We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as the operating system on our systems. Everything is built on it.
Systems engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Built-in security features streamline compliance and vulnerability management
Pros and Cons
- "RHEL and the Linux architecture system are easier to work with for our program maintenance and updates."
- "The customer service is amazing."
- "When we tried it last week, we found it challenging to automate things using Ansible."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 discontinued support for X11 and started support for Wayland. All of our machines run on X11 window manager, which creates a huge issue in our transition."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps us solve pain points. It keeps us easily compliant from my perspective with security compliance and streamlines everything in a multi-system environment.
The OpenSCAP vulnerability scanner is what I appreciate most about RHEL. We benefit from that tool specifically due to the fact that RHEL is under the recommended operating system mandate. Through that, they have their security requirements, and RHEL's OpenSCAP vulnerability scanner is a really good automatic scanner to scan for cybersecurity vulnerabilities in our system. The way it produces reports is really nice and it's better than the old vulnerability scanner that our system used.
My assessment of RHEL's built-in security features for simplifying risk reduction and maintaining compliance centers around OpenSCAP. It's better than any other tool I've seen. I've seen two or three other ones. It is really streamlined and nice. It feels professional when using the product.
When it comes to managing our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems for provisioning and patching, our software team handles it efficiently. We maintain a close connection with our Red Hat account managers and representatives who are extremely helpful with any Linux or Red Hat level issues.
RHEL and the Linux architecture system are easier to work with for our program maintenance and updates. Given our 30-year-old product, making current updates would be almost impossible on Solaris. The maintenance and updates for today's requirements can really only be executed with a Linux architecture, making it essential for our operations.
What needs improvement?
One of our current issues is that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10 discontinued support for X11 and started support for Wayland. All of our machines run on X11 window manager, which creates a huge issue in our transition. Red Hat is working with us on this matter.
There's a high barrier to entry for getting into Ansible and automating things on a system level from my perspective. When we tried it last week, we found it challenging to automate things using Ansible.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been at my company for two years now. The entire time has been heavily involved with using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been able to scale to meet the needs of my company and its growth. I credit that to the Linux architecture that can scale to our requirements. We have a unique configuration. That said, my company primarily runs on Linux, and it has scaled very effectively.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service is amazing. The accessibility of the support team and their responsiveness is consistently impressive.
I would rate the customer service and technical support as nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously on Solaris before switching our in-house systems to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7. We actually skipped RHEL 8 and are transitioning from RHEL 7 to RHEL 9. We are not yet on RHEL 10.
How was the initial setup?
We have had issues with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I'm actually really focused in on one of our current issues where Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 discontinued support for X11. All of our machines run on X11 Window Manager. And that's a huge issue that we're transitioning. It totally breaks everything we have, and we're working with Red Hat to figure that out. It's nice they're working with us. Yeah. However, it is a big problem during our transition.
What was our ROI?
Regarding the security features and vulnerability scanner with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), we have not yet seen a return on investment as we haven't proposed it to the organization. We are currently working on scanning and fixing vulnerabilities. We are confident the the organization will be pleased with our improved compliance using the RHEL scanner, which should lead to a return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't have much insight into the pricing, setup costs, and licensing. I know we are licensed and have maintained a good relationship with our account manager.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
While using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as our operating system, we do consider other solutions for specific features. We have alternatives available for various tools, however, we prefer to default to Red Hat since it's the organization-wide preferred operating system. In the past two years, we have been increasingly transitioning to RHEL tools.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Director at a media company with 10,001+ employees
Security and reliability boost confidence and support growth strategies
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points related to reliability, stability, and security mainly."
- "The stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been excellent for us; aside from a couple of upgrade challenges, we generally don't face any issues during a normal business day."
- "One of the suggestions I have for improving Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is finding better solutions around domain authentication, as we are facing several issues with our current methods."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are mainly all of our business applications, as they all run on RHEL.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points related to reliability, stability, and security, mainly.
