Oracle Linux Reviews

The most valuable feature for us with Oracle's Linux product is the online kernel patching.

It gives us the ability to cover kernel bugs by using Oracle Ksplice online patching. The best part is that we can do this whole process without any unnecessary downtime.

In terms of improvement, from my experience the documentation and resources are not complete and I sometimes have to refer to Red Hat for Linux documentation.

Also, because we use HP servers, the drivers for Oracle Linux are not complete yet.

I've been using Oracle Linux for about four years.

I've had no issues with the deployment.

I've had no issues with the stability.

There have been no issues scaling it for my needs.

I'd say that technical support is good.

For the initial setup, you need some expertise to configure a good and stable system.

I perform all Oracle Linux implementations myself. The most important point that I've found is to plan, plan, plan, and then deploy.

The price is good.

• Performance – Running on an operating system that is optimized for Oracle software provides significant performance gains.
• Stability – Oracle Linux provides a far more stable platform than Microsoft Windows.
• Supportability – Oracle releases security fixes and bug fixes first on Oracle Linux. Environments are more secure and easier to support.
• Cost – Oracle Linux is roughly half the cost when compared to other comparable Linux distributions.

When designing a new Oracle database platform, Oracle Linux provides built-in benefits for database customers that are not available on any other platform. This has improved the performance, availability, scalability, and security of our architecture.

While the Oracle Linux software is perfectly suited for our needs, the related support processes within Oracle can often be challenging. Having your ticket routed to a capable support engineer can involve several escalations, and there is then a risk that the ticket is transferred to another engineer when the original person’s shift ends, often resulting in a frustrating process of answering many of the same questions again.

Similarly, the time to receive a bug fix can often be longer than in open-source equivalents. Therefore, we always recommend that Oracle Linux implementations are handled with an experienced Oracle Partner, specialized in Linux, who can supplement Oracle’s own support structures with a deeper level of expertise and faster response.

We have used this solution for seven years.

We hit a couple of bugs in the early days of Oracle Linux 5 but in the last few years, the platform has been extremely stable.

The platform is extremely scalable, either in a virtualized fashion or by using the available clustering technology.

I would rate the support provided as a 6 our of 10, due to some slow responses and some delays on getting senior, experienced technical support personnel engaged.

In the past, we had primarily used either Oracle Solaris or Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a standard. Oracle Linux provided a more-agile, easy-to-deploy platform than Solaris, at a lower cost than Red Hat, and including optimizations not available in either of the previous platforms.

The initial setup is very straightforward for a basic server. However, there are complex configurations that can (and should) be added in for enterprise-level environments to provide better performance, stability, and redundancy.

Oracle Linux is roughly half the cost in terms of licensing and support when compared to other comparable Linux distributors.

We had primarily been using Red Hat Linux in the past. We also evaluated SUSE Linux and CentOS.

While it is very straightforward to set up an Oracle Linux server, seek advice from experienced Oracle Partners to ensure that your new servers are customized and optimized to provide the performance, availability, and redundancy you need.

As a DBA, I prefer Oracle Linux as it is fine tuned to run Oracle databases. I can easily install pre-requisite packages using pre-install rpms. ASMLib is pre-installed with Oracle Linux.

Most of the patches are publicly available and free via public repositories. Any application that is certified in Red Hat Enterprise Linux is certified in Oracle Linux by default, as they both share the same source code.

Desktop environments should be designed better. Red Hat Enterprise Linux's desktop environments are much better.

I have been using Oracle Linux for 3.5 years.

We have never had stability issues.

We have not had scalability issues.

Technical support gets 3.5/5.

I was using AIX, Solaris, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The main reason for switching was that Oracle Linux is much cheaper compared to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Setup was straightforward.

Oracle Linux itself is free. But, if you need support, you need to purchase a support license. Following is the price range:

• US$500 for a 2-socket server.
• US$1600 for unlimited number of CPUs in a machine.

I have worked on AIX, Solaris, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The UEK kernel is optimized for Oracle databases, Oracle applications, and Oracle engineered systems. So, go for it.

