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VAS Regional Project Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
May 29, 2023
Provides valuable security insight, is extremely stable, and is easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the security insight and the internal firewall, which are common in all the machine tests that we use a lot."
  • "As a developer, I would like to have access to this software so that I can install the tools that I need."

What is our primary use case?

We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the operating system for our databases and application servers. We also use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to create some of our applications, such as the Online Challenge system. I work for a telecommunications company, and we have a few other operating systems in use, such as Unix and AIX, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux is our primary operating system.

We deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux on-premises and in the cloud. For the cloud, we use Azure and Huawei.

How has it helped my organization?

We work with virtual servers, so we have the image ready to deploy. It's great because the patch is always updated and we have no problems.

Red Hat Insights has helped us avoid emergencies in unpatched systems by identifying bugs so that we can fix them.

Red Hat Insights provides us with vulnerability alerts and targeted guidance, which helps prevent downtime and increases our uptime to 99 percent. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the security insight and the internal firewall, which are common in all the machine tests that we use a lot. The terminal framework and security are all Linux.

What needs improvement?

I believe this is because we don't have access to package management software. As a developer, I would like to have access to this software so that I can install the tools that I need. Currently, we are restricted to installing software only with permission from the system administrator. This is time-consuming and inefficient, as we have to follow a process to request permission. I believe that having access to package management software would improve our productivity and efficiency.

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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
March 2026
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For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is extremely stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's scalability is good because of virtualization. With virtualization, we can request more space or memory processing without having to make any changes to our system. This makes the process of scaling up or down very straightforward.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is great but nothing is perfect.

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

I previously used Ubuntu Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise. I switched to Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it has better support. I haven't tried the others, but Red Hat looks like it has better support. However, Ubuntu is more compatible with desktop development, making it more user-friendly.

How was the initial setup?

As a developer, I find the initial setup to be easy. Deployment takes a few hours, but I understand the server, so it is not a problem. I do not actually do the deployment; the infrastructure team handles that. They made the process easier and faster, and on average, deployment now takes around four to six hours.

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

We purchased our license from ITM, our local provider.

What other advice do I have?

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

I make the applications compatible with the cloud so we can migrate the data.

The knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux is good, but I don't use it much because the infrastructure team manages issues with the OS. I only check the documentation when an application is not working as expected. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Mukesh Kumar S - PeerSpot reviewer
Openshift Administrator at Value Point Systems Pvt Ltd
Real User
Top 20
Jul 23, 2025
User-friendly platform has enabled quick support and efficient subscription management
Pros and Cons
  • "We are saving more costs because we are getting immediate support; if any issue arises, we do not have to wait for someone to respond and can get immediate quick responses from the support team."

    What is our primary use case?

    According to the price and if your use case is more worth saving, you can go with that. I can help determine what use case you want to pursue. If it is a small scale operation, you do not need to choose that option. If it is a huge business, you can definitely invest in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

    What is most valuable?

    The system is user-friendly and they have a cloud console for managing all the subscriptions you have purchased. From that perspective, it is very user-friendly to manage your subscription, and you can list out all the systems where you have installed this Linux, managing them from a single console.

    We are saving more costs because we are getting immediate support. If any issue arises, we do not have to wait for someone to respond. We can get immediate quick responses from the support team. We are saving lots of time and from the customer side, we have heard that they are achieving significant cost savings from this.

    What needs improvement?

    The main disadvantage is that you may find the price is too high.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have two years of experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and I am currently doing projects with it.

    How are customer service and support?

    I would rate the customer service nine out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

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

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is basically from Fedora. I worked with Fedora and CentOS. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Fedora, and CentOS are all from the same Linux family. I have also used Ubuntu.

    What about the implementation team?

    We are a service-based company delivering services. We provide subscriptions to customers, implement them, and then complete our work.

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

    You definitely need to consider the cost and determine if it is worth the investment. If your use case is larger and you need immediate solutions, then you should consider the cost. Technology-wise, it is very good and reliable.

    What other advice do I have?

    I am working with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and am certified with the OpenShift platform, which is a Kubernetes platform. The company I currently work for operates both on-premise and in cloud environments.

    Regarding patching, if any issues arise or security issues such as hacking or vulnerability issues occur, they will first address it through engineering and provide patch support to customers as the first priority. After that, they release it to the open source part. This patching process makes it more secure.

