{"id":28930,"date":"2025-04-02T09:51:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T09:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/?p=28930"},"modified":"2026-02-21T07:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:27:23","slug":"what-is-openshift-and-how-it-works-an-overview-and-its-use-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/what-is-openshift-and-how-it-works-an-overview-and-its-use-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"What is OpenShift and How it works? An Overview and Its Use Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is OpenShift?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>OpenShift is an application platform based on Kubernetes, developed by Red Hat. It&#8217;s designed to help developers build, deploy, and manage containerized applications across various environments, including on-premises data centers, public clouds, and hybrid infrastructures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OpenShift extends Kubernetes by adding features that make it easier to use, more secure, and better suited for enterprise environments. It provides a complete platform for application lifecycle management, from development and testing to deployment and operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"494\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-9-1024x494.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48972\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-9-1024x494.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-9-300x145.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-9-768x370.png 768w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-9.png 1228w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfc1 Summary:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>OpenShift is not just a container orchestrator like Kubernetes<\/strong> \u2014 it is a <strong>full-featured platform<\/strong> that helps organizations <strong>build, deploy, manage, and scale applications and infrastructure<\/strong> in one place.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In simple terms:<\/strong><br>\ud83d\udce6 <strong>OpenShift = Kubernetes + DevOps Tools + Security + UI + Automation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 <strong>Primary Category<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Category<\/th><th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Container Application Platform<\/strong><\/td><td>A full platform to build, run, and manage containerized applications. It includes container orchestration (Kubernetes), CI\/CD, Dev tools, monitoring, security, and more.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So, OpenShift is best described as a:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\ud83d\udca1 <strong>&#8220;Container Application Platform&#8221;<\/strong> or <strong>&#8220;Kubernetes Platform&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd01 <strong>OpenShift also fits into these categories:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"975\" height=\"801\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-7.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48970\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-7.png 975w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-7-300x246.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-7-768x631.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 975px) 100vw, 975px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Category<\/th><th>Why OpenShift Fits<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Container Orchestration<\/strong><\/td><td>Built on Kubernetes, it manages containers at scale.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)<\/strong><\/td><td>Provides developer tools, templates, build pipelines, etc.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>DevOps Platform<\/strong><\/td><td>Offers CI\/CD, GitOps, security, monitoring, and automation.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Hybrid Cloud Platform<\/strong><\/td><td>Can run apps on-prem, public cloud, or edge locations.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>MLOps Platform<\/strong><\/td><td>Includes OpenShift AI for machine learning workflows.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Infrastructure Automation<\/strong><\/td><td>Automates provisioning, scaling, and management of infrastructure.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 Why Should You Use OpenShift?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s why many companies choose OpenShift:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>All-in-One Platform<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>OpenShift gives you <strong>everything in one place<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kubernetes (orchestration)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CI\/CD tools (for building &amp; deploying apps)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monitoring &amp; logging tools<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Security &amp; user access controls<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developer-friendly web console and CLI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Enterprise-Ready<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>OpenShift is built for <strong>large companies<\/strong> that need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>High security<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Compliance with regulations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>24\/7 support from Red Hat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Easy for Developers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Developers get:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Self-service<\/strong> environments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Templates<\/strong> to deploy apps quickly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dev Spaces<\/strong> (like a coding IDE in your browser)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>Runs Anywhere<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can run OpenShift:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On your laptop<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In