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reviewer2398752 - PeerSpot reviewer
Research Cloud Tech Lead for HPC at a university with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Jun 4, 2024
Consistent, scalable, and geared toward security
Pros and Cons
  • "It is consistent. It is geared toward security."
  • "I do not have anything to improve for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but CentOS could be open-source again."

What is our primary use case?

We have extensive contracts with Red Hat. We have it for the operating system. I manage the cloud deployment for GCP, and we have got Red Hat Satellite running in GCP. All of our VMs run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the cloud. On-prem, we are running Red Hat Enterprise Linux on our OpenShift cluster, and we have a supercomputer that has got 753 nodes with 50,000 cores running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We use a lot of the other products too.

How has it helped my organization?

There is consistency across the deployment. Generally, when you are looking to hire people, if you hire people who know Red Hat Enterprise Linux, they have a certain level of understanding that goes along with using the operating system.

It is easy to secure. It has a lot of built-in security features, and it is very stable, which is a big deal.

It makes it easier to have one team that deals with both on-prem and cloud because there is a uniform operating system and tooling. You do not have to have a set of admins where one knows one thing and the other one knows another.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to centralize development. We are using the same platform everywhere. It is the same tooling, and everyone is working in the same system.

We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for containerization projects. We are building out OpenShift on-prem right now on bare metal. We are running the hub cluster from GCP to spin up the bare metal cluster on-prem. We will hopefully be moving more and more things towards containerized workflows. We are running OpenShift, so it all runs on top of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

For security, SELinux is built in. It is out of the box. It is built towards building a secure system. We are in the process of working on compliance and getting this 800-171 certified. That is in process. They have regular security updates and lots of tools for rolling out updates. In that sense, there is a continuous upgrade path that is well-worn and fairly easy to maintain.

In terms of portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux for keeping our organization agile, when it is in a container, it does not matter if you are running a UBI container or some other sort of container. If you have an environment that will run a container, you can throw a container in it, and it will run, so the portability does not belong to the OS at that point. It belongs to the containerization system.

What is most valuable?

It is consistent. It is geared toward security. I am used to it. I know only Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I do not know Ubuntu or any of the other flavors of Linux.

What needs improvement?

It is good. I do not have anything to improve for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but CentOS could be open-source again.

Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux since 2014. I have been using Red Hat since 1.2. It was probably 1998.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have a cluster with 50,000 cores. It is pretty scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Their customer service is good. We have a TAM. Our TAM is great. Without a TAM, it is hard to get new tickets through.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used many solutions. I have used many that predate Linux. For Linux, I have run Slackware, but that is just for fun. Professionally, it has all been Red Hat Enterprise Linux. 

How was the initial setup?

Our deployment experience is good. For the things in the cloud, I use Satellite. I build images and deploy from images to the cloud. It is a mutable deployment chain rather than a standard upgrade path.

What about the implementation team?

We deploy it in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The vendor management takes care of that. 

We have an enterprise agreement. From our department's standpoint, everything gets rolled into the enterprise agreement, which is great because we never see it.

What other advice do I have?

To a colleague who is looking at open-source, cloud-based operating systems for Linux instead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, I would say, "Why would you look at something other than that?" I have built things on Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I was out of the industry for a while, and I came back, and I focused on Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it pays better. There are more standardized jobs in the area if you know Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The certification that you get from Red Hat means something quite specific.

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Devops engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Jun 3, 2024
Easy to use for containerization projects and has good documentation
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's technical support is really good and responsive. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
  • "There are just some points in the solution's documentation where a few areas seem generic."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution in my company to deploy our custom apps or to set up servers for DevOps operations, like running containers and those kind of tasks.

How has it helped my organization?

The benefits associated with the product for my company stem from the enterprise support the solution offers. Based on the fact that our company has technical exchange meetings with the product's staff members, I can say that I have never seen something like that happening in a hands-on engagement with our company, so that is just great. Being able to talk to the solution team about our company's issues and problems related to the tool all the time is something that really helps a lot.

What is most valuable?

