Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) serves as the base operating system where all applications run. It is the platform I manage, and all applications run on top of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I run IBM FileNet on top of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
Lead Ecm Architect at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Secure operations have improved while automated management now simplifies daily administration
Pros and Cons
- "A specific outcome showing how Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has benefited my organization is improved security, and I am not aware of any downtime."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers excellent security, reliability, and stable security as a secured operating system. Security features have helped my organization because Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is already a locked down version of enterprise Linux distributions and is managed by Red Hat, with timely release of vulnerability fixes and patches that give a lot of security and peace of mind for enterprises.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted my organization by ensuring that timely release of vulnerability fixes and patches keeps the system secure. All the latest versions and new features with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as an image and with AI capabilities add more value for enterprises using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
A specific outcome showing how Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has benefited my organization is improved security, and I am not aware of any downtime. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk, as I have not heard of any server reboot or crash throughout my career when it comes to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which speaks to its reliability.
SELinux is the most important security feature in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), as it is the most security-oriented feature. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points such as management of servers with Ansible automation, security capabilities, and timely release of vulnerabilities and security fixes, which combined create great value for enterprises.
What needs improvement?
An AI assistant specifically for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10 or the latest version of Red Hat Enterprise, such as an AI-assisted tool to get assistance on commands and syntax, would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for almost 17 years.
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 stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have not seen any issues with the scalability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL); it is good or great.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is great.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have only used Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and did not previously use a different solution.
What was our ROI?
I have not seen a return on investment, and I do not have that level of management information since I am an individual contributor.
What other advice do I have?
All recent capabilities introduced in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10, including the AI inference server, are already great. I use Ansible for the management of servers and patching, and I find that management experience quite satisfying. I have not used much of the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and I have not used much of the documentation recently, so I cannot speak to that with certainty. I would recommend making use of Ansible automation with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and automating as much as possible. I rate this review a 9.
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: May 13, 2026
Flag as inappropriateAWS administrator at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Improved cloud backups and security have transformed how our team builds and manages servers
Pros and Cons
- "By using RHEL striping, throughput and IOPS have increased, which reduced the backup completion time from fifteen to sixteen hours to just fifteen to sixteen minutes."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) entitlement management can be confusing, as converting systems between subscription modes is not straightforward."
What is our primary use case?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is used primarily to build AWS servers. A specific example of how RHEL is used to build AWS servers involves purchasing licenses from third-party vendors like REL and also from AWS. Once an AMI is obtained from the Marketplace, the AMI is customized by injecting all organization standards.
After internal tools have been built on the AMI, that AMI is used to build AWS servers.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted the organization by helping track everything, such as how many users have access to the server, which is easy to monitor. RHEL also offers better options for downloading repositories easily, and the ability to stripe the EBS volumes has allowed for pulling more IOPS and throughput.
The impact on the team and organization has been significant, as it has helped improve application performance and backup performance. Since AWS backend is used for backups, RHEL striping has proven very useful.
By using RHEL striping, throughput and IOPS have increased, which reduced the backup completion time from fifteen to sixteen hours to just fifteen to sixteen minutes. The main reason is the backend and the striping implemented for EC2 instances.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers several valuable features, including being secure and standard, and making whatever commands are executed easier to manage. When security and standardization are considered, no other person can access those RHEL servers.
Another good aspect is that whatever is downloaded comes from the repository, and every command is tracked, including the person who entered the command. Tracking on RHEL AMIs and OS standardization is very effective.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps mitigate downtime and lower risks by using the Pacemaker role for high availability. The primary and secondary systems are managed by the Pacemaker role, which helps reduce downtime for applications.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved by including a better app stream module experience or simply phasing out modules in favor of straightforward version repos. Red Hat could also integrate more common tools directly or integrate EPEL more seamlessly. Additionally, enabling AI-based operational tuning for kernel parameters, file system parameters, and network stack optimization could enhance the experience.
Regarding needed improvements, simplifying the subscription and licensing would help reduce complexity in subscription management. Clear visibility of consumption and unused subscriptions and compliance is also important.
For how long have I used the solution?
Seven years of experience have been accumulated in the current field.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers great scalability and supports very large memory.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support received is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been the only solution used, and no switch from any other solution has occurred.