    The immediate support and response time are good reasons to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). My overall rating for this solution is 9 out of 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
    Last updated: Jul 23, 2025
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    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.
    Karel Clijsters - PeerSpot reviewer
    System administrator at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Oct 30, 2024
    Extensible integration enhances open-source projects while addressing hypervisor compatibility
    Pros and Cons
    • "Automation makes compliance a lot easier."
    • "We have encountered compatibility issues with certain hypervisors, mainly with RHEL six hosts on the newer versions of FoxMox."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use the solution primarily for simulation and CAD solutions. It serves as the main use for our operating systems.

    How has it helped my organization?

    The openness of the operating system makes auditing a lot easier, plus the tools for auditing make that a lot easier to maintain. 

    Automation makes compliance a lot easier. 

    The knowledge gained from using the system completely makes troubleshooting easier and increases the knowledge pool in the company.

    What is most valuable?

    The extendibility of the solution and its openness, along with its integration with all of our other open-source projects, are highly valuable. 

    We appreciate that it is one of the few enterprise-enabled Linux operating systems we can use. 

    It is very extensible, which aids as our needs change.

    What needs improvement?

    We have encountered compatibility issues with certain hypervisors, mainly with Red Hat Enterprise Linux six hosts on the newer versions of FoxMox.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for over ten years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution has performed really well for our business-critical applications and is very stable. I have no issues.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is very extensible, adapting perfectly as our needs change.

    How are customer service and support?

    Customer support is very helpful and insightful. I would rate it very well, approximately an eight on a scale of one to ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    What was our ROI?

    The biggest return on investment is the knowledge gained by using the system. The access we have to the operating system increases user involvement and facilitates troubleshooting, thus expanding the company's knowledge pool.

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

    The pricing and licensing are reasonable.

    What other advice do I have?

    For non-business critical applications, a third-party Linux OS may suffice, however, for something running 24/7, it is advisable to go for stability 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?

    Other
    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    Senior System Engineer at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Oct 30, 2024
    The built-in security features are excellent
    Pros and Cons
    • "I like open source and prefer it over some closed proprietary software. In my early days, I was involved in the open-source community of the Red Hat Directory Server, communicating with developers to ensure password policies were implemented and asking questions. It showed me the power of open source."
    • "I'm happy with the value RHEL delivers, but there's always room to improve."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are a telco company hosting internal applications on the OpenShift platform. It's for general IT workloads, such as backend systems for billing. We are also using it for containerization projects.

    How has it helped my organization?

    With an open-source solution, there is no vendor lock-in at the OS layer, so it's more flexible. I am happy with the value Red Hat delivers, so we don't see a reason to change that.

    What is most valuable?

    I like open source and prefer it over some closed proprietary software. In my early days, I was involved in the open-source community of the Red Hat Directory Server, communicating with developers to ensure password policies were implemented and asking questions. It showed me the power of open source.

    While the built-in security features are excellent, we don't use all of them. It has many available capabilities, but it's not always up to the infrastructure people to decide what to use for security. 

    What needs improvement?

    I'm happy with the value Red Hat Enterprise Linux delivers, but there's always room to improve. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for almost twenty years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I've never heard of any issues with Red Hat Enterprise Linux's performance on business-critical workloads. If there is a problem, it's mostly on the application layer, not the operating system.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux has native containerization, so it can scale. It uses open-source technology and has Kubernetes underneath, which gives you the scaling you need. .

    How are customer service and support?

    I rate Red Hat support seven out of 10.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

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

    We have been a Red Hat customer for over a year, and we are happy with the value it delivers.

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

    I don't know the exact pricing. Red Hat's subscription model is cost-effective because you pay as you go, which is better than paying upfront high license costs. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux eight out of 10. If you plan to implement Red Hat Enterprise Linux, make sure you get a vendor who can deliver and support it correctly. 

    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
    reviewer2200110 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Platform architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Oct 30, 2024
    Has a centralized development with a secure, standardized environment
    Pros and Cons
    • "RHEL performs quite well for business-critical applications."
    • "Better comparisons between different stack providers in pricing and functionalities could help, especially since public clouds often appear less expensive during planning but are more costly in practice."

    What is our primary use case?