I can't say anything specific about the product's valuable features, but I would say that whenever I have questions, I feel the tool's documentation is on point since I can always find anything I need easily.

What needs improvement?

There are some points in the solution's documentation where a few areas seem generic. The aforementioned area consists of the same scenario when it comes to some of the other products, so it is not just applicable for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) alone, but also for some of the other supported products. I have never had a problem with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), as it is really easy to use.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution.

I believe that there are definitely some plans to increase the use of the solution in our company in the future.

I believe that there are definitely some plans to increase the use of the solution in our company in the future, especially if we start to get more customers and there is a need to ramp up automated testing since we would need more systems.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support is really good and responsive. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I believe that my company used to use a few products before starting off with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but I believe that it was before I joined the organization.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is deployed on the cloud and on-premises models.

What was our ROI?

In terms of the ROI, my experience using the solution revolves around the product's community. The fact that I can just go out and even in an ecosystem in general with tools like Fedora, CentOS, and other stuff, I can always find what I want with the help of the community where there are people with similar experiences, especially if it is not available in the documentation part. I feel Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is community-focused, and I really appreciate that as a developer.

What other advice do I have?

Running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on the foundation of a hybrid cloud deployment has impacted our company's operations and I can say that it has been easy because there is not much to do between the two environments, as it is consistent, and that just reduces a bunch of headaches.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me centralize development. The operating system that we are developing is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). In our company, we are able to use everything in the solution with the help of documentation, support shared knowledge resources, and all of that. Just using the tool to support our company's infrastructure is really great, and now we don't have to branch out and use other technologies. The tool is a platform that supports many different things.

I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for containerization projects in my company as it is easy to use.

When it comes to the built-in features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for risk reduction, business continuity, and maintaining compliance, I can't really say anything much about it because the product is used in our company for a specific use case and we put ourselves on top, so we don't really use the aforementioned components for the policies.

In terms of how I would assess the portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for keeping our organization agile and flexible, I would say that the offering of minimal images and all such stuff really helps cut it down and make deployments faster. In our company, we are really excited to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to check the containerization of our apps, so being able to do such things for our products helps keep everything moving quickly. In general, my company is excited that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is moving towards the area to check the containerization of apps.

I would recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to a colleague who is looking at open-source cloud-based operating systems for Linux.

In terms of the deployment model used in my company for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I would say that the tool is basically deployed on-premises for closed environments and in the cloud because some of our company's customers prefer to deploy the product on the cloud. Mostly, my company uses the cloud services offered by AWS, while some of our company's customers use the services from Azure.

I like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) considering the support that it offers to our company along with good documentation.

I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Lasse Wackers - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Integration Engineer at SVA System Vertrieb Alexander GmbH
Real User
Jun 13, 2023
Automatic updates, great support, and the solution's built-in security features help simplify risk reduction
Pros and Cons
  • "The updates are the most valuable feature."
  • "Scaling can be complicated and has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We deployed Red Hat Enterprise Linux on-prem and in the cloud as a fallback.

We are a private cloud provider and we host Linux ourselves because they are tough to manage.

We offer our customers the option to host their Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Azure or on our private cloud.

How has it helped my organization?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features help simplify risk reduction. Red Hat offers a subscription service that provides critical security updates within 24 hours. The service also includes an excellent database of known security vulnerabilities. If a CVE identifier is known for a vulnerability, it can be entered into the web interface. The web interface will then indicate whether Red Hat Enterprise Linux is affected by the vulnerability and what steps need to be taken to fix it. The fix will be included in the next security update. This is a valuable security feature that helps organizations to stay up-to-date on security patches and mitigate risk.

The portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux is beneficial for keeping our organization agile. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 include Podman, a newer software similar to Docker. Podman was built to address the problems that Docker had with creating and running containers, and it also includes the support of Red Hat. There is a good synergy between Red Hat and Podman.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has helped improve our organization. We provide a service to our clients, which they pay for each month. This service includes our support. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a stable operating system, so we do not have to provide much support. When we do need to provide support, it is usually for an application, not for the operating system.

