Dell Technologies APEX Cloud Platform Cluster Expansion

Michael Wells, a Tech Marketing Engineer at Dell Technologies, presents a demonstration on scalability and cluster expansion using the APEX Cloud Platform, specifically focusing on adding worker nodes to an OpenShift cluster. The process involves searching for new nodes, running compatibility checks to ensure they match the existing cluster, and then configuring settings such as the node name, IP address, TPM passphrase, location information, NIC settings, and network settings. The system pre-populates certain values like VLAN IDs based on the existing setup and then validates the configuration before adding the node to the cluster.

He highlights how the APEX Cloud Platform integrates infrastructure management directly into the cloud OS experience, offering a unique solution for different cloud operating models. He also discusses the advantages of installing Red Hat OpenShift on bare metal, which includes better performance due to the absence of a hypervisor, reduced licensing requirements, and a smaller attack surface. Additionally, he explains the benefits of lifecycle management of both OpenShift and hardware together, simplifying the deployment process and providing developers with more direct access to hardware resources.

Wells also touches on the topic of OpenShift virtualization, explaining that running virtual machines inside of OpenShift as pods allows for pod-to-pod networking and avoids the need for routing traffic through an ingress controller. This setup can be more efficient for workloads that need to communicate with other OpenShift services.