believe something so easy is secure.

Zero trust authentication: Technology with risk-based authentication

Risk is not a static attribute, and it needs to be re-calculated and re-evaluated so you can make intelligent decisions for step-up and user authentication. We have Cisco DUO that reacts to risk-based signals at the point of authentication.

So, these risk signals are processed in real time to detect signs of known account takeout signals. These signals may include Push Bombs, Push Sprays, and Fatigue attacks. Also, a change of location can signal high risk. Risk-based authentication (RBA) is usually coupled with step-up authentication.

For example, let’s say your employees are under attack. RBA can detect this attack as a stuffing attack and move from a classic authentication approach to a more secure verified PUSH approach than the standard PUSH. 

This would add more friction but result in better security, such as adding three to six digital display keys at your location/devices, and you need to enter this key in your application. This eliminates fatigue attacks. This verified PUSH approach can be enabled at an enterprise level or just for a group of users.

Conditional Access

Then, we move towards conditional access, a step beyond authentication. Conditional access goes beyond authentication to examine the context and risk of each access attempt. For example, contextual factors may include consecutive login failures, geo-location, type of user account, or device IP to either grant or deny access. Based on those contextual factors, it may be granted only to specific network segments. 

A key point: Risk-based decisions and recommended capabilities

The identity security solution should be configurable to allow SSO access, challenge the user with MFA, or block access based on predefined conditions set by policy. It would help if you looked for a solution that can offer a broad range of shapes, such as IP range, day of the week, time of day, time range, device O/S, browser type, country, and user risk level. 

These context-based access policies should be enforceable across users, applications, workstations, mobile devices, servers, network devices, and VPNs. A key question is whether the solution makes risk-based access decisions using a behavior profile calculated for each user.

Zero trust authentication: Technology with JIT techniques

Secure privileged access and manage entitlements. For this reason, many enterprises employ a least privilege approach, where access is restricted to the resources necessary for the end-user to complete their job responsibilities with no extra permission. A standard technology here would be Just in Time (JIT). Implementing JIT ensures that identities have only the appropriate privileges, when necessary, as quickly as possible and for the least time required. 

JIT techniques that dynamically elevate rights only when needed are a technology to enforce the least privilege. The solution allows for JIT elevation and access on a “by request” basis for a predefined period, with a full audit of privileged activities. Full administrative rights or application-level access can be granted, time-limited, and revoked.

Final Notes For Identity Security 

Zero trust identity management is where we continuously verify users and devices to ensure access, and privileges are granted only when needed. The backbone of zero-trust identity security starts by assuming that any human or machine identity with access to your applications and systems may have been compromised.

The “assume breach” mentality requires vigilance and a Zero Trust approach to security centered on securing identities. With identity security as the backbone of a zero-trust process, teams can focus on identifying, isolating, and stopping threats from compromising identities and gaining privilege before they can harm.Diagram: Identity Security: Final notes.

Zero Trust Authentication

The identity-centric focus of zero trust authentication uses an approach to security to ensure that every person and every device granted access is who and what they say they are. It achieves this authentication by focusing on the following key components:

The network is always assumed to be hostile.

External and internal threats always exist on the network.

Network locality needs to be more sufficient for deciding trust in a network. Just so you know, other contextual factors, as discussed, must be taken into account.

Every device, user, and network flow is authenticated and authorized. All of this must be logged.

Security policies must be dynamic and calculated from as many data sources as possible.

Zero Trust Identity: Validate Every Device

Not just the user

Validate every device. While user verification adds a level of security, more is needed. We must ensure that the devices are authenticated and associated with verified users, not just the users.

Risk-based access

Risk-based access intelligence should reduce the attack surface after a device has been validated and verified as belonging to an authorized user. This allows aspects of the security posture of endpoints, like device location, a device certificate, OS, browser, and time, to be used for further access validation. 

Device Validation: Reduce the attack surface

Remember that while device validation helps limit the attack surface, device validation is only as reliable as the endpoint’s security. Antivirus software to secure endpoint devices will only get you so far. We need additional tools and mechanisms that can tighten security even further.