I can build with confidence and ensure availability across physical and virtual cloud infrastructures using Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux on-premises since 2008 without any problems. It is easy to automate. Virtualization is always present, so I work with virtual machines. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is very easy to deploy on a virtual machine. We can create a virtual machine, and if we are working with VMware, we can create a template to use for new systems. There is no need for a classic installation.

What is most valuable?

The updates are the most valuable feature. In the past, we had 800 or 900 Linux systems with Red Hat, and all of the systems were updated every night. In the 14 years, we have only had ten issues with the updates.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has a good configuration.

What needs improvement?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is secure but the security always has room for improvement.

Scaling can be complicated and has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for 14 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable.

I give the stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I give Red Hat Enterprise Linux a seven out of ten. 

Updating Red Hat Enterprise Linux from version 8 to 9 is a complex and time-consuming process. It is often easier to install a new server with Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine and migrate our data and applications. However, if we only need to resize the CPU or memory of our existing server, we can do so using the hypervisor without having to reboot.

How are customer service and support?

Red Hat support is fast, and they are capable of answering 90 percent of our questions.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Debian, Ubuntu, and SUSE Linux. In our case, if we wanted a conservative Linux system that did not have the newest version, these were perfect systems. However, if we wanted to install them on our laptops or on our clients, they were the wrong solution. We switched to Red Hat Enterprise Linux for the Red Hat support. Debian also offers its own support. Ubuntu does not offer direct support, so we were required to order it through another company. SUSE had other problems that we did not want to deal with. Red Hat Enterprise Linux support has been very helpful to our back-end admins.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is complicated, but with Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine, there is a graphical web interface where we can create a new image every week. We have created a golden template that enables us to update the image every month and upload it to both our private and public clouds for usage. 

The deployment time depends on whether we have a template or not. With a template, deployment can take between five and ten minutes. If we have to install the software, the time it takes depends on our internet bandwidth. Ten gigabits of bandwidth can take around 15 minutes to install.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was completed in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

As a provider, we must follow a different licensing model. We charge €2,000 per system for three years. Each month, we provide Red Hat with a number of new and old systems. Red Hat then invoices us based on the number of systems in use that month. This only applies to our cloud customers.

What other advice do I have?

I give Red Hat Enterprise Linux a ten out of ten. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the best thing I have.

We always install a minimized Red Hat Enterprise Linux system for our customers. If they require more features, we provide them as requested.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the most perfect OS I have ever worked with. It is nice knowing when we have to use the OS and when we don't.

All Linux solutions are open source, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a commercial product that includes support and frequent updates. Red Hat Enterprise Linux can be downloaded for free, but it is not recommended to use it without a subscription, as it will not receive security updates or bug fixes. Red Hat reinvests a portion of the subscription revenue back into open-source projects, making it possible for other organizations to use these technologies for free.

Maintenance requirements depend on our needs. If we only want to have a server and install updates every night, no additional maintenance is required. Red Hat Enterprise Linux does not require any special support. However, if we want to ensure that the system time is always correct, that all updates are installed within a month, and that the system reboots after updates are installed, we will need to perform some additional maintenance tasks. These tasks can be automated to ensure that our system is always running smoothly. We currently have three people for the maintenance. We currently have 900 systems.

I recommend evaluating multiple Linux solutions and conducting a proof of concept because, although Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a great operating system, it may not be the best choice for every organization. I do not recommend using Red Hat Enterprise Linux on a new laptop because the versions included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux are typically two to four years old. This is because Red Hat Enterprise Linux is designed to be a stable OS, and newer versions may not have been fully tested and may have issues. If we have a server or software that is certified for Red Hat, then I would always recommend using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

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?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Petr Bunka - PeerSpot reviewer
System Architect at CGI
Real User
Top 5
Aug 9, 2025
User appreciates dependable functionality and extensive knowledge base offered
Pros and Cons
  • "I find the most valuable feature to be stability, as it is important for me, and we have all the functionality that we need because we are using mainly the KVM for running the virtual machines, along with other packages that are part of the operating system, such as HAProxy, Nginx, or other modules."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am still working with Red Hat. I work with other Red Hat products as well, mainly with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and OpenShift, and I also use Red Hat JBoss, but JBoss is now deprecated. We are moving our applications to OpenShift. I would not improve anything because we are using RHEL mainly for system functions, virtualization of system virtual machines, some system parts of OpenShift for control plane and infrastructure nodes, and some technical virtual machines such as HAProxy, and we are satisfied with it.