your data center<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, IBM Cloud)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Even on the edge (remote locations like factories)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd27 Example Category Mapping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Category<\/th><th>Example Tool in OpenShift<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Orchestration<\/td><td>Kubernetes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CI\/CD<\/td><td>Tekton (Pipelines)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GitOps<\/td><td>ArgoCD<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Build<\/td><td>Source-to-Image (S2I)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Monitoring<\/td><td>Prometheus, Grafana<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Logging<\/td><td>Fluentd, Elasticsearch, Kibana<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Serverless<\/td><td>Knative<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>API Gateway<\/td><td>3scale<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>IDE<\/td><td>Dev Spaces<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Storage<\/td><td>ODF, CSI<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>VM Support<\/td><td>KubeVirt<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Networking<\/td><td>Istio, Routes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Security<\/td><td>RBAC, SCC, OAuth<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>MLOps<\/td><td>OpenShift AI<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u274c Why Should You <em>Not<\/em> Use OpenShift?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>OpenShift is great, but it may not be the best fit for everyone. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Cost<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>OpenShift is <strong>not free<\/strong> (unless you use OKD, the community version)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Red Hat subscriptions and support can be <strong>expensive<\/strong> for small companies or startups<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Complex Setup<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>installation and upgrade process<\/strong> can be complicated<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Requires skilled DevOps\/SRE engineers to manage (unless you&#8217;re using ROSA or Dedicated)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Vendor Lock-in<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>OpenShift adds custom features on top of Kubernetes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you ever want to move away from OpenShift, you may need to rework your app setup<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd70\ufe0f A. <strong>History of OpenShift (in short)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Year<\/th><th>Milestone<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>2011<\/strong><\/td><td>Red Hat launches <strong>OpenShift<\/strong> as a <strong>Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)<\/strong>, initially supporting Java, Ruby, Python, and PHP.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2014<\/strong><\/td><td>Red Hat <strong>open-sources OpenShift<\/strong> as <strong>OpenShift Origin (now OKD)<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2015<\/strong><\/td><td>Red Hat starts rebuilding OpenShift <strong>on Kubernetes<\/strong>, moving away from its older container engine (GEARd).<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2016<\/strong><\/td><td>OpenShift v3.x is released \u2014 the first version <strong>based on Kubernetes<\/strong> and <strong>Docker<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2018<\/strong><\/td><td>OpenShift 3.11 becomes the <strong>last version<\/strong> to support Docker as the runtime.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2019<\/strong><\/td><td>Red Hat releases <strong>OpenShift 4.x<\/strong>, now based on <strong>CRI-O<\/strong> container runtime and <strong>Operator-based architecture<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2019<\/strong><\/td><td>Red Hat is acquired by <strong>IBM<\/strong> for $34 billion \u2014 OpenShift becomes IBM\u2019s flagship container strategy.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2020\u20132023<\/strong><\/td><td>Major expansion: <strong>ROSA (AWS), ARO (Azure)<\/strong>, OpenShift Virtualization, Serverless, GitOps, and AI are added.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2024<\/strong><\/td><td>OpenShift 4.x continues evolving with support for <strong>Lightspeed (AI), Edge<\/strong>, and <strong>sandboxed containers<\/strong>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\ude80 OpenShift Release &amp; Version Info<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Series<\/th><th>Highlights<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>OpenShift 1.x\u20132.x<\/strong><\/td><td>PaaS model with custom gear containers (not Kubernetes-based)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>OpenShift 3.x<\/strong><\/td><td>Introduced <strong>Kubernetes<\/strong> + <strong>Docker<\/strong> + <strong>OC CLI<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>OpenShift 3.11<\/strong><\/td><td>Last 3.x version; stable and widely used for years<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>OpenShift 4.1+<\/strong><\/td><td>Operator-based lifecycle, <strong>CRI-O<\/strong>, <strong>MachineSets<\/strong>, <strong>Installer<\/strong>, etc.