Beyond virtualization and containers: Cloud native computing

[ServicesExperts]

By Kanti Jadia, Senthil Kumar, and Shohei Maruyama, HPE Services

In 2024, every day was marked by meaningful conversations with companies about evolving trends in platform and virtualization technologies. It was the year that businesses began to deeply consider the future of platform architecture, driven by significant shifts in the virtualization market from business, financial, and technical points of view.

While the need to reassess existing virtualization platforms became evident in many cases, a clear understanding of current environments and target enterprise platform architectures remained unclear for many, despite the availability of optional architectures.

HPE collaborates with numerous enterprises to discuss and shape their future IT platform strategies, leveraging a comprehensive and proven approach to help them assess their current IT platforms, design, and build next-generation IT solutions, migrate workloads, and operate them seamlessly on the new enterprise platform. The primary goal for many companies is to upgrade their existing enterprise IT platforms to next-generation solutions that offer improved functionalities and greater productivity, instead of merely executing a lift-and-shift migration that maintains capabilities.

One of the popular technologies being considered is KubeVirt. KubeVirt is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) sandbox project that provides the Kubernetes Virtualization API and runtime, enabling definition and management of virtual machines. Kubevirt is the technology that provides a unified development platform where developers can build, modify, and deploy applications residing in both application containers and virtual machines in a common, shared environment. It is also the basis for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, as well as other KVM-based solutions.

Consideration of KubeVirt

KubeVirt is an open-source extension to Kubernetes that enables the orchestration and management of both traditional virtual machine and containerized workloads within a single Kubernetes environment. It allows organizations to modernize their infrastructure by unifying the management of containers and VMs, facilitating the coexistence and migration of workloads in hybrid environments.

Revamping existing enterprise IT platforms into next-gen solutions using KubeVirt, featuring improved functionalities and enhanced productivity, would be expedited by tackling these concerns and challenges. HPE Services collaborates with Red Hat to conduct technical validations addressing concerns and challenges related to using KubeVirt for running and operating mission-critical workloads. HPE performed validation of the use of Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization for mission-critical workloads on HPE Compute, Network, and Storage. (For more technical detail, please read Cloud-native computing: KubeVirt with HPE and Red Hat.)

Through the validation of Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on HPE compute, network, and storage, HPE has gained extensive insights answering concerns and developed a wealth of expertise helping customers smooth operations. This includes comprehensive design, operation, and migration strategies to help our customers transition more seamlessly from traditional platforms to next-generation solutions.

How HPE can assist customers in their virtualization journey

HPE Cloud Native Computing Services - Container Adoption service for Red Hat OpenShift accelerates the journey to more seamlessly integrate containers and virtual machines using Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization. It also provides a unified platform for running both virtual machines and containers within the Red Hat OpenShift ecosystem.

Through our expertise and tailored service offerings, we empower organizations to unlock the full potential of managing VMs and containers together, driving IT modernization and operational efficiency.

By following industry best practices, the Container Adoption service for Red Hat OpenShift (design and implementation) delivers optimized performance and scalability for managing containers and VMs in tandem. This enables organizations to more seamlessly operate specialized workloads alongside containerized applications, delivering unparalleled efficiency and agility within the Red Hat OpenShift platform.

Whether modernizing legacy systems or embracing cloud-native applications, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, combined with HPE’s expert guidance, is the key to achieving operational excellence and innovation. To learn more, see our Container Adoption Solution Brief.

Learn more about advisory and professional services from HPE Services.

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Kanti Jadia is a DevOps and cloud native computing solutions architect who joined HPE in July 2018. He has 20+ years of experience with consulting and corporate IT roles in various enterprise companies, including Red Hat, NetApp, Oracle, and Arrow Electronics. Kanti has experience in implementing cloud native software like Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift in Fortune companies. His main areas of interest are automation, DevOps, and cloud native technologies.

Senthil Kumar is a chief solution architect who has been with HPE since July 2022. He has strong experience with private and public clouds and containerization platforms. Senthil started his career in 2011 as a Linux administrator, where he gained experience working with Linux and VMware. He has also worked with Intel, Wipro, HPE, Hexaware, Singtel, DBS, and Govtech, where he acquired experience working with private and public cloud, VMC, AWS, K8s, OpenShift, CICD pipelines, monitoring, and logging. 

Shohei Maruyama is the director of the Cloud and Platform Services Segment in HPE Advisory and Professional Services. He is responsible for the company’s cloud platform and application modernization service business including strategic advisory services, design, implementation, and migration globally. He also assists with customers' digital transformation journeys, bringing innovation and optimization to their enterprise IT. Shohei has introduced new methodologies and solutions such as cloud-native computing and multi-cloud management solutions. Under his leadership, the cloud solution business in HPE Advisory and Professional Service has consistently expanded year over year.

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