Feature-wise, what I appreciate the most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is security; it's much more secure, and I don't have to patch it that much. For us, security is a very key aspect of our operations, especially since we are even more security-conscious due to what happened with us in the past, so having Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in our environment makes us much more confident. When we deploy new applications, it's RHEL by default; we don't even consider another operating system right now since it keeps our environment secure and our business stable.
Security requirements are always a consideration in choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the cloud since it is much more secure than other operating systems and has a proven track record of being compliant and secure for many years.
When it comes to managing my Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems for provisioning and patching, it's about 50% manual and 50% automated, and we are currently starting a project with Ansible to fully automate it end-to-end. Right now, it's all semi-automated, and we want to make it fully automated.
For us, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) supports our hybrid cloud strategy mainly through seamless migrations from on-premise to cloud, which has been really helpful. Frankly, we don't use the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that much; our team prefers to get help from Red Hat support directly.
What needs improvement?
One of the suggestions I have for improving Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is finding better solutions around domain authentication, as we are facing several issues with our current methods.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been excellent for us; aside from a couple of upgrade challenges, we generally don't face any issues during a normal business day.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales with my company's growing needs, as we are increasing our footprint in both on-premise and cloud, with all new deployments on Linux without any scaling issues.
How are customer service and support?
In terms of customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), it has been good in general, although we have recently faced some challenges around domain authentication where support is lacking.
At this point, I would rate customer service and technical support a solid eight out of ten due to recent issues; I would have given a nine otherwise.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
We deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) both in the cloud and on-premise.
The deployment has been great. I've never had any issues either patching or upgrading it. We are right now on Red Hat 9. I saw that Red Hat 10 has been announced. Our team has been able to manage the entire life cycle from starting at Red Hat 4 until now. It has not been a problem at all.
I am involved in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) upgrades all the time; we are currently in the process of upgrading from Red Hat 8 to 9 for all of our environments. Upgrading Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has its challenges; we had a couple of hiccups in a couple of cases. Overall, about 95% of the use cases have been issue-free, with just 5% of cases occasionally encountering problems.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment for me when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comes from security, as we experience fewer incidents, more stability, and less business impact, without outages resulting in revenue loss.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been good; the licensing isn't very expensive compared to other products we're using.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
While using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), we still consider other solutions as we do have other operating systems, however, for business-critical applications, we usually prioritize RHEL.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at a government with 10,001+ employees
Improving security and usability with strong support and comprehensive training
Pros and Cons
- "RHEL has addressed key pain points related to security and usability, making it one of the strongest platforms from a service-level perspective."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has significantly improved our organization by providing a stable, secure, and standardized operating environment for our applications."
- "From a hands-on experience perspective, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved in terms of user experience and ease of adoption, especially for teams that are still building their knowledge of the platform."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is hosting enterprise applications that rely heavily on databases and middleware technologies.
The platform supports both application hosting and large-scale data collection, enabling us to manage and process significant volumes of data efficiently. RHEL provides the stability and reliability required for running these critical workloads in our environment.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has significantly improved our organization by providing a stable, secure, and standardized operating environment for our applications.
Its reliability has reduced downtime and improved performance consistency across workloads.
The strong security features and regular patching process have enhanced our compliance posture and reduced operational risk.
In addition, the scalability of RHEL allows us to support growing data collection and application hosting needs without major infrastructure challenges.
Overall, RHEL has helped streamline system management, improve efficiency, and provide a solid foundation for our critical business operations.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for us are its robust security capabilities, stability, and enterprise-grade support. These features ensure that our production environment remains secure and reliable, which directly reduces operational risks.
I have been involved in several Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) upgrades and migrations, both on-premises and in the cloud. In my experience, RHEL’s built-in security features greatly simplify risk reduction and compliance management. Our team works closely with the security group on daily scans and vulnerability reports, and RHEL enables us to address findings quickly by streamlining patching and updates. This process has proven reliable, allowing us to remediate vulnerabilities and apply fixes in a timely manner.