In comparing the business value of RHEL to other Linux distributions, no other Linux distributions have been used; only Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been utilized.
How was the initial setup?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems are managed with a dedicated cloud support team that handles provisioning and monthly patching. Additionally, focus is placed on security hardening and optimizing it with cloud-init, instance tuning, and subscription activation.
What about the implementation team?
Image Builder has been used, but the AMIs are not built personally. A dedicated support team handles the building of the AMIs.
What was our ROI?
A return on investment has been seen, as it has saved a tremendous amount of time.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps save time; for example, the Pacemaker role facilitates faster task completion, and it optimizes backup processes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, the pricing is good; however, licensing is a bit confusing.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others looking into using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is to be aware that subscriptions can be challenging to manage. When a server reboots, the subscription goes to open, which can lead to others consuming the subscription, creating a challenge regarding the subscription and licensing part.
Security requirements were a significant consideration in choosing RHEL in the cloud because it is not open source and is highly secure.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is assessed as having a better knowledge base offered through its tuning capabilities. By better tuning, the documentation is referred to, which helps in day-to-day work.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) entitlement management can be confusing, as converting systems between subscription modes is not straightforward.
I would rate this review a nine out of ten.
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.
Senior Staff Computer Systems Architect at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Standardized critical workloads and have relied on a trusted ecosystem for secure operations
Pros and Cons
- "From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the fact that it's well-curated and it's a one-stop shop for most everything you need."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) include everything from apps to web servers to HPC.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points primarily because the ecosystem has already been approved for use with our customers. That's probably the main thing. It's a single, trusted source to get everything from. That's really our main thing.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk using Satellite because I rarely have any outages on my RHEL boxes. They're pretty solid.
Satellite helps reduce and mitigate risk through the quality of the packages that get put out and the dependencies that are already validated.
What needs improvement?
I've never really thought about how Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved, but the only thing I wish they had that I've asked Red Hat for so far is something resembling managed service accounts. Since we have to integrate with a lot of Active Directory, that would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since RHEL 4.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would assess the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as excellent because I've not had anything serious that couldn't be figured out.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Regarding scalability, I've never had a problem there. We run HPC on it, and it's pretty rock solid.
How are customer service and support?
I don't really have an answer for the customer service and the technical support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because we have to handle most things in-house.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before adopting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), my company was using a lot of Solaris, other flavors of Unix, and other options, but I think we've pretty much standardized on RHEL.
How was the initial setup?
I think the deployment process for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is straightforward.
If you're doing a network install, it's easy. It's easier than the Windows side.
What about the implementation team?
I'm brand new to Ansible Automation Platform. We're just rolling it out.
What was our ROI?
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the fact that it's well-curated and it's a one-stop shop for most everything you need.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing, the setup cost, and the licensing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been pretty good. I have no complaints.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Though there have been talks of going to other distros while using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), that's a big ask to switch everybody over.
What other advice do I have?
The features I prefer most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) relate to my broader appreciation for Linux given all the history behind it and open source for all that it represents.
For navigating security risks, I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Satellite for patch management and deployment. We don't use Insights. That's probably the main one we use.
Regarding the role Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) plays in my company's implementation of the zero-trust model, it's pretty new to us, so I can't really answer that yet. We're still in the learning process.
In terms of managing regulatory compliance, we do use Nessus and other tools for auditing in our applications. That's probably about it.
You can usually find a good answer on the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
I've always been happy with Red Hat ecosystem, using it since before RHEL, and I just appreciate the flavor of it. I've tried other Linux distros and I just keep coming back because I'm so familiar with it. It's so helpful, and it's hard to beat. I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partners
Last updated: May 12, 2026
Flag as inappropriateOperating Systems Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Reliable open source platform has enabled secure custom distro builds and rapid patching
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points because it's open source, so it's easy to modify, and there's the support that I need, especially since I work with the public sector a lot where they want support provided, updates, and patches on CVEs almost immediately after a zero-day is released, and that's the big thing that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me with."
- "The desktop environment is another area that needs significant improvement because it is barely usable and meets just the bare minimum of what's needed."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) involve a custom Linux security module, and I use RHEL as my upstream and repackage it as my own distro.