    What is most valuable?

    I find the most valuable feature to be stability, as it is important for me, and we have all the functionality that we need because we are using mainly the KVM for running the virtual machines, along with other packages that are part of the operating system, such as HAProxy, Nginx, or other modules.

    The knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very good; not only is the knowledge base excellent, but also the documents and the reported issues along with solutions on their website are very helpful.

    What needs improvement?

    The technical support could be improved to be quicker and of higher quality. For me, it is better when I can speak in my language, in Czech, and sometimes I need to discuss it with someone who does not speak Czech. However, I understand this is difficult; to have the support only in Czech for such a company as Red Hat is challenging.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for several years, maybe longer than 15 years.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We are using mainly the command line interface, and we do not see any issues regarding the interface or scalability.

    How are customer service and support?

    I am satisfied with the technical support provided by Red Hat. I would rate their technical support as nine out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    How was the initial setup?

    I think it is easy to deploy it in our system; however, it might be difficult for me to answer all of the questions because I am not the only one who works with it. We are a team of several technical people, and I am the team leader, so maybe they would have more information.

    What was our ROI?

    I have not seen any return on investment.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I find the pricing reasonable.

    What other advice do I have?


    I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as a product a 10 because I do not know about any issues or problems.

    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?

    IBM
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
    Last updated: Aug 9, 2025
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    reviewer2591346 - PeerSpot reviewer
    IT Infrastructure Engineer at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Nov 30, 2024
    Enables compliance with regulatory requirements by providing customized images that meet various security standards
    Pros and Cons
    • "The Red Hat Enterprise Linux knowledge base is a valuable resource."
    • "Customer service by Red Hat is very good."
    • "In terms of improvement, Red Hat could consider offering cheaper licensing."
    • "The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to host applications with our virtual machines.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers an excellent and comprehensive knowledge base for Linux. It is among the most thorough available.

    Our Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment utilizes a patch management system for updates. However, provisioning remains a manual process, with virtual machines being installed individually. We currently don't use automated provisioning solutions like Ansible, Vagrant, or Terraform.

    Red Hat Insights is helpful for deep dives into OS-level issues and remediation, as it links directly to the Red Hat knowledge base.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux enables compliance with regulatory requirements by providing customized images that meet various security standards. This streamlines our process as every virtual machine image is deployed with hardening by default, reducing the need for manual application per virtual machine.

    What is most valuable?

    The Red Hat Enterprise Linux knowledge base is a valuable resource.

    What needs improvement?

    In terms of improvement, Red Hat could consider offering cheaper licensing. The licensing model is good, but we would all appreciate a lower price.

    To ensure compliance and security on our Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, we had to install additional software, such as endpoint detection and response or antivirus solutions. The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for about three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux has not affected our systems negatively regarding stability, experiencing no issues so far.

    How are customer service and support?

    Customer service by Red Hat is very good. I haven't noticed any shortcomings in response time or overall competence.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?


    What about the implementation team?

    The upgrade from version seven to eight was done with Red Hat's assistance, as we manage hundreds of virtual machines.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The licensing model of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is good, but lower prices are always preferable.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We evaluated several alternatives, including CentOS and Rocky Linux, but the support question kept coming up with community distributions. We chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux for its enterprise support, which is crucial for maintaining production systems.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a nine out of ten. 

