Red Hat and Intel collaborate to power edge innovation for Industry 4.0 systems worldwide

Organizations today are faced with a growing volume of data gathered from various machines, IoT devices and sensors, which they must decipher and apply to effectively build intelligent business operations. This phenomenon is at the core of the Industry 4.0 revolution as organizations turn to data-driven digital technologies to transform the ways in which they develop, produce and deliver products. Red Hat understands that in order to operationalize at the edge organizations must unlock and harness extensive data. This requires a hybrid cloud strategy based on open, connected systems, from the datacenter to the edge and out to the cloud, in order to drive actionable insights and real business outcomes. 

Edge is a natural extension of open hybrid cloud, and for many organizations, the next frontier. In establishing jointly supported labs and innovation centers, Red Hat and Intel aim to help organizations develop data-driven solutions and applications to support containerized hybrid cloud workloads and empower the industrial ecosystem with more sustainable operations and greater flexibility. 

From 5G to AI/ML to industrial use cases, Red Hat and Intel are teaming up to establish hands-on lab environments worldwide to accelerate innovation at the edge with customers and partners:

North America - Houston, Texas

To help organizations navigate this new wave of edge computing innovation, Red Hat and Intel are launching the Intelligent Edge Solution Center - a collaborative environment for customers and partners to co-develop integrated solutions to meet the needs of edge, AI/ML and industrial use cases. Through hands-on collaboration in a real testing environment, customers can develop ruggedized edge solutions to be deployed in next-generation factory and manufacturing facilities. 

Based in Houston, Texas, as part of the the Energy Corridor at The Cannon coworking space, the Intelligent Edge Solution Center enables customers to collaborate directly with Red Hat, Intel and our respective partner ecosystems in creating solutions based on Intel hardware that can used in manufacturing and process industries that meet industrial standards like Class 1, Division 2 (C1D2) and ATEX/IECEx. The Intelligent Edge Solution Center also features hardware from Advantech, Axiomtek, Lenovo, OnLogic, Rockwell Automation and Winmate that can support real-time workloads running partner software solutions from Inductive Automation, Intel, Matrikon and others, in addition to Red Hat open source technologies such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat OpenShift, and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Customers also have access to certified Red Hat OpenShift Operators and Ansible Playbooks to help them develop solutions. 

The Intelligent Edge Solution Center brings together leading technologies, expertise and services from Red Hat, Intel and partners, making it easier for customers to engage with a robust ecosystem of industry leaders to build industry-specific solutions – spanning smart manufacturing, autonomous production, 5G, healthcare, retail and more. Customers can choose from best-of-breed packaged solutions as well as bespoke artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) inferencing at the edge that leverages computer vision, predictive maintenance and autonomous production scenarios. 

In addition, Red Hat and Intel will work with customers to build open validated patterns to automate network deployments and operational capabilities for WiFi, SD-WAN, firewall, VPN and other security-focused configurations to support operational technology (OT) assets and processes. 

Register to attend the grand opening event for the Red Hat and Intel Intelligent Edge Solution Center in Houston on November 3, 2022, and learn how to participate today. 

Asia Pacific - Singapore

Red Hat and Intel upgraded a lab facility in Singapore to accelerate the adoption of 5G and edge computing in the Asia Pacific. While the original lab was designed to support the move of telecommunications service providers to virtual network functions (VNFs) and network functions virtualization (NFV), the upgraded Red Hat and Intel 5G and Edge Technology Lab supports the creation of next-generation cloud-native network functions (CNFs) and edge computing use cases.

The 5G and Edge Technology Lab supplements on-going validation efforts between network equipment providers and Red Hat, as well as the cloud-based onboarding service and testbed for network functions established in North America by Red Hat and Intel.

The lab utilizes latest generation x86_64 servers optimized for running CNFs with Intel technologies, such as 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors and Intel Ethernet 800 Series network adapters. The servers can be configured in standard Red Hat OpenShift clusters with a separate control plane and bare metal worker nodes entirely dedicated to hosting hybrid workloads. The servers can also be configured in smaller OpenShift clusters to simulate edge configurations. 

The new 5G and Edge Technology Lab brings together network equipment providers, independent software vendors and systems integrators to test and develop CNFs, 5G and edge computing solutions based on Red Hat OpenShift and Intel hardware. 

Europe - Stockholm

Red Hat and Intel are jointly collaborating within the framework of a 5G Innovation Center located at Intel offices in Stockholm, Sweden. As part of the 5G Innovation Center, Red Hat and Intel are focused on driving the following engagements and demos for customers:

• Demonstrating end-to-end workflows based on 5G, AI/ML, and intelligent edge workloads supported by a diverse ecosystem of service providers, systems integrators and hardware and software vendors.

• Enabling hybrid multicloud workloads using Red Hat Openshift, Azure Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS, and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management, advancing multicloud innovation with customers.

• Jointly developing infrastructure capabilities based on consumable reference architecture and blueprints to provide visual demos for leading innovations in key areas, including security, AI/ML, automation, power management, telemetry and more. 

These workloads, the various workstreams, and blueprints built, involve building blocks and contributions from independent software vendors (ISVs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and systems integrator partners to enable fully end-to-end and commercially viable ecosystem solutions that are ready to be deployed in a production environment. 

Learn more about how Red Hat and Intel are enabling modern computing needs:

• Red Hat and Intel technologies for modern 5G networks

• The role of industry 4.0 in enabling sustainable operations