Darrell Jordan-Smith explains that the mobile network edge is set to become a very high-density environment where service providers will run a multiplicity of apps and services that can be turned on and ripped down very quickly. He says that technology at the network edge is likely to be focused on containers that will enable and aid applications closer to the devices that need them.

Containers on VMs and VMs on containers? Does not compute? Yes, it does, actually

Service providers are deeply interested in the impact containerisation will have in the IT environment and how that will spread into and evolve within the network itself. Darrell Jordan-Smith adds that many Red Hat customers are looking to the benefits of running containers in a Virtual Machine on top of the OpenStack cloud operating system to leverage the hardware virtualisation capabilities that OpenStack provides as well as to maximise the advantages of enhanced compute density that come with containerisation and that will enable a wide variety of applications.

In general, containerisation as a technology does not include many of the networking features a telco would want to deploy. However, in the near future, containers will be carried on VMs and VMs on containers, thus allowing service providers to run VM-based apps in a container on a containerised platform leveraging the orchestration capabilities of Kubernetes natively on bare metal to give enhanced performance.

Filmed at DSP Leaders Forum 2019

For more information on Red Hat's OpenStack Platform and Open Hybrid Cloud technologies please visit the links below: 

• Red Hat OpenStack Platform: Bringing open innovation to the edge
• Red Hat OpenStack Platform Drives Innovation Worldwide
• Red Hat Helps Public Health England Use Open Source to Pursue Hybrid Cloud Operations