RHEL has also helped us mitigate downtime and reduce risks during system changes. While I personally prefer replacing production systems with thoroughly tested builds in lower environments rather than in-place upgrades, RHEL provides the flexibility and stability needed to support both approaches.
One of the key differences compared to other platforms is the reliance on command-line operations. While Windows environments tend to emphasize GUI-based management, RHEL encourages working directly in the CLI. This has been a positive shift for our team, as we continue to expand skills across both Linux commands and PowerShell.
RHEL consistently provides the stability, support, and knowledge base required to keep mission-critical systems running smoothly. With excellent vendor support and strong documentation, it fully meets our enterprise needs.
Additionally, RHEL has addressed key pain points related to security and usability, making it one of the strongest platforms from a service-level perspective. We have also recommended RHEL to clients, particularly in cases where migrations from CentOS are required, as it provides a trusted and stable foundation for critical workloads.
What needs improvement?
From a hands-on experience perspective, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved in terms of user experience and ease of adoption, especially for teams that are still building their knowledge of the platform. Enhanced usability tools, more intuitive configuration options, and improved documentation or guided workflows would help reduce the learning curve.
For future releases, additional features such as built-in automation templates, more advanced monitoring dashboards, and tighter integration with hybrid cloud environments would further increase productivity and make system management more efficient.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for approximately two years. Our adoption began with multiple environments, and it has since become the standard platform for our current operations.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is extremely stable and well-suited for production workloads. We have run hundreds of instances across a wide range of applications, and the operating system consistently delivers reliable performance with minimal downtime. Its predictable update and patching process, combined with strong vendor support, ensures that our critical systems remain secure and available.
Overall, RHEL provides the stability we need to confidently support mission-critical operations.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales very effectively across both on-premises and cloud environments. We run hundreds of instances supporting diverse applications, and the platform has consistently handled growth without major performance issues.
Its flexibility in supporting small workloads as well as large, mission-critical deployments makes it a reliable choice for enterprise scalability.
How are customer service and support?
Our experience with Red Hat customer service and support has been excellent. Support teams are responsive, knowledgeable, and provide clear guidance for troubleshooting and resolving issues.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was moderately complex due to the need to configure multiple services, integrate with existing databases and middleware, and ensure security compliance from the start. However, the clear documentation, enterprise support, and guided best practices provided by Red Hat made the process manageable.
Once the initial environment was established, ongoing configuration and scaling have been straightforward, allowing us to reliably deploy and manage production workloads.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was carried out by our in-house team. Our staff handled the installation, configuration, and integration with existing systems, leveraging Red Hat’s documentation and support resources.
What was our ROI?
The ROI of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is reflected in reduced downtime, improved system security, and streamlined operations. By providing a stable, supported platform, RHEL minimizes operational risks and resource overhead while enabling faster deployments and easier maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The subscription model is cost-effective, as it provides enterprise licensing and also includes access to Red Hat support and training resources. This combination has improved our team’s knowledge of RHEL features and enabled us to adopt new capabilities with confidence.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
I would confidently rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten out of ten for its reliability, security, and enterprise support.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Infrastructure Systems Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Efficiently manage data growth with seamless partition and storage expansion
Pros and Cons
- "I would describe my experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as very easy."
- "I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten out of ten overall."
- "The only improvement I can think of for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that I'm unsure how their migration tool works to go to the next version. I've heard people say it doesn't work properly."
- "If the migration process was seamless without backing up data and restoring data, that would probably be the biggest improvement, as managing over 3,400 servers manually is quite substantial."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) involve running a lot of applications that run on Linux, as my company is more Linux-based than Windows, so we prefer Linux over Windows.
What is most valuable?
The feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that I appreciate the most is the logical volume feature as it's so easy to increase partitions and disk space. This logical volume feature benefits my company as sometimes we have a client whose data storage needs are unknown at the outset, allowing us to start small. As things increase, we can easily increase it without taking the server down, and we can do it seamlessly while the server is online.