    We run IT and telco workloads and applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

    How has it helped my organization?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux helped us centralize development. We use a complete ecosystem of Red Hat for end-to-end development, deployment, and operations. 

    Centralizing development is achieved as we have clearly defined platforms to host applications, like OpenShift. 

    Additionally, the ACS on top of containers scans to ensure they are compliant, reducing vulnerabilities within our software.

    What is most valuable?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a standardized environment with Kubernetes and good support behind it. The end-to-end delivery for developing, testing, and deploying containers in the same ecosystem is a very valuable feature. 

    The built-in security features are fine, we don't receive complaints about them.

    What needs improvement?

    One area for improvement is dealing with specifics developed by Red Hat Enterprise Linux that are now end of life. We have to remediate these changes, which is a disadvantage. 

    Additionally, better comparisons between different stack providers in pricing and functionalities could help, especially since public clouds often appear less expensive during planning but are more costly in practice.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used Red Hat Enterprise Linux personally since joining my company ten years ago. Within the company, it has been used for more than 20 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux performs quite well for business-critical applications. Although we have some outages, it's not unusual, and I cannot blame RHEL entirely for it.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scaling Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS is smooth and without complaints. We are planning to widen its use by moving from OpenStack to bare metal according to Red Hat's roadmap.

    How are customer service and support?

    The customer service rating varies at around an eight or nine out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

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

    They conducted tests with Ubuntu. That said, it was less expensive and not as stable or developed as Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

    What was our ROI?

    There is a return on investment since we can host our applications on top of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

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

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite expensive, yet the technical support, available roadmaps, and services justify the cost. We receive value for the price we pay, including technical support, which enables business continuity and compliance.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We evaluated Ubuntu, but it was less stable.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would advise trying it out to see for yourself. Red Hat provides great technical support. That said, the pricing may need careful evaluation, especially when comparing with public cloud offerings.

    I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux 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
    Support Engineer at Alcadis
    Real User
    Top 20
    Oct 30, 2024
    Enables a stable, more secure environment that is well-supported
    Pros and Cons
    • "I find the most valuable aspect of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to be its comprehensive support, encompassing both technical and security issues."
    • "The deployment learning curve for Red Hat Enterprise Linux could be more user-friendly."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux for our infrastructure, and in recent years, we have also been using it for Ansible, primarily for appliance deployment on the customer side.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is deployed on-premises on our virtual machines.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux provided our organization with increased stability over the past decade.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux has allowed us to centralize development and focus on our projects by providing a consolidated platform for our enterprise distribution.

    We are satisfied with Red Hat's built-in security features, which effectively reduce risk, ensure business continuity, and maintain compliance. Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a more secure operating system than other Linux solutions due to its robust security features and a supported kernel that receives regular security updates.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux, when used with Ansible, has significantly automated various tasks, leading to a reduction in the total cost of ownership.

    It has helped save the organization costs.

    What is most valuable?

    I find the most valuable aspect of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to be its comprehensive support, encompassing both technical and security issues.

    Red Hat's comprehensive documentation eliminates the need to contact technical support for any issues encountered.

    What needs improvement?

    The deployment learning curve for Red Hat Enterprise Linux could be more user-friendly.

    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 offers exceptional stability, with downtime limited to scheduled maintenance periods.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Although Red Hat Enterprise Linux is designed for scalability, our current deployments are not large.

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

    Our organization has always used Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

    How was the initial setup?

    Deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux can be challenging, but the documentation provides valuable assistance.

    What about the implementation team?

    The implementation was completed in-house.

    What was our ROI?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers a significant return on investment through Ansible, a powerful tool that enables the automation of our environment.

    What other advice do I have?

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

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux distinguishes itself from other vendors by offering exceptional support and ensuring that organizations have readily available assistance when needed.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the industry standard compared to other Linux vendors.

    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
    Mohammad Zain Akbar - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Consultant at a transportation company with 51-200 employees
    Consultant
    Top 20
    Sep 24, 2024
    It has high availability, built-in disaster recovery, and SSH features
    Pros and Cons
    • "I like RHEL's clustering capabilities and high-level architecture. It has high availability, built-in disaster recovery, SSH features, and scripting."
    • "It would be great if Red Hat had its cloud instead of using AWS, Azure, or GCP. RHEL should have a dedicated cloud. I would also like to see more Windows support."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux for file transfers and changing file permissions. It is also used to check file spaces and for migration purposes. Our tools are hosted on the Linux environment, and our agent services run on it.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We use Red Hat Linux to start and stop our agent services during migration, install new agents, and transfer files. The primary benefit is that it's a widely used open-source solution with good support. Now that we've migrated from CentOS to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, we will realize some benefits. Red Hat Enterprise Linux has more features. 