    I would recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux to others, especially in the enterprise space. However, for startups or companies that do things themselves, alternatives like Ubuntu or CentOS Stream might be more suitable.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Mousa Kamara - PeerSpot reviewer
    Linux Administrator at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Oct 30, 2024
    Daily use enables in-depth system troubleshooting with helpful customer support
    Pros and Cons
    • "Red Hat Enterprise Linux is most valued for its reliability, as evidenced by my daily use."
    • "Providing more detailed explanations would make it easier to work on projects."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux as our server operating system to install and configure various applications. Its uses include system troubleshooting, DNS configuration, and many other tasks, especially in a mixed environment with Ubuntu.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Patching Red Hat Enterprise Linux in our environment is a straightforward process that utilizes Red Hat Satellite. We identify necessary patches for production servers in the content view and notify customers two days in advance via email. Before patching, we verify the Nagios servers for identification purposes. We then execute a pre-configured Ansible playbook to efficiently patch our 300 servers. This playbook was already established, and our only interaction with it is to run it.

    The web console is handy, especially for tasks like command line operations. Its secure environment allows for the safe execution of queries.

    What is most valuable?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is most valued for its reliability, as evidenced by my daily use.

    What needs improvement?

    The documentation needs improvement. Providing more detailed explanations would make it easier to work on projects.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for my entire career, which spans over eight years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable. There has been no significant issue regarding lagging or downtime.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Red Hat is highly scalable and essential in the industry. I would rate scalability nine out of ten.

    How are customer service and support?

    The customer support from Red Hat is good. They are always there to help when needed.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have used Ubuntu, and Kali Linux alongside Red Hat.

    How was the initial setup?

    I have been involved with migrations to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which are not complex. For example, migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 or 8 is easy, requiring only the installation of necessary dependencies and the creation of a file to sync files to the new system.

    What about the implementation team?

    I typically work as part of a team rather than implementing integrations on my own.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite expensive, particularly its technical support, which can cost $500 per hour.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.

    Realizing the benefits of Red Hat Enterprise Linux took time, as post-deployment troubleshooting was often necessary. This included tasks like opening ports and verifying functionality, which were sometimes prerequisites for the system to operate. These requirements varied depending on the specific application used and its security needs.

    We perform maintenance on Red Hat Enterprise Linux every weekend, including backups. Incremental backups are done daily, while full backups are completed every weekend.

    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?

    Amazon Web Services (AWS)
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer2398734 - PeerSpot reviewer
    System engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Jun 10, 2024
    Affordable, feature-rich, and has enabled us to centralize development
    Pros and Cons
    • "I see so many features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux that I do not see in other Linux operating systems, such as Ubuntu. That is why Red Hat is very popular"
    • "If Red Hat can improve on the cloud side, they can retain their customer base. Their customers do not need to go out for other cloud resources, and they can use the Red Hat cloud."

    What is our primary use case?

    We have a database that we maintain for root passwords, and sometimes I need to break the root password to reset it. We work a lot on logical volumes where I need to grow and shrink volumes on the fly. I did not have to shrink the logical volumes much, but I worked a lot on growing logical volumes on the fly to make them available for the database team. I have done network-related things. I configured network multipathing or IP multipathing where we can parallelly route the traffic to multiple ethernets.

    I work a lot on user-related issues as well. We are also using Ansible a lot for automation. I am writing some playbooks, so there are a lot of use cases.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps us a lot. We host a lot of our applications on the Red Hat platform. We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for both on-prem and VM platforms. Most of them are VMs, but we do have some old legacy systems where we have Linux running on some Dell architecture. Our goal is to get rid of them this year and implement everything on virtualization because virtualization is growing a lot.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to centralize development. We are using it in the production and lower environments. We are using a common platform for our deployments. We have a centralized environment.

    In terms of portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux for keeping our organization agile, it is flexible. Agile methodologies are very popular nowadays, and they help with coordination between dev and production teams. It is fulfilling the gaps between these teams. It is helpful.

    What is most valuable?

    I see so many features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux that I do not see in other Linux operating systems, such as Ubuntu. That is why Red Hat is very popular. All my experience is mostly on the Red Hat side. In terms of features, I like breaking root passwords, and I like the XFS file system over ext4.

