News

Red Hat Launches Kubernetes-Native Connectivity Solution to Simplify Application Management Across Hybrid Clouds

• By John K. Waters
• January 20, 2025

Red Hat, one of the world's leading providers of open-source solutions, has announced the general availability of Red Hat Connectivity Link, a Kubernetes-native solution designed to streamline application connectivity and management across hybrid and multicloud environments. The new offering aims to reduce complexity, improve security, and enhance compliance for organizations managing distributed applications and infrastructure.

Built on the open-source Kuadrant project, Red Hat Connectivity Link integrates advanced traffic management, policy enforcement, and role-based access control (RBAC) directly within Kubernetes. This unified approach enables application development and platform engineering teams to efficiently manage connectivity across single and multi-cluster Kubernetes environments.

"Application connectivity, within and across distributed infrastructure environments, is fundamental to developing and scaling cloud-native workloads such as generative AI applications," said Sarwar Raza, vice president and general manager of Red Hat's Application Developer Business Unit, in a statement. "Red Hat Connectivity Link is an integrated, unified solution that enables platform engineers and application developers to streamline operations, more efficiently scale across multiple environments, and enhance security and compliance management using emerging cloud-native standards."

The proliferation of cloud-native architectures, containers, and Kubernetes has introduced new challenges in configuring and governing connections between applications, services, and endpoints. Applications often span Kubernetes clusters, on-premises environments, and multiple cloud providers, making traditional connectivity management increasingly cumbersome and error-prone.

Historically, organizations relied on multiple standalone tools for tasks like API security, rate limiting, service mesh, and application networking. Red Hat Connectivity Link consolidates these functions into a single Kubernetes-native solution, offering a more cohesive and efficient approach to managing connectivity.

Key Features of Red Hat Connectivity Link

• Unified Management: Provides a single solution for managing traffic routing, security policies, and connectivity configurations.
• Kubernetes Integration: Leverages Kubernetes-standard Gateway API and Envoy proxy technology for seamless functionality across single and multi-cluster environments.
• Enhanced Security and Compliance: Supports authentication policies, rate limiting, DNS configuration, and TLS management through Kubernetes objects, with operational data surfaced via Kubernetes dashboards.
• Flexibility and Compatibility: Integrates with orchestrators like Istio and OpenShift Service Mesh, providing users with greater flexibility in managing connectivity.

"Red Hat Connectivity Link addresses connectivity challenges faced by modern IT organizations with a single, integrated solution rather than a complex, layered, multi-product approach," the company said in a statement.

The solution is designed to meet the evolving needs of cloud-native applications, including those involving generative AI and edge deployments. By offering an integrated environment, Red Hat Connectivity Link helps organizations manage connectivity for containers, virtual machines, and hybrid workloads, reducing complexity and operational inefficiencies.

Red Hat Connectivity Link is now generally available and integrates seamlessly with Red Hat OpenShift to provide consistent connectivity management across Kubernetes clusters. Organizations can use this solution to unify connectivity management, enhance security, and scale applications across distributed environments.