To navigate my security risks, I use features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) such as Satellite, Ansible, IPA, or IDM, and I also perform STIGging with a lot of my requirements coming from the government telling me to ensure I have all these things done. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) makes it easy to do that, with the biggest thing being their documentation because I can find any question I type into Google and find a Red Hat link, log in, and see it.
I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on-premise.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points because it's open source, so it's easy to modify, and there's the support that I need, especially since I work with the public sector a lot where they want support provided, updates, and patches on CVEs almost immediately after a zero-day is released, and that's the big thing that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me with.
What I appreciate most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that they're open source, and I take what they have and repackage it. I appreciate RPMs, Mock, and a lot of the tooling that's in that community, in the Fedora world, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) makes it easy to get to and work with.
The knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is something I love, and it's very helpful. That is probably the most useful part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved by getting more upstream packages from Fedora because they don't have enough packages, and it's problematic that I have to maintain a separate repo from what comes from Fedora. I don't understand why Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) doesn't package it as the base, as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only has a subset of packages from upstream.
The desktop environment is another area that needs significant improvement because it is barely usable and meets just the bare minimum of what's needed. There are people from Red Hat giving presentations on Windows, Macs, and other distros, which to me would be embarrassing. If I was the CEO of Red Hat and my employees aren't using our own product, that should be a major red flag. Why would you present to customers of all people? Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is great as a server operating system distribution and the support is the number one thing that makes Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) stand out, but it really falls short as a client workstation.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I've had servers run for three years straight without crashing, so Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, I get a lot of complaints from customers, and when I start getting a lot of machines running, I start to see problems in production, which my customers experience as well, so then I'm supporting it. I don't know how much to blame Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for that, but it does seem to become a headache once it gets larger.
How are customer service and support?
I evaluate customer service and technical support from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as pretty good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to adopting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I was using another solution, specifically Solaris as my upstream. I think when Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6 dropped, I switched from Solaris to Linux, and it was Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as the solution because of the support.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment process of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been straightforward and easy for me.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I am probably not considering switching to another product while using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
I have tried neither Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Image Builder nor system roles, and I'm not a big fan of them because they're not part of my use case. They are useful in a sense for reproducibility if I'm going to create a golden image and deploy it, but that's not really my use case.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me to mitigate downtime and lower risks.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is great on the server side and not as strong on the client side, with the workstation and desktop environment needing a lot of work. As far as adopting it, if you're willing to pay for all the licensing, then go for it because you'll get the support you want. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) overall as a seven or eight.
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: May 12, 2026
Flag as inappropriateArchitect at Amazon
Enables consistent networking performance and increases uptime while supporting collaborative problem-solving
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by itself scales incredibly."
- "Normally, if I need help making a customer experience better, I can have a conversation with the business teams at Red Hat, and then we can find a collaborative solution."
- "For a new release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the main improvement could be in the pricing models, particularly understanding how to better present those pricing models in a more predictable manner."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) for the server, supporting Telco work workflows, manufacturing software for manufacturing, and travel software. I have a huge base for what we're targeting around AWS or Red Hat solutions.
What is most valuable?
I favor the network manager feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL); I appreciate the versatility and flexibility of network manager. I appreciate that we can make super-fast modifications to networking solutions, and I value the support for IPv6.
I also value the support for working with the community very specifically. Bringing the solutions we need for customer problems to reality tends to result from our conversations with Red Hat. Normally, if I need help making a customer experience better, I can have a conversation with the business teams at Red Hat, and then we can find a collaborative solution.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk; although it's hard for me to say that I really understand it outside of an analyst report, I can say that I truly believe it has increased uptime based on my experience.
There's a consistency, and my example is that I trust the kernel and the quality engineering, which leads me to more favorable results in places where other distributions might make changes that slow down my networking or storage network in unpredictable ways.
What needs improvement?
For a new release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the main improvement could be in the pricing models, particularly understanding how to better present those pricing models in a more predictable manner. It is very difficult from a partner perspective to figure out how to position software to a customer when the pricing may or may not be competitive, so that's my biggest 'how could I fix this?' question.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for 25 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
When assessing the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I can say that on every operating system, there are always exceptions and new issues to fix.