Native support with Oracle database and these features:

• OCFS2 (Clustered File System): Open-source alternative to proprietary cluster file systems.
• Ksplice: Apply patches to the kernel without rebooting the system; zero downtime for critical security updates.
• Dtrace: Excellent diagnostic tool for analysis and troubleshooting ported from Sun Solaris.
• Docker containers: Full support, framework optimized and integrated with WebLogic Server Docker containers.
• Btrfs: Detects file system corruption and fixes it; improves backup operations and improves file system and storage capacity by reducing disk seeks and disk I/O operations.

Each month, my team makes a full update of the environment, including: Windows system, databases, Linux system and network systems. We reduced the downtime considerably on our Oracle databases by using Ksplice on our Linux systems.

Hardware vendors certified by Oracle for installing Oracle Linux are: Dell, HPE and Oracle. The product needs to be certified by more vendors to gain more clients and increase the size of market share.

I started using this solution four years ago.

I have not had any stability issues. My databases servers have been up since the last maintenance and there have been no issues during the business day.

I own a RAC cluster with two nodes. It is a medium-size environment supported by Oracle Linux. Scalability never was a problem in my scenario.

Technical support is technically good, but the response time is high. It can take up to weeks to actually solve the problem.

We used Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but licensing costs with Oracle VM decreased significantly, which motivated the change.

Setup was very complex, using cluster resources and fine tuning at the OS level to improve performance.

If possible, use Oracle VM; prices decrease absurdly!

I didn’t evaluate any other options, because we use Oracle Linux only for Oracle databases. And the Oracle database was in Red Hat and was supported only for two OSs available for my employer: Red Hat and Oracle Linux.

Study and learn about the Red Hat kernel and follow the news releases on the manufacturer site. Read the rich manual that Oracle offers.

It’s a good product. It’s Linux.

Oracle Linux is Red Hat Linux is Linux. It is a good and evolving platform that is an excellent base for today’s world where uptime and commodity hardware are the expected norm.

Linux is a cost effective substitute for Unix.

Support could be improved.

I have been using Oracle Linux for over five years.

Of course, we have had stability issues. Linux is a work in progress.

We have not had any scalability issues.

I rate technical support 3/5. The support for Oracle Linux is effective for less difficult problems. We had problems with support when an engineering level of review was required; Oracle basically said they couldn’t help.

We were using Red Hat Linux. We went to Oracle because of licensing problems. We went back to Red Hat because of support problems.

Setup is somewhat complex. It’s Linux.

Oracle Linux saves money, but it is at the expense of support.

We evaluated Red Hat Linux.

Support for difficult problems is lacking.

• We use Oracle Linux templates for Oracle VM Server to provision our clone environments quickly.
• We installed Oracle RDBMS almost without any effort in the OS layer,(thanks to preinstalled rpms, yums, and an easy Oracle Linux installation). It is always good to use Oracle Yum, for easing the installation of additional OS packages when needed.
• We are supporting lots of critical customer environments that are mostly Oracle EBS or Oracle RDBMS running on Oracle Linux and we did not get any unexpected reboots or OS problems.
• Oracle Linux is interoperable almost with every Oracle product, and this interoperability comes built-in by default.
• Oracle Linux is well known in the community and that means quick information access when needed, for example, when data is lacking on administration or a requirement to diagnose a component.