One of the pain points that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve is security, as RHEL is more secure than Windows. I have migrated from RHEL 6 to RHEL 7 to RHEL 8 to RHEL 9, however, it's just been a manual install; while Red Hat has a tool to use for migrations, I've never used that and have just reloaded to the new version. The upgrade wasn't bad at all; it was actually a smooth upgrade.
When it comes to managing my Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems for provisioning and patching, I use Ansible Tower, and I'm very satisfied with that. It allows me to schedule jobs and go to sleep while looking at the email in the morning. That's a very effective and efficient product for me.
My upgrade or migration plans to stay current involve starting eventually, especially since I work in the government world, where we use their tools to harden the system. When those tools are available, we'll start looking to migrate to the next version of Red Hat. When those tools are ready, we'll start putting RHEL 10 into our development environment to start testing.
What needs improvement?
The only improvement I can think of for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that I'm unsure how their migration tool works to go to the next version. I've heard people say it doesn't work properly, however, I haven't looked at it myself. If the migration process was seamless without backing up data and restoring data, that would probably be the biggest improvement, as managing over 3,400 servers manually is quite substantial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since 2002.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
RHEL it is very stable and very reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales effectively with the growing needs of my company, as all our developers can develop code and software on a Linux-based system using RHEL without any complaints about functionality.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is fairly good, as they work to resolve issues, though sometimes it takes a while due to time zone differences affecting ticket responses.
I submit tickets that might get answered early morning, and I only reply once I get to work, which causes some delays. However, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support is great, as they go beyond their duty to help resolve issues and provide solutions even for third-party software such as XRDP.
I would rate Red Hat's customer service and technical support an eight out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
When I first started, it wasn't really my choice to make. I originally used CentOS. Ansible is the best product when it comes to Linux.
How was the initial setup?
I would describe my experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as very easy, as I use a kickstart file to deploy an OS in about ten to 15 minutes, and Ansible is another very significant feature that Red Hat provides to accomplish many tasks quickly across multiple servers.
What about the implementation team?
I'm not really sure how to assess Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s built-in security features in terms of simplifying, risk reduction, or maintaining compliance.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment from using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is due to the feature Ansible, as before we started using it, I was manually updating all systems. It definitely saves me a lot of time since I can set things up in Ansible Tower and let them run without having to manually log into systems or watch processes.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We aren't currently considering another solution; we do use a little bit of Ubuntu; we prefer Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten out of ten overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Business Development Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Platform has improved network administration but still needs simpler setup and better training
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helped to mitigate downtime and lower risks, and I would say it's above average."
- "The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was initially complex."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for network administration.
What is most valuable?
I wonder if you tried either Leapp or Red Hat Insights. I don't know exactly, but I don't think we went that deep into it because there were some specific sets of instructions we used to run every time.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helped to mitigate downtime and lower risks, and I would say it's above average.
Sometimes there are new rollouts or features, or if I am exploring something new in support, I basically face problems where it's difficult for me to educate newcomers, interns, or new entrants to get accustomed to these things because it's an entirely new environment and new platform compared to what we have been using here in our country and in our organizations. If I am using Microsoft for certain things, it's mostly graphic based, but in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), it's mostly very command-line specific.
What needs improvement?
I think that if sometimes there are certain solutions where the support team with some specific technical personnel could remotely assist using TeamViewer or something similar to solve specific issues, then I think it could be much faster.
I think the commercial rollout of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could improve because this is a very specific kind of product that isn't commercial in nature. If there is some kind of integration with commercial customers and it is used more frequently in everyday life, along with improved graphic interfaces, capacity building, training platforms, or webinars, then I think we can extend the market, have more users, and receive more accurate feature-based feedback from them.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for almost two years or longer.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was definitely good. Sometimes if we were stuck and needed troubleshooting or were trying to perform some function that wasn't happening, it was satisfactory. I can rate their technical support at least eight.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) personally for my own use. I am no longer using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I switched from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) almost one year ago.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was initially complex.