Summary: Identity Security

In today’s interconnected digital world, protecting our identities online has become more critical than ever. From personal information to financial data, our digital identities are vulnerable to various threats. This blog post aimed to shed light on the significance of identity security and provide practical tips to enhance your online safety.

Section 1: Understanding Identity Security

Identity security refers to the measures taken to safeguard personal information and prevent unauthorized access. It encompasses protecting sensitive data such as login credentials, financial details, and personal identification information (PII). By ensuring robust identity security, individuals can mitigate the risks of identity theft, fraud, and privacy breaches.

Section 2: Common Threats to Identity Security

In this section, we’ll explore some of the most prevalent threats to identity security. This includes phishing attacks, malware infections, social engineering, and data breaches. Understanding these threats is crucial for recognizing potential vulnerabilities and taking appropriate preventative measures.

Section 3: Best Practices for Strengthening Identity Security

Now that we’ve highlighted the importance of identity security and identified common threats let’s delve into practical tips to fortify your online presence:

1. Strong and Unique Passwords: Utilize complex passwords that incorporate a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid using the same password across multiple platforms.

2. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Enable 2FA whenever possible to add an extra layer of security. This typically involves a secondary verification method, such as a code sent to your mobile device.

3. Regular Software Updates: Keep all your devices and applications current. Software updates often include security patches that address known vulnerabilities.

4. Beware of Phishing Attempts: Be cautious of suspicious emails, messages, or calls asking for personal information. Verify the authenticity of requests before sharing sensitive data.

5. Secure Wi-Fi Networks: When connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, use a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt your internet traffic and protect your data from potential eavesdroppers.

Section 4: The Role of Privacy Settings

Privacy settings play a crucial role in controlling the visibility of your personal information. Platforms and applications often provide various options to customize privacy preferences. Take the time to review and adjust these settings according to your comfort level.

Section 5: Monitoring and Detecting Suspicious Activity

Remaining vigilant is paramount in maintaining identity security. Regularly monitor your financial statements, credit reports, and online accounts for any unusual activity. Promptly report any suspicious incidents to the relevant authorities.

Conclusion:

In an era where digital identities are constantly at risk, prioritizing identity security is non-negotiable. By implementing the best practices outlined in this blogpost, you can significantly enhance your online safety and protect your valuable personal information. Remember, proactive measures and staying informed are key to maintaining a secure digital identity.

[codecraftshop]

Introduction to Openshift - Introduction to Openshift online cluster

Introduction to Openshift – Introduction to Openshift online cluster OpenShift is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering from Red Hat. It provides a cloud-like environment for deploying, managing, and scaling applications in a secure and efficient manner. OpenShift uses containers to package and deploy applications, and it provides built-in tools for continuous integration, continuous delivery,…

[datamattsson]

A Vagrant Story

Like everyone else I wish I had more time in the day. In reality, I want to spend more time on fun projects. Blogging and content creation has been a bit on a hiatus but it doesn't mean I have less things to write and talk about. In relation to this rambling I want to evangelize a tool I've been using over the years that saves an enormous amount of time if you're working in diverse sandbox development environments, Vagrant from HashiCorp.

Elevator pitch

Vagrant introduces a declarative model for virtual machines running in a development environment on your desktop. Vagrant supports many common type 2 hypervisors such as KVM, VirtualBox, Hyper-V and the VMware desktop products. The virtual machines are packaged in a format referred to as "boxes" and can be found on vagrantup.com. It's also quite easy to build your own boxes from scratch with another tool from HashiCorp called Packer. Trust me, if containers had not reached the mainstream adoption it has today, Packer would be a household tool. It's a blog post in itself for another day.

Real world use case

I got roped into a support case with a customer recently. They were using the HPE Nimble Storage Volume Plugin for Docker with a particular version of NimbleOS, Docker and docker-compose. The toolchain exhibited a weird behavior that would require two docker hosts and a few iterations to reproduce the issue. I had this environment stood up, diagnosed and replied to the support team with a customer facing response in less than an hour, thanks to Vagrant.

vagrant init

Let's elaborate on how to get a similar environment set up that I used in my support engagement off the ground. Let's assume vagrant and a supported type 2 hypervisor is installed. This example will work on Windows, Linux and Mac.