    What needs improvement?

    I have not used it on the cloud side. I have not heard much about how Red Hat is doing on the cloud side. In the market, AWS and Azure are very popular, and they have captured most of the market. If Red Hat can improve on the cloud side, they can retain their customer base. Their customers do not need to go out for other cloud resources, and they can use the Red Hat cloud.

    We are using it on-prem and in the virtual environment on VMware. We are using a cloud, but it is not a Red Hat cloud. We are using AWS in our organization. We have some EC2 instances deployed with Red Hat Enterprise Linux images, but I cannot say it is a Red Hat cloud. It is an AWS cloud, and we have instances. We are depending on a third-party cloud. If Red Hat provides that kind of service to our company, we can retain Red Hat. We do not need to go for a public cloud.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for almost 12 years. I started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is a stable platform, but our company still wants to stick to the older version. They do not want to change the application base. They do not want to take risks. Unfortunately, Red Hat is not able to help to provide the patches for older versions. They suggest upgrading, but management is not doing that, so the Red Hat Enterprise Linux side is good, but our management side is bad.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Its scalability is good. We plan to use it more. We are growing. As our infrastructure grows, we are buying more licenses.

    How are customer service and support?

    Their customer service is excellent. I like it. I am in touch with Ed who is one of the support engineers with Red Hat. He is helping me. 

    I am also in touch with a few other people at Red Hat. If I run into any issues, I can simply email them, and I get a quick response from them. Based on the support I am receiving, I would rate them a ten out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We did not use any similar solution previously.

    How was the initial setup?

    We are using it on-prem and in the virtual environment on VMware. Our cloud provider is AWS.

    We are using the CI/CD model for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We are using blue/green deployments as well for our containerized applications, and we have some canary deployments.

    My initial deployment experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux was not great. It was not as easy as the current version. It was difficult during those days. We had to load the GUI and then change to CLI. It is better now. Red Hat has made some improvements in the newer versions. The current version 9 looks better than any other previous version.

    What about the implementation team?

    I did not use any integrator or consultant. I downloaded an ISO image from Red Hat. I downloaded and installed it myself, and it worked very well. I did not run into any issues with the installation process.

    What was our ROI?

    Over the last few years, we have been within budget. We do not have any constraints about Red Hat. We are a big organization. We use a lot of products from different vendors. We are working on cost optimization for some of the vendors but not Red Hat, so Red Hat is still good. We are still happy with it.

    The biggest return on investment is the customer base. We are in the telecom industry. We try to get as many customers as we can. Red Hat is not the only product that we are using, but it is a major product that we are using in our company.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We are good as of now. We do not have any concerns about licensing. Its price is still good for us.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are not using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for containerization projects. We are using Kubernetes and Dockers for that.

    When it comes to patching, our goal for 2024 is to make all the systems compliant. Especially at the infrastructure and application levels, I am actively working on the compliance tasks, and our goal is to fix all vulnerabilities. I am working with someone at Red Hat on some issues because I am not able to find the exact patch for certain vulnerabilities.

    For now, we are happy with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We are happy with what we are getting.

    Overall, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux an eight out of ten. The reason for reducing two points is that I have not explored other operating systems very well.

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer2399238 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Network Engineer, Team Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Jun 3, 2024
    Has an easy deployment phase, and it can be managed by a beginner
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is super easy to enable the tool's packages or modules when I want to start messing with it."
    • "Right now, since my company is in an air-gapped on-prem network, it is really tough to go through all the RPMs that we have to have based on different STIGs."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use the solution in the company to build a lot of our software environments, so we keep different baselines on it. Right now, I'm working on setting up and installing Ansible manually, so I haven't used Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform yet, a reason why I have been still using my Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) server.

    What is most valuable?