However, if I have software validated for RHEL, I know I can expect a certain level of certainty that issues will be ones that have either never been seen before or are the result of our new approaches.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by itself scales incredibly. However, the problem tends to arise where increased consumption raises total costs.
As the total cost increases across the operating system distribution, my requirements for support decrease, making it difficult to gauge a return on investment, which complicates the situation for me as a representative of an entire fleet.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate customer service and technical support as generally positive; I've never had a problem with my support. Sometimes, individual support agents might not know what they're discussing or misunderstand the question, possibly due to my clarity or other factors. I would say that it is at least at the same level or better than any support group I've ever engaged with in technology.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to adopting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I was using another solution within the RHEL family. I often test workloads using Fedora or CentOS as a foundation and then move those production workloads to Red Hat.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been confusing; it feels different every time. The complications often arise from being unable to predict exactly what is necessary for a deployment, as the build-out and sales cycles are significantly more complex.
What was our ROI?
I have most definitely seen a return on investment with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL); I don't think my job would exist if there wasn't a return on investment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
By policy, I am required to use Amazon Linux for everything, however, by necessity, I am replacing that with Red Hat solutions where we have space during my evaluation process.
What other advice do I have?
My business relationship with Red Hat is that I am a Partner.
The knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is still hard to search, but I recognize that AI is probably making that easier during this period. I think Lightspeed is an important part of our structure for interacting with the knowledge base information, and I look forward to making that work better.
I typically advise other organizations considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by asking how important their workload is to them. I question what happens if it goes down and how much time they have to spend fixing it. If they value that aspect, then it's their choice to determine their path.
My biggest question often relates to how much they would pay to replace the community, and if they are willing to understand the significant number of partners and open-source champions contributing to Red Hat, they will see how that community cannot be replaced in terms of how software fits their business needs.
I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) ten out of ten.
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?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Improves workload efficiency through multithreading and gives us long-term stability
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers long-term stability and security, allowing for prolonged periods without reboots, and we are promptly notified by Red Hat whenever any zero-day security vulnerabilities or loopholes are discovered."
- "We wish we could upgrade from version 6 to 9 directly instead of having to go from 6 to 7, then 7 to 8, and finally 8 to 9."
What is our primary use case?
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to host web applications written in the Java programming language, along with an Apache server. We deploy applications using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for both internal and external customers. Additionally, we utilize Red Hat Linux to host our Oracle database.
How has it helped my organization?
It provides us with long-term stability, meaning we often don't have to reboot servers for months. This contrasts with Windows, where we typically have to reboot every week. Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers long-term stability and security, allowing for prolonged periods without reboots. Moreover, the Linux operating system is regularly patched, ensuring a secure environment. We receive timely updates from Red Hat whenever there is a new patch available.
Security requirements were significant consideration in choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux. As a bank, security and performance are our top two priorities. We are promptly notified by Red Hat whenever any zero-day security vulnerabilities or loopholes are discovered. This allows us to quickly inform our team and make decisions on whether to apply patches immediately or to wait. We prefer not to experience any downtime during the week, so we typically wait until Saturday to perform any necessary shutdowns for patching. For some patches, Red Hat offers hot patching, which means we don't have to shut down our servers. This allows us to apply patches while the servers are still running, minimizing downtime.
What is most valuable?
Multithreaded environment is a standout feature. It enables Java to execute multiple workloads simultaneously, which speeds up processes. Instead of executing tasks sequentially, we can handle them in parallel. It allows us to deliver more code execution in the same period through parallel execution, providing real-time benefits. We can monitor our progress in real time.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved, particularly in the documentation side.
I would also suggest improving performance and allowing the OS to be run on Intel and optimized for Intel as well as AMD CPUs. Improving compatibility with hardware is also important so that we can run on any hardware.
Additionally, we would appreciate Red Hat offering a built-in monitoring solution so that we don't have to depend on third-party tools such as Dynatrace and others. Better integration with built-in solutions would increase reliability on Red Hat.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for over ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has indeed helped us mitigate downtime and lower risks. We can run for months without needing to reboot, which contributes to its stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales efficiently with the growing needs of our company because we have a recovery time objective. We have Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) installed in our primary data center as well as in the disaster recovery data center. When we do a failover and fail back, it meets the timing that we specify.