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>OpenShift 4.12\u20134.14<\/strong> (2023)<\/td><td>Enhanced <strong>GitOps<\/strong>, <strong>AI\/ML<\/strong>, <strong>Virtualization<\/strong>, <strong>Edge<\/strong> support<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Latest (as of 2024)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>OpenShift 4.14<\/strong>, with <strong>Lightspeed AI preview<\/strong>, <strong>sandboxed containers<\/strong>, and advanced hybrid cloud support<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udee0\ufe0f Technologies &amp; Programming Languages Used in OpenShift<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Component<\/th><th>Language<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Core platform (API, controllers)<\/td><td><strong>Go (Golang)<\/strong> \u2014 like Kubernetes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Web console (UI)<\/td><td><strong>TypeScript + ReactJS<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CLI tool (<code>oc<\/code>)<\/td><td><strong>Go (Golang)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Source-to-Image (S2I)<\/td><td><strong>Go<\/strong>, <strong>Shell<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Installer<\/td><td><strong>Go<\/strong>, <strong>Ansible<\/strong> (legacy)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Operators (OLM, CRDs)<\/td><td><strong>Go<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dev Spaces<\/td><td><strong>Java<\/strong>, <strong>TypeScript<\/strong>, <strong>Eclipse Che stack<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Pipelines (Tekton)<\/td><td><strong>Go<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GitOps (ArgoCD)<\/td><td><strong>Go<\/strong>, <strong>YAML<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana)<\/td><td><strong>Go<\/strong>, <strong>JS\/TS<\/strong> for dashboards<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u2705 Most of OpenShift is written in <strong>Golang<\/strong>, because it builds on Kubernetes, which is also written in Go.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udccc Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Created by Red Hat<\/strong> in <strong>2011<\/strong>, became <strong>Kubernetes-based from v3.x (2015)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uses <strong>Golang<\/strong>, <strong>TypeScript<\/strong>, <strong>Java<\/strong>, and <strong>React<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Current version is <strong>OpenShift 4.x<\/strong>, focused on hybrid cloud, AI, and enterprise-grade operations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2728 What Are the Features of OpenShift?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"670\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5-1024x670.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48968\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5-1024x670.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5-300x196.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5-768x502.png 768w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-5.png 1292w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Feature<\/th><th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>\u2705 <strong>Kubernetes Built-in<\/strong><\/td><td>OpenShift is built on Kubernetes<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83c\udf10 <strong>Web Console<\/strong><\/td><td>Easy-to-use UI for managing apps and clusters<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u2699\ufe0f <strong>CLI (<code>oc<\/code>)<\/strong><\/td><td>Command-line tool like <code>kubectl<\/code>, but more powerful<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83e\uddea <strong>CI\/CD Pipelines<\/strong><\/td><td>Built-in automation for build\/test\/deploy<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83d\udd10 <strong>Security<\/strong><\/td><td>Role-based access, secure containers, policy controls<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83e\uddf0 <strong>Integrated Tools<\/strong><\/td><td>GitOps (ArgoCD), Serverless, Service Mesh, Monitoring<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83d\udce6 <strong>Container Registry<\/strong><\/td><td>Built-in image registry for storing Docker images<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83e\uddd1\u200d\ud83d\udcbb <strong>Dev Spaces<\/strong><\/td><td>Browser-based developer environments<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83d\ude80 <strong>Auto-scaling<\/strong><\/td><td>Automatically adjust resources based on demand<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\ud83d\udd01 <strong>Rolling Updates<\/strong><\/td><td>Deploy new versions without downtime<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd01 OpenShift Architecture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"406\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4-1024x406.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48967\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4-1024x406.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4-300x119.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4-768x305.png 768w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4-1536x610.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-4.png 1713w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-8-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48971\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-8-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-8-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-8-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-8.png 1497w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd01 Best Alternatives to OpenShift \u2014 With Direct Comparison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Alternative<\/th><th>Category<\/th><th>How It Compares to OpenShift<\/th><th>Strengths<\/th><th>Weaknesses<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Rancher<\/strong> (by SUSE)<\/td><td>Kubernetes Management Platform<\/td><td>Manages multiple K8s clusters like OpenShift does<\/td><td>Great UI, Multi-cluster, Lightweight<\/td><td>Lacks built-in CI\/CD, registry<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>VMware Tanzu<\/strong><\/td><td>Kubernetes + Dev Platform<\/td><td>Like OpenShift but built around VMware ecosystem<\/td><td>Deep vSphere integration, Secure supply chain<\/td><td>Complex setup, VMware-focused<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Platform9<\/strong><\/td><td>SaaS-managed Kubernetes<\/td><td>OpenShift-style features but 100% SaaS-managed<\/td><td>Easy, multi-cloud, minimal ops<\/td><td>Some features require enterprise tier<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Amazon EKS Blueprints \/ ROSA<\/strong><\/td><td>Managed Kubernetes<\/td><td>ROSA <strong>is an OpenShift variant<\/strong> on AWS; EKS + Blueprints adds GitOps, logging, etc.