Create a new project folder and instantiate a new Vagrantfile. I use a collection of boxes built from these sources. Bento boxes provide broad coverage of providers and a variety of Linux flavors.

mkdir myproj && cd myproj vagrant init bento/ubuntu-20.04 A `Vagrantfile` has been placed in this directory. You are now ready to `vagrant up` your first virtual environment! Please read the comments in the Vagrantfile as well as documentation on `vagrantup.com` for more information on using Vagrant.

There's now a Vagrantfile in the current directory. There's a lot of commentary in the file to allow customization of the environment. It's possible to declare multiple machines in one Vagrantfile, but for the sake of an introduction, we'll explore setting up a single VM.

One of the more useful features is that Vagrant support "provisioners" that runs at first boot. It makes it easy to control the initial state and reproduce initialization with a few keystrokes. I usually write Ansible playbooks for more elaborate projects. For this exercise we'll use the inline shell provisioner to install and start docker.

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config| config.vm.box = "bento/ubuntu-20.04" config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL apt-get update apt-get install -y docker.io python3-pip pip3 install docker-compose usermod -a -G docker vagrant systemctl enable --now docker SHELL end

Prepare for very verbose output as we bring up the VM.

Note: The vagrant command always assumes working on the Vagrantfile in the current directory.

vagrant up

After the provisioning steps, a new VM is up and running from a thinly cloned disk of the source box. Initial download may take a while but the instance should be up in a minute or so.

Post-declaration tricks

There are some must-know Vagrant environment tricks that differentiate Vagrant from right-clicking in vCenter or fumbling in the VirtualBox UI.

SSH access

Accessing the shell of the VM can be done in two ways, most commonly is to simply do vagrant ssh and that will drop you at the prompt of the VM with the predefined user "vagrant". This method is not very practical if using other SSH-based tools like scp or doing advanced tunneling. Vagrant keeps track of the SSH connection information and have the capability to spit it out in a SSH config file and then the SSH tooling may reference the file. Example:

vagrant ssh-config > ssh-config ssh -F ssh-config default

Host shared directory

Inside the VM, /vagrant is shared with the host. This is immensely helpful as any apps your developing for the particular environment can be stored on the host and worked on from the convenience of your desktop. As an example, if I were to use the customer supplied docker-compose.yml and Dockerfile, I'd store those in /vagrant/app which in turn would correspond to my <current working directory for the project>/app.

Pushing and popping

Vagrant supports using the hypervisor snapshot capabilities. However, it does come with a very intuitive twist. Assume we want to store the initial boot state, let's push!

vagrant snapshot push ==> default: Snapshotting the machine as 'push_1590949049_3804'... ==> default: Snapshot saved! You can restore the snapshot at any time by ==> default: using `vagrant snapshot restore`. You can delete it using ==> default: `vagrant snapshot delete`.

There's now a VM snapshot of this environment (if it was a multi-machine setup, a snapshot would be created on all the VMs). The snapshot we took is now on top of the stack. Reverting to the top of the stack, simply pop back:

vagrant snapshot pop --no-delete ==> default: Forcing shutdown of VM... ==> default: Restoring the snapshot 'push_1590949049_3804'... ==> default: Checking if box 'bento/ubuntu-20.04' version '202004.27.0' is up to date... ==> default: Resuming suspended VM... ==> default: Booting VM... ==> default: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes... default: SSH address: 127.0.0.1:2222 default: SSH username: vagrant default: SSH auth method: private key ==> default: Machine booted and ready! ==> default: Machine already provisioned. Run `vagrant provision` or use the `--provision` ==> default: flag to force provisioning. Provisioners marked to run always will still run.

You're now back to the previous state. The snapshot sub-command allows restoring to a particular snapshot and it's possible to have multiple states with sensible names too, if stepping through debugging scenarios or experimenting with named states.

Summary

These days there's a lot of compute and memory available on modern laptops and desktops. Why run development in the cloud or a remote DC when all you need is available right under your finger tips? Sure, you can't run a full blown OpenShift or HPE Container Platform but you can certainly run a representable Kubernetes clusters where minishift, microk8s and the likes won't work if you need access to the host OS (yes, I'm in the storage biz). In a recent personal project I've used this tool to simply make Kubernetes clusters with Vagrant. It works surprisingly well and allow a ton of customization.