How are customer service and support?
If we run into issues, such as OS-level issues, we raise Internet tickets with the Red Hat team. We have a dedicated account manager who helps track the ticket status to ensure it is resolved within a timely manner.
I would rate them an eight out of ten because sometimes we get very experienced people. They resolve issues quickly, but sometimes we get a junior person, so there is a different level of response. They can offer a consistent level of service. Rather than mix junior and senior engineers in the same team, and just give us more senior engineers.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Our overall experience deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been positive. However, we sometimes encounter challenges with documentation, as it may not always be up-to-date. There are occasions when our OS version is ahead of the corresponding documentation. We patch our OS, and that version may be newer than what the documentation reflects. This can lead to inconsistencies, so we often request that they refresh their documentation to ensure it is in sync with the OS. On the plus side, another benefit is that there are many online discussion forums available due to its wide usage, where we can seek answers if we encounter issues.
We operate on-premises due to regulations and compliance requirements, as we are a bank. We handle many personally identifiable sensitive information, which we cannot deploy to the cloud, so everything is hosted on our servers.
We host Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on our servers and use VMware to virtualize them. On a single physical server, we can run three or four virtual servers. This approach enhances server utilization and allows us to manage more workloads on the same hardware.
I've participated in upgrades from version 6 to 7, 7 to 8, and 8 to 9. The only issues we encountered were related to the Samba file-sharing system, where we had to uninstall and reinstall it instead of migrating directly. This was frustrating because we expected everything to be backwards compatible. Additionally, we faced challenges when upgrading from version 6; we couldn't jump directly to version 9 and had to go through intermediate versions, which was a pain point for us. We wish we could upgrade from version 6 to 9 directly instead of having to go from 6 to 7, then 7 to 8, and finally 8 to 9.
Regarding our upgrade or migration plans, we recently migrated to version 9, which is a long-term service version. We plan to stick with version 9 for the next year or so.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it's a very stable overall operating system and is really optimized for running Java-based workloads, meaning we can get more workloads done. This stability gives us a consistent performance which translates into a strong SLA service level agreement.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We receive volume licensing as part of our IBM relationship. We use many IBM servers, so we get a volume discount. We tend to go through a value-added reseller to secure that volume discount.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
In India, we prefer Red Hat because it offers the industry-leading container platform, Open Shift. As a result, we are gradually transitioning away from VMware and exploring other options to better meet our needs.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) if you're looking for a very stable operating system and if you happen to run Java-based workloads and you want high performance, high stability, and high availability. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been around for more than 20 years, and you're looking for an excellent track record. If a bank can trust Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I'm sure that all other industries can trust it because we require the most stable, secure platforms.
I would rate this solution 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.
Senior Systems Engineer at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Standardized our workloads and has simplified secure patching, support, and compliance
Pros and Cons
- "Overall, I think Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a great product that I enjoy using, and my advice for other companies considering it is that if you have a need for support and are in a situation requiring audit and maintaining a certain level of uptime, having the safety net of Red Hat behind you is important."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved by including in-place upgrades, allowing us to go from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9 to 10 on certain hosts, such as database hosts, instead of needing to build a new system and then transferring the data, which would be a better way of improving it."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) include database, Java applications, programming, and Python. We were interested in using AI workloads with RHEL last year but then realized the hardware cost was not going to permit us to manage that.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points such as having nicely packaged dependencies, so when we need to install dependencies, we can easily rely on Satellite to be able to get the packages from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to be able to then install without needing to track down everything that we need. This is more reliable and having the security of Red Hat verifying things is better.
DNF helps my company because Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Satellite has all the packages there, allowing us to patch our systems relatively easily and install any applications through the Yum repository makes it much easier than before.
Satellite helps navigate our security risks by providing us a dashboard of what systems we have, what their patch levels are, and where we need to go with them. It's a good dashboard to monitor. All the CVEs coming in from Red Hat are what we rely on. When Red Hat provides a CVE, we know it's safe to install it.
Satellite is very good in helping to identify quickly what we need, who's wanting what packages, and verify and go forward. It's a nice product to have.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved by including in-place upgrades, allowing us to go from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9 to 10 on certain hosts, such as database hosts, instead of needing to build a new system and then transferring the data, which would be a better way of improving it.