<\/td><td>Native AWS, integrates well<\/td><td>Requires assembly of parts<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Google Anthos<\/strong><\/td><td>Hybrid K8s Platform<\/td><td>Competes directly with OpenShift for hybrid\/multi-cloud<\/td><td>Google infra + Istio + Migrate for Anthos<\/td><td>High complexity, Google-centric<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Azure AKS + DevOps + Arc<\/strong><\/td><td>Managed K8s + Tools<\/td><td>Azure\u2019s cloud-native equivalent to OpenShift<\/td><td>Azure-native GitOps, DevOps pipelines<\/td><td>Less unified platform than OpenShift<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Docker Enterprise (Mirantis)<\/strong><\/td><td>Container Platform<\/td><td>Docker + Kubernetes + UI + Secure registry<\/td><td>Legacy Docker appeal, built-in Swarm<\/td><td>Declining popularity, commercial-only<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>K3s + ArgoCD + Flux<\/strong><\/td><td>Lightweight DIY Platform<\/td><td>Combine K3s, ArgoCD, Prometheus, etc. to mimic OpenShift<\/td><td>Lightweight, great for edge or small infra<\/td><td>DIY integration, no support<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>OKD (Community OpenShift)<\/strong><\/td><td>Community Platform<\/td><td>100% OpenShift without Red Hat branding or support<\/td><td>Same features as OpenShift<\/td><td>No official support, slower updates<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\udd47 Most Comparable to OpenShift Feature-by-Feature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Feature<\/th><th>OpenShift<\/th><th>Rancher<\/th><th>Tanzu<\/th><th>Anthos<\/th><th>Platform9<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>K8s Orchestration<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>CI\/CD (Pipelines)<\/td><td>\u2705 (Tekton)<\/td><td>\u274c (external)<\/td><td>\u2705 (TAP)<\/td><td>\u274c (use external)<\/td><td>\u2705 (external)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>GitOps<\/td><td>\u2705 (ArgoCD)<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Developer IDEs<\/td><td>\u2705 (Dev Spaces)<\/td><td>\u274c<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u274c<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>App Templates<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Built-in Registry<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u274c<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u274c<\/td><td>\u274c<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Logging &amp; Monitoring<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>External setup<\/td><td>Built-in<\/td><td>Built-in<\/td><td>Built-in<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Web Console<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Security &amp; RBAC<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Runs Anywhere<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Enterprise Support<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><td>\u2705<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Red Hat OpenShift supports several additional deployment models and variants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, besides the core five you mentioned earlier, <strong>Red Hat OpenShift supports several additional deployment models and variants<\/strong>, especially as it expands across hybrid cloud, edge, and specialized workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a full list of <strong>all major OpenShift deployment models<\/strong>, including newer and specialized ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\uddf1 1. <strong>OpenShift Container Platform (OCP)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Self-managed<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deployed on <strong>on-prem<\/strong>, <strong>bare metal<\/strong>, <strong>VMware<\/strong>, or <strong>public\/private clouds<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Full control, highly customizable<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Requires more ops effort<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2601\ufe0f 2. <strong>OpenShift Dedicated<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Red Hat-managed<\/strong> OpenShift<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs in your <strong>AWS<\/strong> or <strong>Google Cloud<\/strong> account<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ideal for enterprises who want full-featured OpenShift but don&#8217;t want to manage it themselves<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf10 3. <strong>OpenShift Online<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>SaaS version<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hosted and managed by Red Hat<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ideal for quick starts, dev\/testing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No infrastructure setup needed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf29\ufe0f 4. <strong>ROSA (Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Co-managed by <strong>Red Hat + AWS<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Provisioned directly through AWS Console<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrated with <strong>AWS IAM, CloudWatch, Billing<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Best fit for AWS-native customers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udef0\ufe0f 5. <strong>ARO (Azure Red Hat OpenShift)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Similar to ROSA but for <strong>Microsoft Azure<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jointly managed by Microsoft + Red Hat<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Native Azure integration (Azure AD, billing, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\uddea 6. <strong>OKD (Origin Kubernetes Distribution)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>community<\/strong> version of OpenShift<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free and open-source<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lacks enterprise support, but great for testing and hobby use<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf0e 7. <strong>OpenShift on IBM Cloud<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Fully managed by <strong>IBM<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Useful