Bonus trivia

Vagrant Story is a 20 year old videogame for PlayStation (one) from SquareSoft (now SquareEnix). It features a unique battle system I've never seen anywhere else to this day and it was one of those games I played back-to-back three times over. It's awesome. Check it out on Wikipedia.

[aelumconsulting]

Blog On: Java For Cloud And The Cloud For Java

Introduction to Cloud

Technologies are updating with a higher speed as per the requirements. It is not only with the technology but also with our daily routines, lifestyles, system update, version update. We keep updating ourselves and our systems too as it adds more features and new capabilities.

Companies are switching to Cloud for almost all their work and operations to automate their maximum processes. Cloud is centered on automation.

Cloud is like a server that runs all the software and applications and it doesn’t require physical space in the organization. Cloud has the ability to give you access to your files from any device. All organizations are approaching and investing on a bigger scale in the cloud.

Java

Java is a high-level, object-oriented programming language. It is used as one of the most secure programming languages. It is used to create web applications, desktop applications, and games. Java is one of the most usable languages by developers worldwide. As per Oracle analysis, around 12 million developers use Java for the development of web applications.

Why do we use Java for Cloud?

Security– Java provides better security in comparison to other languages. JDK is created with full consideration of security.  The presence of Secure class loading and verification mechanism is the characteristic of java.

Presence of Libraries– The huge amount of libraries in java that provides better security and implementation to the codes.

Support and Maintenance–Java provide you with continuous support in terms of IDE. In java, it is easy for you to fix bugs and compile your program.

Untyped– Java is a typed language, unlike other programming languages. Every variable always declares with a datatype. The variable is incomplete without the presence of datatype in java.

Why do we need the cloud for Java???

Many organizations are currently using the cloud considering its potential to grow. Java applications consist of a huge amount of coding and implementation and the cloud helps to manage it.

Additional Capabilities-You can go to the cloud and directly add on any number of services you want for the cloud. Resources use is on you completely that how many resources you want to use.

Flexibility-Cloud will provide you with the right amount of resources even if the load is high. When the load is low then the same resources are going to be available for the other clients.

Analytics and Metrics– It will provide you complete access to an analytics dashboard where you can see the actual metrics, use of your resources, profit, and many other performance derivatives.

More Accessibility– You will be able to access all your services on every device and it will accessible to you worldwide at any system.

Comparison to other languages

When you write a code in C it is tough to manage the memory and if you make a mistake in C, the application can crash and it will spoil all your work but that’s not the case with java cloud as it provides more security to you with storage.

Java Cloud Development Tools

Oracle Java Cloud Service-It is one of the platform services offerings in the oracle cloud. When you create an instance in oracle cloud it provides you the choice to use your environment.

AWS SDK for Java– Amazon provides scalable, reliable, and scalable java applications on the cloud. API’s available for AWS services includes AMAZON EC2, DYNAMODB, AMAZON S3. They will provide you with the documentation for deploying your web applications on the cloud.

OpenShift– It is a platform as a service provided by Redhat. It allows you to develop your java applications quickly.

IBM SmartCloud-It provides many services, a platform as a service, Software as a service, infrastructure as a service using different deployment models.

Google App Engine– In the google app engine it is easy to create your web applications. It allows you to maintain your apps you just need to upload your application and you are done with it.

Cloudfoundry-Its a platform as a service developed by VMWare. It helps you to develop your whole product from start to end which is the complete software development life cycle.

Heroku Java– This Cloud platform is a Platform as a service that allows you to develop your applications the way you want with more features.

Jelastic-Its an unlimited platform as a service that provides better availability of applications. perform Vertical and horizontal scaling.

CONCLUSION– Diversion to the cloud is helpful for java developers to deploy their applications on the cloud and manage them in a better way.

“Either way it is java for the cloud or the cloud for java it helps you to create the applications faster with the optimized cost.”

For More Details And Blogs : Aelum Consulting Blogs

If you want to increase the quality and efficiency of your ServiceNow workflows, Try out our ServiceNow Microassesment.

