Introduction

/ Tutorial

Red Hat OpenShift on AWS (ROSA) with hosted control planes (HCP) has reached its general availability, bringing a range of benefits to users. This article serves as a comprehensive guide to help you understand the advantages and technical aspects of using ROSA with HCP. We will cover all the essential information you need to know, including cost reduction, improved cluster creation times, version upgrade flexibility, and enhanced security using AWS managed policies.

What is ROSA?

Red Hat OpenShift is a leading container platform designed to help organizations with their cloud-native application development and deployment needs. It provides a comprehensive set of tools and features, enabling developers to build, test, and deploy applications quickly and efficiently. ROSA extends the capabilities of OpenShift by offering a managed service on AWS, allowing users to leverage the power and scalability of Amazon’s cloud infrastructure.

The Advantages of ROSA with HCP

Cost Reduction

One of the primary benefits of using ROSA with hosted control planes is the reduction in costs associated with running ROSA clusters. In the traditional deployment model, users have to manage and maintain their control planes, which can be a resource-intensive process. With HCP, Red Hat takes over the responsibility of hosting and managing the control planes on AWS. This eliminates the need for users to allocate additional resources and personnel, leading to significant cost savings.

Accelerated Cluster Creation Times

In the traditional ROSA deployment model, cluster creation times can be time-consuming, especially when it involves multiple manual steps. However, with ROSA and HCP, cluster creation times are substantially reduced. Red Hat has streamlined the process by taking advantage of AWS resources and automation capabilities. This means you can now have your ROSA clusters up and running in a fraction of the time it used to take, allowing you to focus on your core development tasks.

Version Upgrade Flexibility

Another important feature of ROSA with HCP is the ability to separately schedule OpenShift version upgrades for the control plane and worker node machine pools. In the traditional deployment model, upgrading the entire cluster to a new version often involves significant downtime and disruption. With ROSA and HCP, you can now upgrade the control plane independently from the worker nodes, minimizing disruption and ensuring a seamless transition to the latest versions of OpenShift.

Enhanced Security with AWS Managed Policies

In the traditional deployment model, managing the security of the control plane and service roles can be complex and time-consuming. However, with ROSA using HCP, Red Hat leverages AWS managed policies to provide ROSA IAM service roles with narrowly-scoped permissions. This ensures that the control plane and associated services have the appropriate level of access without granting unnecessary privileges. By leveraging these managed policies, ROSA with HCP enhances the security posture of your clusters, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and potential security breaches.

Technical Implementation Details

Infrastructure Architecture

To understand how ROSA with HCP works, let’s dive into the technical implementation details. In this deployment model, Red Hat takes care of hosting and managing the control planes, while users maintain control of their worker node machine pools. The AWS infrastructure forms the backbone of the deployment, providing the necessary compute, storage, and networking resources required for a robust and scalable environment.

Integration with AWS Services

ROSA with HCP integrates seamlessly with various AWS services, enabling users to leverage the full potential of the AWS ecosystem. Some of the key AWS services that are tightly integrated with ROSA include:

  • Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2): ROSA leverages EC2 instances to run worker nodes, providing scalable compute capacity for your applications.
  • Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS): EBS volumes are used for persistent storage, ensuring data durability and reliability.
  • Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): ROSA with HCP leverages VPC to isolate and secure your clusters within your AWS account.
  • Amazon Route 53: DNS records are managed using Route 53, allowing you to configure custom domain names for your ROSA clusters.
  • AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM): ROSA utilizes IAM to manage access and permissions for controlling cluster resources and user authentication.

Deployment Workflow

Deploying ROSA with HCP involves a series of steps and considerations. Let’s take a closer look at the typical deployment workflow:

  1. Prepare your AWS account: Before deploying ROSA with HCP, ensure that you have a valid AWS account and the necessary permissions to create resources.

  2. Set up AWS prerequisites: Configure your AWS environment by setting up VPCs, subnets, security groups, and other networking components required for the deployment.

  3. Install the ROSA CLI: The ROSA Command Line Interface (CLI) is a powerful tool that simplifies the deployment and management of ROSA clusters. Install the CLI on your local machine to interact with the ROSA API.

  4. Authenticate with ROSA: Authenticate with your ROSA account using the CLI, providing the necessary credentials.

  5. Create a ROSA cluster: Use the ROSA CLI to create a new cluster, specifying configuration parameters such as cluster size, availability zones, and OpenShift version.

  6. Access and manage the cluster: Once the cluster is successfully created, you can access and manage it using the ROSA CLI or the OpenShift web console.

Best Practices for Optimizing ROSA with HCP

To make the most of ROSA with HCP, it is important to follow some best practices that optimize performance, cost, and security. Here are some recommendations:

  1. Right-size your worker nodes: Make sure to choose the appropriate instance types and sizes for your worker nodes based on your application requirements. This ensures optimal resource utilization and cost efficiency.

  2. Utilize auto-scaling: Take advantage of AWS Auto Scaling to automatically adjust the number of worker nodes based on demand. This helps maintain a consistent performance while minimizing costs during periods of low utilization.

  3. Enable logging and monitoring: Configure AWS CloudWatch to collect and analyze logs and metrics from your ROSA clusters. This helps you monitor the health and performance of your clusters and troubleshoot any issues proactively.

  4. Implement security best practices: Follow AWS security best practices, such as enabling encryption at rest and in transit, controlling access using IAM policies, and regularly patching and updating your clusters.

Conclusion

ROSA with hosted control planes (HCP) is a compelling option for running Red Hat OpenShift on AWS. By offloading the management of control planes to Red Hat, users can reduce costs, accelerate cluster creation times, and gain flexibility in version upgrades. Leveraging AWS managed policies enhances the security of your clusters. Understanding the technical implementation details and following best practices ensures a smooth and optimized deployment. Start harnessing the power of ROSA with HCP today and accelerate your cloud-native application development journey on AWS.