International Journal of Science, Engineering and TechnologyAuthors: Ayaan Sheikh
Abstract: Hybrid cloud adoption has become a strategic imperative for enterprises seeking scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS, as open-source Linux platforms, play a pivotal role in enabling seamless integration between on-premises infrastructure and public cloud services. RHEL provides enterprise-grade stability, security, and vendor support, while CentOS offers a community-driven, cost-effective alternative with compatibility across RHEL environments. Together, these platforms empower organizations to deploy, manage, and optimize workloads across hybrid IT ecosystems. This review article provides a comprehensive analysis of using RHEL and CentOS for hybrid cloud implementations. It explores infrastructure design, automation and configuration management, security and compliance, containerization, performance optimization, and real-world case studies. Emphasis is placed on leveraging automation tools such as Ansible, Puppet, and OpenShift, along with containerization strategies using Docker, Podman, and Kubernetes, to improve deployment efficiency and operational consistency. Security mechanisms, including SELinux, patch management, and compliance monitoring, are examined to demonstrate how enterprises can maintain robust protections across heterogeneous environments. Emerging trends such as AI-driven automation, predictive analytics, and edge computing are discussed to provide forward-looking perspectives on optimizing hybrid cloud architectures. By synthesizing technical, operational, and strategic considerations, this review equips IT leaders with insights to build resilient, scalable, and secure hybrid cloud environments using open-source Linux platforms. The analysis highlights the advantages of open-source solutions in reducing vendor lock-in, accelerating digital transformation, and enabling agile and cost-effective IT operations.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17149912