Sometimes there are new rollouts or features, or if I am exploring something new in support, I basically face problems where it's difficult for me to educate newcomers, interns, or new entrants to get accustomed to these things because it's an entirely new environment and new platform compared to what we have been using here in our country and in our organizations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would like to understand what my experience was with the pricing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and whether I find it reasonable and competitive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I think we purchased Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) from a third party, from some other vendor.
What other advice do I have?
I have multiple experiences working in this field. Initially, I was a network administrator, focusing on networking, mainly in routing and switching. I worked with internet service providers, so I have experience with a NOC and service provider solutions in that regard, particularly dealing with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for network administration.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Sep 24, 2026
Flag as inappropriateLinux Technical Associate at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Daily work has become smoother with clear documentation guiding upgrades and patching
Pros and Cons
- "What I like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it is very easy to handle and very user-friendly."
- "What I dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it has high-cost licensing, which makes it unaffordable for me to purchase a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) license myself."
What is our primary use case?
I work daily on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in my current field. I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as a daily task, including OS upgrade and patching activities.
What is most valuable?
What I like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it is very easy to handle and very user-friendly. As a non-technical person, I find it very easy to understand.
The documentation in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very helpful for every issue. I have accessed the documentation multiple times, and it has helped me, especially when we are facing issues in OS upgrade and patching. Some steps are already mentioned in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) documentation, making it very easy to handle and solve the issues.
What needs improvement?
What I dislike about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it has high-cost licensing, which makes it unaffordable for me to purchase a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) license myself.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the past three to four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not seen any instability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), such as lagging or crashing.
How are customer service and support?
I have had to contact the technical support of Red Hat multiple times, and I find that their support is very quick and instant and also provides an instant correct alternative solution. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support, I would rate them 9 out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is easy. I have already completed a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) installation, so it was straightforward for me.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have not used any alternatives to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
I have been using Leapp in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The maintenance does require updates on my end, and our company takes care of that. I would rate this review 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Mar 6, 2026
Flag as inappropriateTechnology Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Linux platform has provided robust storage administration and reliable documentation support
Pros and Cons
- "I assess the knowledge base for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as good, the documentation is nice and good, it is available, and the documents I have seen are self-explanatory with clear explanations."
- "I believe that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved in areas such as monitoring, storage, and virtualization."
What is our primary use case?
I still have experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but I mainly work with SUSE Linux. The solutions are for on-premises deployments.
From what I have heard, my organization is going to use SUSE Linux as a standard. For Red Hat, the people who deal with servers have a few of them and are probably migrating them through VMware.
The part that my group deals with the most is SAP, and all that we have on them is SUSE Linux.
What is most valuable?
The main differences between Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux may be in some commands. The heart is very similar with logical volume manager and other components, but there might be commands that change, such as command line interface commands that might change even when they perform the same thing.
I believe that the best features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) include the interface with logical volume manager and file system management, since I work more with storage administration.
I used to deal more with Unix, and the way Unix performed things was better for me. For example, at the Linux level, all the partitioning is difficult for me in the way it uses certain terms, such as physical disk, when you call it SDB or SDBA.
From this perspective, I found this hard. I used to be more accustomed to Unix. However, they are very similar at this level with the device types and other components.
What needs improvement?
I believe that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved in areas such as monitoring, storage, and virtualization.
Everyone today is talking about virtualization and there is a need for it. There are many virtualization implementations, and everyone is moving toward that area.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for several years in total.
How are customer service and support?
I assess the knowledge base for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as good. The documentation is nice and good, and it is available. The documents I have seen are self-explanatory, and the explanations are clear.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support as good. I know it is good, but since we usually look at the documentation, I have not placed a request for an error or similar issue. I probably have not had the need to do that. I would rate it a nine or ten. In our case, I have not dealt so much with that part, as there has not been a need to request a patch or upgrade.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What other advice do I have?
I personally have not used Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Image Builder or Red Hat system roles. I know that some of the people who give us support do use them. I know it is helpful, but I do not have details about them because my group is dealing more with the hardware parts, such as HP physical servers and storage.
We are dealing more with that aspect.