    In terms of features, I found it great when I talked with Linux subject matter experts about Ansible. They further mentioned that it was native to Red Hat, which is why it wasn't going to bring over more packages or modules. The packages or modules in the tool are already there but are just not enabled because they weren't being used before I asked about them. It is super easy to enable the tool's packages or modules when I want to start messing with it.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me centralize development because it has a standard, which is why my company can't really have the option to mess with its different technologies. Our company's customers don't want to use Ubuntu or any other such operating systems, which is why my company has to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I guess the tool is easily centralized because that is its standard, and that is the only option one has unless someone wants Windows, but again, developers don't want Windows, and so there are no other options.

    Our organization has a team to take care of the containerization part. I am mostly on the infrastructure side, but my company has started to ask me for Podman Desktop and all these different container platforms, and I haven't used any of them yet.

    If I dissect the built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for risk reduction, business continuity, and compliance, I would say that we use VMware for risk reduction so that we have a high availability. On the top of my head, I think the Linux team probably knows more about reducing risks. Our security team has all these STIGs they want us to apply, so I don't know how much manipulation they actually have to do.

    If I dissect the built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for risk reduction, business continuity, and compliance, I would say that we use VMware for risk reduction so that we have a high availability. On the top of my head, I think the Linux team probably knows more about reducing risks. Our security team has all these STIGs they want us to apply, so I don't know how much manipulation they actually have to do. For business continuity, my company uses VMware, considering the ease of making snapshots of our environments, but I believe we could probably do the same with different operating systems. In our company, we just take lots of snapshots, and then if we have another VMware instance, we could just build it right back. The only compliance I know about was associated with our company's customer and their STIG requirements, but I don't know how Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps with it, especially considering that in our company, we have to manipulate it and how we want to do it.

    In terms of the portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to keep our organization agile, I would say that we have an applications team that would do it in our company. I just make sure that our company's VMs have OS and network connectivity since there is a different team that takes care of the applications.

    What needs improvement?

    Right now, since my company is in an air-gapped on-prem network, it is really tough to go through all the RPMs that we have to have based on different STIGs. Whenever in our company, we have to install the tool, we see that something or the other is missing, and so of the hundreds of things mentioned in the list, we have to find whether we need a particular RPM or if we need to take this one out, and that is always a trouble for the team managing Linux in our company.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for more than five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    When I spoke to one of the speakers the other day, who was a software development manager, I was told how much one could trust Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I believe that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is considered a standard for a reason.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I believe that if you have enough license to support the product in your environment, then you can scale the product depending on how big your license is, and it is a super easy process where one can roll out a whole bunch of VMs and VMware.

    How are customer service and support?

    As my signature block comes with Lockheed Martin, I think the tool's support team has been pretty attentive. If I go to a wide-scale service and once Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) sees what kind of a customer I am, I get to go to their specialized sectors, and the support has been pretty fast. I have had no issues with the product's support team. I don't use the product's support services very often. I have mainly dealt with Red Hat's support team for Ansible. I rate the technical support a seven out of ten. When I was asking the tool's support team questions when I was off the internet, I just kind of felt weird about it. For any service I ask for from the support team, I have to manipulate it depending on what we need for our company.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have not previously used any other product, and I have worked for the government for the past twelve years using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

    How was the initial setup?

    The deployment of the product has been super easy, but when we do it through VMware, I just make a VM, and then load an ISO image, after which the deployment is done. The tool's deployment is super easy, and I am pretty much a novice when it comes to Linux.

    The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

    What about the implementation team?

    My company did not seek the help of a third party to depot the product. The deployment was carried out by our company's employees, who have been around for decades.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The government buys the product for our company and provides us with the license for the solution.

    What other advice do I have?

    For a colleague who is looking at open-source cloud-based operating systems for Linux, I would say that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a cool product for small businesses outside of the government. I work for the government, where Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the standard, so if my colleagues are in the government, I would tell them they have no other options.

    I am not sure about the product's deployment model since it is kind of ad hoc in nature. If a developer needs another VM, our company just provisions it through VMware, so we don't have a large-scale deployment model across different availability zones. We have our program, after which we wrap it all up and then ship it out to the customer.

    As I have not compared Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to any other operating systems in the market, I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: March 2026
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.