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?
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues; it has been rock solid for us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, we grow our servers size-wise, both horizontally and vertically, so I have no issues.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and technical support I receive are really good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) at my company, I was using Amazon VMs at different companies, along with CentOS and Fedora. With Red Hat, I get the benefit of a company behind me that can support me, and if I run into an issue, they have the resources to figure it out and address it.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment process of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) really depends on your environment because if you have VMware, you have one way of doing it, and if you have Nutanix, you have another way of deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). We use Ansible to deploy, so we just have to configure it for the environment that we're using.
What about the implementation team?
We did a major version upgrade with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Ansible Automation Platform, going from 8 to 9, where we basically rebuilt new hosts and reinstalled on the new hosts, with a few systems we couldn't rebuild, so we did an in-place upgrade using Leapp. The experience was easy and nice. Tooling-wise, it was nicely done.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for me is standardization, relying on support and knowing there's a group behind it that can support us no matter what happens. It's easy to open a ticket, and easy for them to get back to us and help resolve issues.
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) is nice since we have a site license, but I don't know what the prices are.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not consider other solutions while using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I think Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a great product that I enjoy using, and my advice for other companies considering it is that if you have a need for support and are in a situation requiring audit and maintaining a certain level of uptime, having the safety net of Red Hat behind you is important. If you need recovery in minutes and hours, you should go with Red Hat; if you can't recover in less than days, go with something else. I would rate this product a 10 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?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Last updated: May 18, 2026
Flag as inappropriateProgram Manager, Customer Delivery & Global Manager, Delivery Bfs Accounts at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has enabled resilient operations with faster and high-volume transactions while minimizing downtime
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points by enabling faster transactions and more transactions."
- "I have not really seen an ROI with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)."
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is for the central monitoring of the operations.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points by enabling faster transactions and more transactions.The feature I like the most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is its resilience.A huge amount of transactions benefits my organization because we use this cluster to include the performance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved with frequent updates.I think frequent upgrades should be included in the next release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would assess the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by stating that it is very secure, reliable, and fast.I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales effectively with the growing needs of my organization.I have not experienced any issues with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as good, and we have vendor coordination with them.On a scale of one to ten, I would rate customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as an eight because it needs the streamlining of things.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to adopting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I was using a platform from IBM initially, which was pushed into containerization.
How was the initial setup?
I would describe my experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as not complicated and manageable, and that works well.
What about the implementation team?
I manage my Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems with mass provisioning and patching, and I am very satisfied with the management experience.I managed the expansion on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as well.
What was our ROI?
I have not really seen an ROI with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that pricing is heavy on this.The setup cost and licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) involves a perpetual license.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The other solutions I considered before selecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) included open source options.What stood out to me in my evaluation process of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that the main feature is security on top of the open source, and we are considering the open-source platform to be implemented.
What other advice do I have?
The complexity of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comes from the methodology, which is complex.Security requirements were a consideration in choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).My assessment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s built-in security features is that it is effective when it comes to simplifying risk reduction and maintaining compliance.My upgrade and migration plans for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to stay current include frequent patching and upgrades annually.I assess the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as good for a few use cases.The factors that led me to consider the change to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) were stability and reliability.I would describe my experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as not complicated and manageable, and that works well.I have no advice to give to other organizations considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I would rate this product a nine overall.
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
Software Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Server reliability enhances cloud analytics efficiency with fast reboot and infrastructure flexibility
Pros and Cons
- "Time has been saved since using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and the application performance has improved after using it."
- "Compared to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu is more stable for Kubernetes and Docker-related applications."
What is our primary use case?
I am working on a Cloud Infra project in which many analytics applications are hosted on Cloud Infra, and their applications are hosted on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
The applications are customer-facing and mainly focus on analytics regarding an automotive company.
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was pretty smooth, as we can subscribe the servers from the RHEL portal.
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on both on-premises and public cloud.
What is most valuable?
One of the best features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it is lightweight and it is the industry standard.
Whenever I start the servers, they switch on very fast compared to other Linux servers.
We can deploy clusters in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and we can scale up and scale down our infrastructure with the help of the RHEL server.