I believe that the most important security features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) include the standard ones, such as user and password authorization and read and write access, which are standard in Linux.
I believe that you probably want to use additional software. My company has many tools, and another team works with the security part. However, you probably need integration with that. The basic features that every Linux software has are standard and robust.
I would rate this review a nine out of ten overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: Jan 11, 2026
Flag as inappropriateVulnerability Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Has improved deployment processes and streamlined workload management without disruption
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me to automate my process to mitigate downtime and workloads."
- "The challenges that we've had with different servers that don't have access to the internet require an installation, and keeping track of all the different versions on the different deployments is a challenge."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case for our company is for deploying applications.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect is for deploying applications.
The ease of use works well and is what I appreciate the most about the solution's most valuable features.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me to automate my process to mitigate downtime and workloads.
The solution has improved my organization, especially with the ease of deployment, as it's mostly just a better user experience for our users.
What needs improvement?
The challenges that we've had with different servers that don't have access to the internet require an installation, and keeping track of all the different versions on the different deployments is a challenge. I would love a feature that could manage the agent versions.
On the Ansible side, from what I've seen, there are certain templates and playbooks that can be used for specific use cases that I'd like to see in the next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and reliability of this solution is very good.
In the environments that I work in, I've had no downtime, crashes, or performance issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It scales well with our growing needs and organization, and it's been pretty easy to spin up new servers as we require them.
What other advice do I have?
The other users of the solution in my company are probably more on the operation side.
I think it would be suitable for a couple more roles.
I've been made aware of some of the latest announcements that were made today; for a large organization, it takes a while to get there, so we might not be able to realize those for another couple of years, but it seems there are new features that are coming out.
I'm not sure if there was one specific feature that stood out to me today; I'd have to look back at my notes, but it seems there's more functionality that's being offered.
I would rate this review a 9.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Linux Systems Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Facilitates centralized management and provides platform consistency and stability
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) provides us with a standardized Linux that has controlled package versioning so that there's no scope for issues when we're applying patches."
- "There are times when the latest and most exciting releases available online are not included in the version of Red Hat that we have."
What is our primary use case?
I am a platform engineer, so I help build out the infrastructure for app owners to use. I manage the OS.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) provides us with a standardized Linux that has controlled package versioning so that there's no scope for issues when we're applying patches. It's pretty stable and gives us stable releases.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) benefits my company overall because compared to other operating systems, it has a lower TCO. It's lighter weight than Microsoft Windows and simpler to use in some aspects, making it easy to use without having to worry about a graphical interface and similar elements.
What is most valuable?
The features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) I appreciate the most include the management, specifically that Red Hat Satellite is nice. This management feature is great because it centralizes what I need to do to keep an eye on all the systems in the environment.
What needs improvement?
There are some features of Red Hat, not just Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), that have a higher cost of entry, which prevents us from trying out things such as Ansible Automation Platform due to its high cost. We are still deciding if we're going to go that route.
There are some positive aspects to the consistent packaging of Red Hat, which is great. However, there are times when the latest and most exciting releases available online are not included in the version of Red Hat that we have. For example, the version included in Red Hat can sometimes feel outdated compared to the open-source versions that are currently available.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability and reliability are very good.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped us to mitigate downtime and lower risks, not necessarily due to its nature but because we design our systems to be highly available. We have multiple nodes and we only bring down some nodes, leaving others up, depending on the application, which sometimes dictates how it becomes highly available.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales pretty effectively with the growing needs of my company.
How are customer service and support?
They are pretty knowledgeable. If they don't know it, they know someone who does, so they can always route me and my questions to whomever is able to answer.
I would evaluate the customer service and technical support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as good, although sometimes opening a case and waiting hours seems excessive, depending on the severity of the issue. It may be a P2 to us, but a P2 with a 4 to 8 hour response seems too long sometimes, and they won't escalate. However, once all that's completed, I would still rate them at least a solid eight.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
My experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) involves lots of scripting and golden images, but there's a newer version of creating the images, and I'm looking forward to using that.