    What is most valuable?

    I like Red Hat Enterprise Linux's clustering capabilities and high-level architecture. It has high availability, built-in disaster recovery, SSH features, and scripting. 

    The documentation is excellent. Since it was acquired by IBM, the open-source tools and technologies hosted on the Linux environment have been updated with many new features. 

    What needs improvement?

    It would be great if Red Hat had its cloud instead of using AWS, Azure, or GCP. Red Hat Enterprise Linux should have a dedicated cloud. I would also like to see more Windows support. 

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux could also be more user-friendly and use AI or machine learning to automate processes. That is the most dynamic feature in the information technology industry.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used Red Hat for five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We have intermittent issues with stability, but we're hoping they will improve in the latest version.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite scalable. We can place a lot of agents on Linux servers, some on the cloud, and a few on-prem. It can handle the workload. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I rate Red Hat support eight out of 10. We have communicated with Red Hat support via email. 

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

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

    Before Red Hat Enterprise Linux, we used CentOS. Another Linux flavor I've used is Ubuntu. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The first deployment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux had a learning curve, but I've learned a lot since then. Once you know the process, then it's straightforward. It uses a command-based process, but if it were based on a GUI or a console, like a Windows installer, that would be a significant improvement. 

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux requires some housekeeping. We have to restart and patch servers weekly or biweekly and check the CPU, memory size, file size, the database used, and whether the IP network protocols are defined. All this happens monthly, weekly, or fortnightly.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux eight out of 10. 

    Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1233624 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Oracle DBA at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Jul 8, 2024
    It makes patching and scripting much easier
    Pros and Cons
    • "RHEL makes patching and scripting much easier, and it provides all the features I need for patching and VM updates."
    • "For phone support, we had to buy a license for all our servers, and it was a bit pricey for us."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to run Oracle Databases for CC&B and JDM. All the RHEL stuff is on-prem. The CC&B team manages the customer care and billing stuff, but we take care of the operating systems, and the application users manage the applications. We have 200 to 300 users on RHEL. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    We are missing random devices for patching and everything, and we don't have the Linux data license for that. If we had that, life would be much easier. Right now, we patch using Yum updates and we manually do configuration changes from our end.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux improves our security. On our end, we only use the console to reboot the server and apply security. We patch it completely if we have any security updates. Every quarter, we run a report using quality and whatever it was pulling. That's what we are patching. 

    What is most valuable?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux makes patching and scripting much easier, and it provides all the features I need for patching and VM updates. It's easy to apply Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features when it comes to simplifying risk reduction or maintaining compliance.

    What needs improvement?

    For phone support, we had to buy a license for all our servers, and it was a bit pricey for us. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have used RHEL for 21 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux is highly stable. We've never had any problems or crashes. It's very smooth from our end.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's easy to scale Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Right now, we're discussing what will happen a year from now, when we plan to increase our usage. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I rate Red Hat customer service eight out of 10. Their knowledge base is fantastic. You can easily find whatever you need. Their support responds immediately, whereas we struggled with support from Oracle. 

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

    We were using Oracle Linux, and I don't see much difference except the support. We were not getting good support from Oracle because it took too long whenever we opened a ticket. Oracle was also too expensive, and patching is much easier with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We were not looking for more features. Oracle Linux has a lot more packages than we need.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setting up Red Hat Enterprise Linux was straightforward. You need at least two system admins to do so. Migrations and upgrades are also easy. Our main products are CC&B and JDM, with an Oracle database on the back end. We were highly satisfied with Red Hat Enterprise Linux for migrating all of those. We also have other solutions like SQL Server, which is on the Windows operating system.

    What was our ROI?

    Performance-wise, this Linux is better because you can ignore some packages if you don't need them. 

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

    Oracle Linux is free, but we were having many other issues with it.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of 10. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is very easy to install and manage. 

    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.