Deploy workloads in resource-constrained devices at the far edge

April 29, 2026•
Resource type: Datasheet

Bringing workloads to the farthest edge

Red Hat® Device Edge comes equipped with the capabilities needed to deploy and manage edge devices and their workloads at scale. Red Hat build of MicroShift integrates Kubernetes, Red Hat Enterprise Linux®, and Red Hat Edge Manager to meet the needs of workloads running in resource-constrained, field-deployed devices. 

Features and benefits

Through this single platform, users can choose the capabilities they need. Users can deploy the operating system (OS) and later add Kubernetes orchestration—using Red Hat build of MicroShift or deploying the OS and Red Hat build of MicroShift simultaneously. In either case, Red Hat Device Edge includes a new product, Red Hat Edge Manager, for delivering scalable, security-focused fleet management. Edge Manager simplifies the process of managing thousands of edge devices and applications from a single console, improving scalability and managing security and operational efficiency.

With Red Hat Device Edge, users benefit from:

  • A platform that supports deploying workloads in small resource-constrained devices in challenging environments like industrial controllers, point-of-sales terminals, and drones.
  • A smaller platform footprint that preserves device resources for deployed workloads rather than running the device itself.
  • Consistent operational experience from small edge devices to large IT systems in datacenter and cloud environments.
  • The flexibility to deploy and manage bare-metal, virtual, containerized, or Kubernetes workloads.
  • A comprehensive, security-focused solution for managing fleets of edge devices that is simple, scalable, and built for edge environments. 

Table 1. Platform and edge-specific capabilities

Platform

Capability

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Customizable OS image generation

Allows multiple IT teams to create purpose-built OS images through Red Hat Enterprise Linux image builder. The images are optimized for various edge architectures and customizable for compact edge deployments.

Efficient over-the-air updates

Transfers significantly less data, since only the difference between software versions is transmitted for remote sites with limited or intermittent connectivity. This allows each install action to happen during scheduled downtime or when device owners choose to apply them.

Transactional updates with intelligent rollbacks

Updates are staged to the edge device and applied in a transactional either-or approach. 
Customizable health checks help detect issues and automatically revert an update, preventing downtime, which is important when devices are in locations with limited accessibility or specialized, on-site IT teams (e.g., oil rigs and satellites).

Red Hat build of MicroShift

Cluster services

  • Containers: Red Hat Device Edge provides all the standard Kubernetes application programming interfaces (APIs) and services for container orchestration, using CRI-O as the container runtime.
  • Networking: As a Container Network Interface (CNI) driver, Red Hat Device Edge uses Open Virtual Networking-Kubernetes (OVN-Kubernetes), which Red Hat OpenShift® also uses.
  • Ingress: Red Hat Device Edge carries over both the ingress controller and Red Hat OpenShift route API to simplify exposing a service at a host name.
  • Storage: Red Hat Device Edge comes bundled with the logical volume manager (LVM) storage and Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver to provide advanced storage capacities like thin provisioning or volume snapshots with local storage from the edge devices.
  • Security: MicroShift inherits the security stance of OpenShift, with security context constraints and similar mechanisms to isolate and protect the workload and system.

Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)-certified Kubernetes distribution

Red Hat build of MicroShift is a CNCF-certified distribution of Kubernetes, providing a consistent Kubernetes API for operational consistency across hybrid cloud deployments (public, on-premise, hybrid, edge, or any combination). 

Application portability

Red Hat build of MicroShift extends Kubernetes to the farthest reaches of the edge, allowing applications to perform where they are most needed—from core, to cloud, to edge environments. Optional features like the Operator Lifecycle Manager, Gitops agent, and cert-manager facilitate a consistent experience.

Advanced networking use cases

To support use cases with advanced networking requirements, Multus (multiple networks for a pod) and single root input/output virtualization (splitting physical network functions into multiple virtual ones) are optionally supported. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) networks and single or dual platform can also be used. 

Low latency and near realtime workload 

Workloads that require predictable low response to external events can be deployed to Red Hat build of MicroShift. PREEMPT_RT kernel and special measures in the OS, container runtime, and Kubernetes runtime make it possible to isolate certain workloads to dedicated central processing units (CPUs), to reduce jitter caused by noisy neighbors. This response allows for latency-sensitive workloads like software-defined industrial control systems.

Simple and security-focused access to sensors and devices

Red Hat build of MicroShift brings a generic device plugin for Kubernetes, which helps safeguard access to generic devices like serial ports, USB cameras etc. That simplifies Internet of Things (IoT) use cases. 

Red Hat Edge Manager

Streamlined fleet management and monitoring 

  • Scale operations efficiently by using templates to perform operations once per fleet instead of once per device.
  • Simplify onboarding and orchestration in resource-limited environments with intuitive tools.
  • Monitor device health in real time by configuring resource alerts that automatically report degraded or error statuses when thresholds are met.
  • Gain security-focused onboarding, hardened communication, and automated, risk-free updates for your remote and exposed edge devices, ensuring a consistent security posture and allowing you to mitigate risk at scale.
  • Navigate limited connectivity using an agent-based architecture that eliminates the need for specialized network configurations.

Red Hat Device Edge technical specifications

Two buying options

  1. Red Hat Device Edge includes:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the edge-optimized OS.
  • Red Hat build of MicroShift as a lightweight, Kubernetes-based container orchestration derived from Red Hat OpenShift and focused on minimizing user footprint.
  • Red Hat Edge Manager.
  • SKUs:
    • MW04979 Premium Support (1 socket up to 32 cores)
    • MW04980 Standard Support (1 socket up to 32 cores)
  1. Red Hat Device Edge Essentials includes:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the edge-optimized OS.
  • Red Hat build of MicroShift as a lightweight, Kubernetes-based container orchestration derived from Red Hat OpenShift and focused on minimizing user footprint.
  • SKUs:
    • MW02240 (Premium)
    • MW02241 (Standard)

Resource requirements

Learn more

For more information, visit Red Hat Device Edge.

Tags:Edge computing