I've used it more as a user than as an administrator setting it up. Just mainly getting access to legacy systems and programming that's not Windows 11 compatible.
Free version available but hard to understand
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
What is most valuable?
From my experience, it seems like there are a lot of freeware and open-source tools out there to meet security needs. But I have to spend a lot of time researching everything. So, to be fair, the same is true on the Windows side as well. But, again, if you're not a command-line commando, some of these tools are just next to impossible to use.
I am not very far along at all with AI initiatives because these networks and computers are going to be used in a classified, disconnected environment.
What needs improvement?
Personally, I don't think it has any commendable features.
The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with the Red Hat virtualization.
It doesn't just work out of the box. You have to read through about six different documents, and everybody's experience is different. So it's kind of annoying.
That would be the main thing. If you're not a Linux geek, it's very hard to understand. And it's probably because I came out of the Windows world. I learned this as part of my cross-training, but I just found the way that it happens with VMware and all that stuff to be easier to use.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have had hands-on experience with it for about a year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I'm just doing research right now, and I'm trying to set them up. The maximum user base will be ten people.
How are customer service and support?
I've dealt with Red Hat on app support on some older versions, not for virtualization but just for system support. They were very good at that, but I haven't reached out to them yet on the virtualization side.
If you've got a license, it's great. If you use a community license, the support is good. There's lots of good support out there in the community, but you've got to scroll through it all and kind of find the right answers.
How was the initial setup?
I find it very complex to set up Red Hat. I have to know which components I need. I have to know what licenses I need. There's just a lot involved. Whereas, if I wanted to spin up a Windows RDS system, and again, it's probably because I grew up on Windows, there's not that direct correlation between, for example, if I do a remote desktop session in Windows, I do step A, B, and C. Whereas in Red Hat, you have to figure out, "Okay. Let's see. I need to make sure I got QEMU installed. Then I have to make sure I got QEMU and libvirt and all these other things installed." And maybe the driver will work with the video card. I just... there's a lot of stuff going on.
As a Windows administrator, I find that I could just point and click and have it done. And in Linux, it's just not that easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I use the free developer stuff right now.
What other advice do I have?
I don't have enough knowledge of the system right now to recommend it. No, I wouldn't. And that's based upon the fact that I just don't have enough knowledge to say, "Hey, I give this my seal of approval." I'm still playing with it, still learning about it.
Overall, I would rate it a six out of ten because I'm just starting out with it, really starting to learn and get involved here.
