Regional Telecommunications Leader Modernizes Infrastructure with Red Hat OpenShift and AMQ Streams

Our client is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company serving customers across the southeastern United States. As a regional leader in wireless, fiber internet, and business technology solutions, they operate critical infrastructure that requires enterprise-grade reliability, scalability, and performance. The company has built its reputation on delivering innovative technology solutions while maintaining the agility to adapt to rapidly changing market demands in the telecommunications sector.

The Challenge

Our client faced the need to modernize their application infrastructure to support growing data processing requirements and improve operational efficiency. Their existing infrastructure presented several key challenges:

• Limited Container Orchestration: Legacy systems lacked the scalability and automation capabilities needed for modern application deployment and management
• Data Streaming Requirements: Growing need for real-time data processing and streaming capabilities to support telecommunications operations
• Infrastructure Scalability: Requirement for a platform that could scale efficiently across both virtual and bare metal environments
• Knowledge Transfer Needs: Internal team required hands-on experience with enterprise Kubernetes and Red Hat technologies
• Production Readiness: Need for a robust, production-ready container platform with comprehensive monitoring and logging capabilities

The challenge was to implement a comprehensive OpenShift platform that would provide both immediate operational benefits and long-term scalability while ensuring the internal team could effectively manage and expand the environment.

The Solution

Shadow-Soft designed a comprehensive OpenShift implementation strategy that addressed our client's infrastructure modernization needs through a phased approach. Our solution centered on deploying both non-production and production Red Hat OpenShift clusters with integrated AMQ Streams (Kafka) capabilities.

Our approach emphasized:

• Hybrid Infrastructure Design: Leveraging both VMware virtual machines and bare metal nodes for optimal performance
• Enterprise-Grade Streaming: Integrating Red Hat AMQ Streams for real-time data processing capabilities
• Production-Ready Architecture: Implementing high-availability configurations with proper monitoring and logging
• Knowledge Transfer Focus: Providing comprehensive mentoring and documentation throughout the implementation

The 20-week engagement was structured to ensure our client's team gained deep expertise while achieving immediate operational benefits.

Implementation Process

Phase 1: Architecture Design and Planning

Infrastructure Assessment and Design

• Conducted comprehensive evaluation of Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription requirements
• Performed detailed infrastructure sizing analysis to meet the client's specific deployment objectives
• Developed cluster sizing strategy with growth planning for future corporate objectives
• Evaluated existing infrastructure capacity and created comprehensive capacity planning framework
• Analyzed application requirements to determine optimal metrics for environment sizing

Technical Architecture Definition

• Designed hybrid infrastructure approach combining VMware virtual machines for control plane and infrastructure nodes
• Specified bare metal compute nodes for high-performance workload requirements
• Defined networking requirements assuming single VNET deployment with DHCP availability
• Created automation strategies for bare metal node configuration and scaling

Phase 2: Non-Production Cluster Implementation

Core OpenShift Deployment

• Deployed OpenShift 4.x cluster using User Provisioned Infrastructure (UPI) installer
• Configured 3 control plane nodes and 3 infrastructure nodes on VMware virtual machines
• Installed 3 bare metal compute nodes for optimal workload performance
• Implemented baseline subsystems including monitoring, logging, and registry services on infrastructure nodes
• Configured EFK (Elasticsearch, Fluentd, Kibana) stack integration with the client's existing Splunk infrastructure

Automation Development

• Created comprehensive automation code for bare metal node configuration
• Developed scaling procedures for adding compute capacity as needed
• Implemented configuration management for consistent node deployment

Phase 3: AMQ Streams and Storage Integration (Non-Production)

Kafka Implementation

• Deployed 5 Kafka brokers using Red Hat AMQ Streams operator
• Configured schema registry with Vertica integration capabilities
• Implemented best-effort integration approach for technology preview components
• Coordinated with Red Hat support for schema registry optimization

Storage Platform Integration

• Collaborated with Portworx team for storage platform installation
• Configured persistent storage solutions for stateful applications
• Validated storage performance and availability requirements

Phase 4: Production Cluster Deployment

Production Infrastructure Rollout

• Replicated non-production architecture for production environment
• Deployed production OpenShift 4.x cluster with identical infrastructure configuration
• Implemented production-grade monitoring and logging with Splunk integration
• Applied lessons learned from non-production deployment for optimized configuration

Phase 5: Production AMQ Streams Implementation

Production Kafka Deployment

• Deployed production-ready AMQ Streams configuration with 5 Kafka brokers
• Implemented production schema registry with Vertica integration
• Coordinated production Portworx installation and configuration
• Conducted comprehensive testing and validation procedures

Phase 6: Knowledge Transfer and Documentation

Comprehensive Training Program

• Provided hands-on mentoring throughout build, test, and production phases
• Delivered detailed documentation covering all configured systems
• Conducted knowledge transfer sessions for operational procedures
• Created runbooks for ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting

Key Features

Enterprise-Grade Container Platform

• High-availability OpenShift clusters with redundant control plane and infrastructure nodes
• Hybrid infrastructure approach combining virtual and bare metal resources for optimal performance
• Comprehensive baseline subsystems including monitoring, logging, and registry services

Real-Time Data Processing Capabilities

• Production-ready Kafka implementation with 5 brokers per cluster
• Schema registry integration with existing Vertica data warehouse
• Scalable streaming architecture supporting telecommunications data requirements

Operational Excellence

• Integrated logging forwarding to existing Splunk infrastructure
• Automated bare metal node configuration and scaling procedures
• Comprehensive monitoring and alerting capabilities

Knowledge Transfer and Enablement

• Extensive documentation covering all aspects of the implementation
• Hands-on mentoring throughout the engagement
• Operational runbooks and troubleshooting guides

Tools Used

Core Platform Technologies

• Red Hat OpenShift 4.x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Red Hat AMQ Streams (Apache Kafka)
• VMware vSphere

Infrastructure and Automation

• User Provisioned Infrastructure (UPI) installer
• EFK Stack (Elasticsearch, Fluentd, Kibana)
• Custom automation scripts for bare metal configuration

Integration Technologies

• Splunk (log forwarding integration)
• Vertica (schema registry integration)
• Portworx (container storage platform)

Monitoring and Management

• OpenShift native monitoring stack
• Prometheus and Grafana
• Custom dashboards for telecommunications workloads

Results

Infrastructure Modernization Achievement

• Successfully deployed dual OpenShift clusters supporting both development and production workloads
• Implemented enterprise-grade container orchestration platform with 99.9% availability target
• Achieved seamless integration with existing Splunk logging infrastructure

Streaming Capabilities Implementation

• Deployed production-ready Kafka streaming platform supporting real-time data processing
• Established schema registry integration with Vertica data warehouse
• Created scalable foundation for telecommunications data streaming requirements

Operational Efficiency Gains

• Reduced deployment time for new applications through container orchestration
• Implemented automated scaling capabilities for compute resources
• Established standardized deployment procedures across environments

Team Enablement Success

• The client's internal team gained comprehensive expertise in OpenShift administration
• Delivered complete documentation and operational procedures
• Established foundation for ongoing platform expansion and optimization

Future-Ready Platform

• Created scalable architecture supporting future growth requirements
• Implemented automation framework for efficient capacity expansion
• Established best practices for ongoing Red Hat technology adoption

The successful implementation positions our client with a modern, scalable container platform that supports their telecommunications operations while providing the flexibility to adapt to future technology requirements. The comprehensive knowledge transfer ensures the internal team can effectively manage, scale, and optimize the platform for continued business success.