For ServiceNow Implementations and ServiceNow Consulting Visit our website: https://aelumconsulting.com/servicenow/

[black7375]

Docker 대신 PodMan 사용

혹시 podman 아시나요?

너.무.\귀.엽/.습.���다. ㅇㅅㅇ!! 

최근 도커 대신 팟맨 사용 중인데 상당히 마음에 들어서 간단히 정리해봤다. docker가 네이밍은 더 좋지만..

podman의 장점

도커 이미지, 명령어와 호환

데몬 미필요

Root 권한 필요없음:

쿠버네틱스 지원

도커는 Container Runtime Interface를 지원하지 않아 문제가 있어 deprecated 되었음

도커의 경우 데몬이 이미지를 중앙집중형으로 관리해 데몬이 정지/재시작되면 컨테이너들이 중지

팟맨은 fork/exec 방식으로 별도로 구동

도커의 중앙집중화된 데몬은 모든 권한이 집중되어 root 권한 또한 필요했다.

팟맨은 fork/exec 방식으로 필요한 경우와 아닌 경우를 나눌 수 있음

최근에는 crun이라 하여 runc 대체제도 나오는 듯

 An introduction to crun, a fast and low-memory footprint container runtime

팁

일반적인 명령어는 호환되나 일부 불편한 점은 도커 레포지토리에서 바로 받아지지 않는다는 점이다.

podman pull docker.io/<이미지이름>

요건 레지스트리에 등록해주면 끝.

# /etc/containers/registries.conf unqualified-search-registries = ["docker.io"] # 여러개 사용 예 unqualified-search-registries = ["registry.fedoraproject.org", "registry.access.redhat.com", "docker.io", "quay.io"]

pull 시 에러가 생길 경우에는 다음 명령어를 쳐보자

sudo touch /etc/sub{u,g}id sudo usermod --add-subuids 10000-75535 $(whoami) sudo usermod --add-subgids 10000-75535 $(whoami) rm /run/user/$(id -u)/libpod/pause.pid

한계?

Comparing Next-Generation Container Image Building Tools과 같은 문서를 보면 약간 buildkit에 비해 buildah(팟맨의 빌드도구)가 느려 아쉽긴 하다.

Using Podman with BuildKit, the better Docker image builder

Speeding Up Pulling Container Images on a Variety of Tools with eStargz

참고

OCI와 CRI 중심으로 재편되는 컨테이너 생태계: 흔들리는 도커(Docker)의 위상

podman 소개 및 설치

당황하지 마세요. 쿠버네티스와 도커

Podman and Buildah for Docker users

Using the CRI-O Container Engine Suggest an edit

Say “Hello” to Buildah, Podman, and Skopeo

Write once, run anywhere with multi-architecture CRI-O container images for Red Hat OpenShift

Series "Dockerless"

Container Runtime

[hawkstack]

Migrating from VMware vSphere to Red Hat OpenShift: Embracing the Cloud-Native Future

Introduction

In today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape, organizations are increasingly seeking ways to modernize their infrastructure to achieve greater agility, scalability, and operational efficiency. One significant transformation that many enterprises are undertaking is the migration from VMware vSphere-based environments to Red Hat OpenShift — a shift that reflects the broader move from traditional virtualization to cloud-native platforms.

Why Make the Move? VMware vSphere has long been the gold standard for server virtualization. It offers robust tools for managing virtual machines (VMs) and has powered countless data centers around the world. However, as businesses seek to accelerate application delivery, support microservices architectures, and reduce operational overhead, containerization and Kubernetes have taken center stage.

Red Hat OpenShift, built on Kubernetes, provides a powerful platform for orchestrating containers while adding enterprise-grade features such as automated operations, integrated CI/CD pipelines, and enhanced security controls. Migrating to OpenShift allows organizations to:

Adopt DevOps practices more effectively

Improve resource utilization through containerization

Enable faster and more consistent application deployment

Prepare infrastructure for hybrid and multi-cloud strategies

What Changes? This migration isn’t just about swapping out one platform for another — it represents a foundational shift in how infrastructure and applications are managed.