We have a hybrid environment with on-premises and cloud deployments.
We use Red Hat Satellite for provisioning and patching, and I am satisfied with that.
Upgrading or migrating Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) from on-premises to the cloud went mostly well. However, there were some caveats to consider when moving to the cloud that we hadn't anticipated. For instance, some migration tools had hardcoded values that shouldn't have been fixed in that way. We did encounter some issues that required remediation, but for the most part, the process has gone smoothly.
Our upgrade or migration plans to stay current involve evaluating Red Hat 9 now, and we will be evaluating Red Hat 10 afterwards. I don't think there are any other Red Hat products with a major upgrade upcoming. We are still using Red Hat Satellite, currently at version 6.16, and it needs to get upgraded to the next version pretty soon. The version of Ansible within Red Hat can sometimes feel way behind the version of Ansible that's available open source. Some migration tools hardcoded certain values that shouldn't have been hardcoded.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for me is its consistent nature, as it has stable releases. I don't have worries when patching because everything is backwards and forwards compatible depending on the version.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We don't consider other solutions in our company that do the same thing as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), nor did we use other solutions before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). We stick with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and if anything comes up that looks different from our OS, we heavily push back because we've established a relationship with Red Hat, and we're not looking to introduce a new flavor of Linux and a new support model after all the training we've had already.
What other advice do I have?
My assessment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s built-in security features for simplifying risk reduction and maintaining compliance is that while I haven't used OpenSCAP much, the documentation of their CVEs and vulnerabilities is pretty easy to use through the website. It helps me identify if a CVE is applicable or not applicable, which is useful in case an event occurs and I need to research its impact and remediation.
I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
President/ Owner at Asvesot C.A.
Security and performance improve transaction handling and deployment efficiency
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux is known for its performance, ease of deployment, and flexibility."
- "I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux as ten out of ten."
- "The valuable features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for on-premises are its flexibility and compatibility; it works exceptionally with JBoss."
- "The price for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is more expensive than other operating systems, especially when compared to other cloud versions."
- "In the last years, we have tried to quote a project using JBoss, but the license on cloud was cheaper than the on-premise license."
What is our primary use case?
I use it for a commercial platform for a bank in Ecuador. We have a product development for development in JBoss. We can have multiple channels on the left side in TBM and ES.
I have a product in development that serves as middleware. We have multi-channel on the left side and multi-database on the right side. We don't use an AMQ yet. It's broad.
What is most valuable?
The valuable features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for on-premises are its flexibility and compatibility; it works exceptionally with JBoss.
We find that the performance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very good, and the deployment is very easy. On YouTube, for example, they processed nearly 10 million transactions over nine years.
Security is important, and it performs efficiently and is confident compared with a firewall and WAF, or whatever you use as a firewall to protect our deployments. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps with uptime and security; with every deployment, we evaluate security and apply vulnerability scanners, covering every vulnerability without any problem.
What needs improvement?
I don't know where Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can improve; I just know that I don't use the cloud version, but I know the price, and I think it has many similar features to use JBoss with old features.
In the last years, we have tried to quote a project using JBoss, but the license on cloud was cheaper than the on-premise license.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system since 2016.
How are customer service and support?
I use documentation and community forums for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). There's plenty of knowledge in many forums, and when I have trouble, I can find a lot of support on the web; there is a lot of information we can find.
Depending on the support I have to use, we didn't have a problem; we have a local reseller who helps with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) support directly. We use a partner for direct support with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Our business in Ecuador is a local partner, and the name of the partner business is ASAP. Mr. Jimmy Rodriguez provides support and attends to our needs very efficiently.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is more expensive compared with WebLogic, and I prefer JBoss against WebLogic. The main differences between the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating systems and Windows and Solaris are concerning performance; the best performance is in the order of Linux, Solaris, and then Windows.
What other advice do I have?
Achieving security standard certification is necessary for my business, and I'm always recommending Red Hat Enterprise Linux to my clients.
On a scale of 1-10, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Implementer
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Updated: September 2026
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