• The preinstall packages for Oracle RDBMS.
• Single vendor support, as my customers mostly have Oracle Applications, Oracle cluster stack and Oracle RDBMS running on top of it.
• It is fully compatible with RHEL. (Considering Red Hat is a widespread distribution, it is a valuable thing, as we can run a wide range of applications that are developed for RHEL). So, any application that runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux will run the same on the corresponding Oracle Linux version.
• Ability to have Oracle Support. (It is a sophisticated support environment.)
• Having Oracle Community for additional support.
• Free binaries and errata.
• Tested and verified by Oracle.
• Ability to check the Oracle Validated Configurations, which offers documented tips for configuring Linux systems to run Oracle database.
• It is a Linux OS but it comes with management and HA tools that are integrated and included for free. Oracle prefers to use Oracle Linux in its Engineered Systems. This also makes Oracle Linux more valuable for me. So, at the end of the day, if you know Oracle Linux, then you automatically get familiar with the Oracle's various Engineered Systems.
• Oracle Linux comes with 2 kernels: 1) UEK, 2) Base kernel. We mostly use UEK because it is Red Hat compatible, modern, current, tested and reliable. But in case of a problem, we can always boot with the base kernel. Offering the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) as part of Oracle Linux alongside what we call the Red Hat-compatible kernel gives us the ability to provide current, modern, tested code to customers without reducing reliable and availability.
• Oracle Database Smart Flash Cache is a key feature for those who use Oracle Databases. It allows us to extend the Oracle Buffer cache using flash-based storage.
• “cgroups” are also a key feature which let us create resource groupings based on CPU, memory or disk parameters.
• Ability to use Oracle YUM server, which gives us a free and convenient way to install the latest Oracle Linux packages.
• New Oracle product patches are firstly available in Oracle Linux... Also, Oracle Linux is quite frequently updated (even the DST patches are directly released).
• Ksplice lets us update the Linux operating system (OS) kernel, while it is running, without a reboot or any interruption.

• Oracle should increase the interaction between Oracle Linux and Oracle RDBMS. (Oracle RDBMS can be packaged into Oracle Linux; a tight integration will bring advantages.)
• File recovery should be added to Oracle Linux. (When you delete a file, you should recover it easily.)
• The RDBMS know-how that Oracle has, should be used to also develop Oracle Linux. (Oracle RDBMS has lots of features; why not mimic some of them in the OS tier?)
• Oracle Linux documentation should be enhanced.
• Oracle Linux clustering should be enhanced and made widespread. (Oracle should certify it in its products.)
• We need a file system other than ASM or ACFS. We need a file system which can be used for replication; maybe integrated Oracle databases.
• We need an Oracle Database-aware GUI but with a consolidated administration console added to the distribution.
• A GUI-based performance analysis tool should be added to the distribution.

I have used it for 5 years. I have used Oracle Linux for hosting several critical Oracle Databases and Oracle Application Servers. 90% of my customers are using Oracle Linux for hosting their Oracle E-Business Suite environments. Also, in the past 5 years, I have migrated lots of Oracle Databases and EBS environments from other OS vendors to Oracle Linux. I have also done several Exadata and ODA administration, which have Oracle Linux in their OS tier.

We did not encounter any stability issues.

We use Oracle Real Application Clusters for RDBMS-level scalability. We also use engineered systems, which are by default scaled out. All these environments are based on Oracle Linux and we didn't have any issues on the OS layer.

Technical support is 8/10.

We were using Red Hat Linux before. We started to use Oracle Linux, because it is free and supported by Oracle (owner of almost all the products that we are using or administrating). It has stabilized as time goes by and compatible with RHEL.

Initial setup was straightforward.

There is no license required for Oracle Linux; however, we recommend having an Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) license for getting at least basic level support.

We are using Oracle products including Oracle RDBMS, Oracle FMW applications and Oracle EBS, so this is why the strongest option is always Oracle Linux.
Unless there is a hardware-OS relationship (i.e., IBM AIX and IBM Power Systems), we always use and we always recommend that people use Oracle Linux as the operating system.

• Check out the validated configurations.
• Read the guide to get the considerations (such as basic security considerations).
• Check the certification matrix for ensuring your applications and hardware are compatible with Oracle Linux.
• Get at least basic ULN support.

The operating system is tweaked to work well with Oracle DB and other Oracle applications. Some kernel parameters have already been adjusted to suit Oracle products.

Ksplice is a cool feature with Oracle Linux that allows you to patch your systems without reboot.

The DTrace tool is available for debugging issues. If you’re a Solaris professional, you might be used to it and it’s always handy.

The Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS2) works well with OVM and other cluster scenarios.