The subscription model and vendor support are also good. We can subscribe our servers to RHEL so that we can get the packages installed for our project-related dependencies.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted my organization. The speed of the applications has improved after deploying them on RHEL.
Whenever we face an issue and need to reboot the server, it comes up very fast compared to other servers, and it has improved the latency of our applications.
Time has been saved since using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and the application performance has improved after using it.
What needs improvement?
There should be some automation for patching the servers in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Patching in the sense that automatically, whatever servers we need, we can patch them using a utility present inside RHEL.
It is stable, but compared to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu is more stable for Kubernetes and Docker-related applications. If improvements can be made in RHEL so Docker and Kubernetes-based applications can be deployed more easily, that would be great.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the past six months.
How are customer service and support?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales up very easily, and RHEL vendor support is also good; it has helped us many times.
We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) from the start; we can see that RHEL provides good vendor support and bug fixes.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not evaluate any other options before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
I can see more improvements can be added to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). They provide many certifications such as RHCE and RHCSA which are very important for learning Linux, learning about automation, and deploying the servers in the cloud.
The architect-level certifications are very important. The customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) rates around an eight.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a great platform to learn Linux. Red Hat provides many certifications such as RHCSA, RHCE, and RHCA, which is architect level.
RHCA is an architect-level certification through which you can learn Ansible and many automation-related activities in Linux; it can help you grow your Linux knowledge as a professional in the IT industry.
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) an 8.5 out of 10.
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.
Support and automation significantly save time and cost
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers a very easy-to-use experience in the Linux environment apart from any other flavors, and it's a very easy, systematic structure that provides easy support from Red Hat if any complex issue arises, which is the best point of RHEL, along with its affordable subscription model."
- "They should provide patches on a quarterly basis instead of monthly, as patching every month makes it a burden on us."
What is our primary use case?
It depends on the company environment and client environment. Currently, we are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for application deployment and server management, and sometimes we use it for DB deployment also.
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for learning purposes for new things in Red Hat technology.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers a very easy-to-use experience in the Linux environment apart from any other flavors, and it's a very easy, systematic structure that provides easy support from Red Hat if any complex issue arises, which is the best point of RHEL, along with its affordable subscription model.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) saves time, saves money, and it's very easy for automation purposes; we support third-party tools for automation, so it's very beneficial.
I see a return on investment from using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because patching is very easy; it supports third-party tools such as BMC or BigFix, so it's very time-saving for patching and performing any operation to fetch data from multiple servers.
What needs improvement?
To improve Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), they have to provide a playground for their OS for free or for some time, or they have to provide OpenShift multitenant clusters for improving skills in Red Hat technologies and in RHEL also, which will be very easy for a growing career in technology and providing support in an organization.
They have to make it easier to raise a ticket for Red Hat. Currently, when we raise a ticket, they show multiple options, so they should provide a direct option for raising the support cases.
They should provide patches on a quarterly basis instead of monthly, as patching every month makes it a burden on us.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since my career started in 2020.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is stable. In my last five years of experience, I haven't encountered any stability issues when everything is done properly.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has good scalability, and with the RHEL OpenShift tool, we use the scale up and scale down features.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very quick and provides support on call. It's easier to get support from RHEL compared to other enterprises such as IBM.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did everything manually before Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but since working with RHEL, we use automation, which saves time and costs.
How was the initial setup?
I am not aware of billing, but for the setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), it's very easy because we directly get a golden image and replicate to make a new machine, so it can be set up in very little time.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I evaluated other options such as CentOS, Rocky Linux, and Ubuntu. However, RHEL is an enterprise OS that provides multiple features and support, with a very systematic structure.
What other advice do I have?
The Ansible tool is very nice, and currently, they have released OpenShift, which is also a very nice product provided by Red Hat.
I would advise others looking into using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that if they don't have budget issues, they should go for RHEL; otherwise, they can consider AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux, which are also open-source products.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a very nice Linux distribution that provides quick support, and in my last five years in the corporate world, I found it to be a very good OS, but they should lower their charges for mid-scale and startup companies in countries such as India, Bhutan, and Nepal, as they can't afford that much amount in dollars.
On a scale from one to ten, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private 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.
Buyer's Guide
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Updated: September 2026
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