From VMware vSphere To Red Hat OpenShift Virtual Machines (VMs) Containers & Pods Hypervisor-based Kubernetes Orchestration Manual scaling & updates Automated CI/CD & Scaling VM-centric tooling GitOps, DevOps pipelines

Key Considerations for Migration Migrating to OpenShift requires careful planning and a clear strategy. Here are a few critical steps to consider:

Assessment & Planning Understand your current vSphere workloads and identify which applications are best suited for containerization.

Application Refactoring Not all applications are ready to be containerized as-is. Some may need refactoring or rewriting for the new environment.

Training & Culture Shift Equip your teams with the skills needed to manage containers and Kubernetes, and foster a DevOps culture that aligns with OpenShift’s capabilities.

Automation & CI/CD Leverage OpenShift’s native CI/CD tools to build automation into your deployment pipelines for faster and more reliable releases.

Security & Compliance Red Hat OpenShift includes built-in security tools, but it’s crucial to map these features to your organization’s compliance requirements.

Conclusion Migrating from VMware vSphere to Red Hat OpenShift is more than just a technology shift — it’s a strategic evolution toward a cloud-native, agile, and future-ready infrastructure. By embracing this change, organizations position themselves to innovate faster, operate more efficiently, and stay ahead in a competitive digital landscape.

For more details www.hawkstack.com

[qcs01]

Mastering OpenShift Administration II: Advanced Techniques and Best Practices

Introduction

Briefly introduce OpenShift as a leading Kubernetes platform for managing containerized applications.

Mention the significance of advanced administration skills for managing and scaling enterprise-level environments.

Highlight that this blog post will cover key concepts and techniques from the OpenShift Administration II course.

Section 1: Understanding OpenShift Administration II

Explain what OpenShift Administration II covers.

Mention the prerequisites for this course (e.g., knowledge of OpenShift Administration I, basics of Kubernetes, containerization, and Linux system administration).

Describe the importance of this course for professionals looking to advance their OpenShift and Kubernetes skills.

Section 2: Key Concepts and Techniques

Advanced Cluster Management

Managing and scaling clusters efficiently.

Techniques for deploying multiple clusters in different environments (hybrid or multi-cloud).

Best practices for disaster recovery and fault tolerance.

Automating OpenShift Operations

Introduction to automation in OpenShift using Ansible and other automation tools.

Writing and executing playbooks to automate day-to-day administrative tasks.

Streamlining OpenShift updates and upgrades with automation scripts.

Optimizing Resource Usage

Best practices for resource optimization in OpenShift clusters.

Managing workloads with resource quotas and limits.

Performance tuning techniques for maximizing cluster efficiency.

Section 3: Security and Compliance

Overview of security considerations in OpenShift environments.

Role-based access control (RBAC) to manage user permissions.

Implementing network security policies to control traffic within the cluster.

Ensuring compliance with industry standards and best practices.

Section 4: Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning

Common issues encountered in OpenShift environments and how to resolve them.

Tools and techniques for monitoring cluster health and diagnosing problems.

Performance tuning strategies to ensure optimal OpenShift performance.

Section 5: Real-World Use Cases

Share some real-world scenarios where OpenShift Administration II skills are applied.

Discuss how advanced OpenShift administration techniques can help enterprises achieve their business goals.

Highlight the role of OpenShift in modern DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.

Conclusion

Summarize the key takeaways from the blog post.

Encourage readers to pursue the OpenShift Administration II course to elevate their skills.

Mention any upcoming training sessions or resources available on platforms like HawkStack for those interested in OpenShift.

For more details click www.hawkstack.com

[codezup]

Scalable Containerization with OpenShift and RedHat

Introduction Scalable Containerization with OpenShift and RedHat provides a flexible, efficient, and secure way to package, deploy, and manage applications. This approach gives developers more control over the entire application lifecycle, while allowing IT operations teams to ensure the stability, monitoring, and scaling of the deployed applications. In this tutorial, we will explore the…

[devopsengineer]

John willis devops

John willis devops John willis devops New John willis devops Introduction to DevSecOps by John Willis (Red Hat) – OpenShift Commons Briefing December 12, 2019 | by Diane Mueller In this briefing, DevSecOps expert, John Willis, Senior Director, Global Transformation Office at Red Hat gives an introduction to DevSecOps and a brief history of the origins of the topics. Why traditional DevOps has…