All these features come with the Oracle Linux UEK kernel, however a Red Hat supported kernel is also available. It always feels good to have a choice.

I think it’s fair to compare this product to Red Hat Linux and although both OSs almost have same features, Oracle Linux is cost effective.

You can expect it to work well with Oracle products like OVM and Oracle OpenStack. I have been using it on physical boxes, VMware vSphere and Oracle Virtualization for x86.

As someone who has also worked with service based companies, I would say the choice of using Oracle Linux will depend on the environment.

Oracle environment: If you plan to run mostly Oracle products in your environment, then Oracle Linux is a good choice since you don’t have to run behind multiple vendors for troubleshooting. It also gives you a chance to convince Oracle to throw in some discounts.

Cost: If cost is a big factor in your environment, you could save some money by going for Oracle Linux support.

Availability: Linux has seen increases in security patches and most of these kernel patches require reboot. The Ksplice feature comes in handy if your environment can’t afford any downtime.

Despite these cool features, the choice would depend on over all IT goals and is mostly driven by two factors: how your environment is setup and how you plan to support your IT infrastructure.

The product is not very different from the market leader Red Hat Linux Operating System.

However, it has some issues when run in a virtualized environment. These NTP and other bugs get worse with the kind of support Oracle provides for Oracle Linux. Oracle support drags out issues and they like to play ping-pong between various teams.

I faced few issues with time sync on Oracle Linux when running on OVM & I had a tough time resolving it with Oracle support.
They could not provide any proper solution & dragged out the issue for a very long time.

I have been using Oracle Linux for over three years.

The operating system is fairly stable.

We have not had any scalability issues.

I rate them at 2.5/5. This is a big area of improvement for this product. Even the knowledge base isn’t as good as Red Hat’s.

I have used both OL5 and OL6. The choice depends on the application running on the OS.

Setup is not different from other OSs in the market.

You can certainly save money on support.

I have worked with other Linux distributions like Ubuntu and CentOS. I have also worked with Oracle Solaris, HPUX, and AIX.

Make sure you have good Linux support staff.

It's very easy to use. We have admins who have been able to administer this product. It is user-friendly. On top of that, we don't have any major issues with this product. The main issue we have with other, similar products that we use is performance. This product does not have any performance issues.

We are using it on a normal scale, but we are using a competitor application on a large scale. The application and the OS that we are using on a large scale has some performance issues. If we are talking about this application for this product, we are satisfied with the performance; we are satisfied with the output and throughput; and we have satisfied customers.

On top of that, this application does not break as compared to other applications.

I would like to see portability to other hardware, such as Dell and Intel platforms, instead of just putting a blinder on only Oracle products or Oracle hardware. The portability is the main challenge, I think. We should be able to port this application to other hardware and other vendors.

This product is more stable as compared to the competitor product that we have. It is more reliable. It doesn't break quite as often. It's user-friendly.

I don't think that it's that scalable, because you have to install Oracle Linux on an Oracle proprietary product. It is not that scalable; meaning, if you want to install this product on Dell or any other platform, you cannot do that. You have to buy an Oracle product in order to use this operating system.

Oracle technical support is quite good. We always have a few issues in this environment. They're user friendly; they’re cooperative with the customer. Their customer app is also excellent, and they provide excellent support.

Actually, my team was involved in supporting this product after it's built. We are in IT operations, so all the support after the handover was done through my team.

About 10 years ago, we were using this product a lot. Over the years, when we saw that it was not that scalable, we looked around for different solutions. We moved new applications onto the new product’s environment. This one we left as-is, so right now, it is in containment; meaning, any new product or any new applications are not porting into this application.

The number one criteria when choosing a vendor such as Oracle is reliability. Number two is cost. Number three is efficacy.

We chose this solution because it doesn’t break down. It provides good performance. It's reliable. Reliability was one of the factors in the decision to choose this.

If you are looking for a reliable product, this is the product. If you're looking for anything which can be scalable, you might need to look something else.

Based on performance, I would rate it higher. Based on scalability, I would rate it lower.