for enterprises with IBM infrastructure or hybrid cloud strategies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deeply integrated into IBM Cloud PaaS<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udce6 8. <strong>OpenShift Local (Formerly CodeReady Containers)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Single-node<\/strong> OpenShift cluster on your <strong>laptop<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ideal for <strong>development or learning<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs via virtualization (like CRC or Podman)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\uddca 9. <strong>OpenShift at the Edge<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lightweight OpenShift clusters designed for <strong>edge locations<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Example: <strong>Single-node OpenShift (SNO)<\/strong> or <strong>3-node compact clusters<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Used in retail stores, telco base stations, IoT sites<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd12 10. <strong>OpenShift on Bare Metal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Directly installed on physical servers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High performance, direct hardware access<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Popular for <strong>data centers, AI\/ML workloads, telecom<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd01 11. <strong>OpenShift Virtualization<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Run <strong>VMs inside OpenShift<\/strong> alongside containers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uses KubeVirt<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduces need for separate virtualization platforms (e.g., VMware)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2601\ufe0f 12. <strong>OpenShift on Private Cloud \/ VMWare<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>OpenShift deployed inside private clouds like:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>VMware vSphere<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Red Hat OpenStack<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nutanix<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gives control while utilizing existing infrastructure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udef0\ufe0f 13. <strong>OpenShift on OpenStack (RHOSP)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Run OpenShift clusters <strong>on top of OpenStack<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cloud-native infrastructure with strong isolation and scaling<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udce6 Deployment Summary Table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Model<\/th><th>Hosted By<\/th><th>Managed By<\/th><th>Best Fit<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>OCP<\/td><td>On-prem\/cloud<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>Full control<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Dedicated<\/td><td>AWS\/GCP<\/td><td>Red Hat<\/td><td>Managed in your cloud<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Online<\/td><td>Red Hat<\/td><td>Red Hat<\/td><td>Dev\/test\/SaaS use<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>ROSA<\/td><td>AWS<\/td><td>Red Hat + AWS<\/td><td>AWS-native users<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>ARO<\/td><td>Azure<\/td><td>Microsoft + Red Hat<\/td><td>Azure-native users<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>IBM Cloud<\/td><td>IBM<\/td><td>IBM<\/td><td>IBM customers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>OKD<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>You (community)<\/td><td>Free\/Open-source dev<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Local<\/td><td>You (laptop)<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>Local testing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Edge<\/td><td>Edge sites<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>IoT, remote ops<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Virtualization<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>VMs inside OpenShift<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>OpenStack<\/td><td>On-prem<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>Cloud-native infra<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bare Metal<\/td><td>On-prem<\/td><td>You<\/td><td>High-performance workloads<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-10-1024x517.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-10-1024x517.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-10-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-10-768x388.png 768w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-10.png 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Welcome Page of Open Shift<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"650\" src=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6-1024x650.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6-1024x650.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6-300x190.png 300w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6-768x488.png 768w, https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-6.png 1178w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is OpenShift? OpenShift is an application platform based on Kubernetes, developed by Red Hat. It&#8217;s designed to help developers build, deploy, and manage containerized applications across various environments, including&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5153],"tags":[7643,7645,7644,5523,7642,7641,7208,7646,7639],"class_list":["post-28930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-openshift","tag-advantage-of-openshift","tag-alternative-of-openshift","tag-components-of-openshift","tag-devopsschool-com","tag-features-of-openshift","tag-history-of-openshit","tag-interview-questions-and-answers","tag-interview-questions-and-answers-for-openshift","tag-what-is-openshift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28930"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58940,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28930\/revisions\/58940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}