I use the product for the integration capabilities it provides between my company's servers and the servers from other companies since we operate in the banking sector. I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for clusters or load balancing. The tool provides an open-source platform to use any program. Many programs can be installed over Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
CIS Hardened Image Level 1 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Center for Internet SecurityExternal reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Offers great security and open-source services
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
I have seen that the upgrade from RHEL 7 to RHEL 8 can be a bit problematic since I have seen some issues during the upgrade of libraries, along with some conflicts with the other libraries in the tool. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the product. Presently, I am not trying to upgrade from RHEL 8 to RHEL 9.
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?
It is a stable solution.
How are customer service and support?
I have only used a little bit of technical support. I can say that over the span of years that I have used the tool, I have used the support offered by the product only twice. I don't have much experience when it comes to the support team. The support team did not help me solve my issues, and I had to search for a resolution by myself to solve my problems. People from India who are a part of the support team don't seem to have much experience in solving the product-related problems of the customers. I rate the technical support a six out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
My company also uses MariaDB as a database, while at times, we use databases from Oracle or PostgreSQL over RHEL.
Sometimes, I use Ubuntu for some of the end-users in my company. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is useful for servers and not for end users. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very compatible with servers.
How was the initial setup?
The upgradation and migration parts attached to the solution can be described as a very straightforward and easy process. Sometimes, I migrate from the on-premises version to the cloud, which I find to be a very easy process. The servers are up and running very well, so I have no problems with the product.
I have experience with the on-premises version of the product.
What about the implementation team?
The in-house team, consisting of four people, in my company takes care of the upgrade and migration parts attached to the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My company has acquired five to ten licenses from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
My company uses the normal security features provided by the product. Presently, I am taking some courses related to security. My company uses solutions for security purposes, like CrowdStrike Falcon Protection.
I use the documentation provided by the product. I also joined the academy operated by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to learn about courses related to OpenShift and virtualization. The documentation is very easy to understand, and it is also good for learning purposes.
I joined the product's academy courses when Red Hat opened a new branch in Egypt. I have got certificates for learning about OpenShift and virtualization. I am planning to learn OpenStack.
For provisioning and patching, I use Foremen, which is an open-source product implemented by Red Hat Satellite. Foremen is very good and easy to use for patching and security updates.
Leapp or Red Hat Insights are not features that are enabled by default. I don't usually use the aforementioned in the product.
I use Red Hat Store for image-building purposes. Some other programs are installed after the images get installed with the help of the product.
Speaking about whether I use the web console or Convert2RHEL, I would say that I use the terminal console provided by the product, and it is also very easy for me to use.
The product has affected my company's security and uptime since Linux offers a firewall that provides complete security, which is very good.
I hope to use the product in a hybrid environment.
I need to prepare for security standard certifications from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since it can help me understand the features and the security that I need to get from the product for my company, making it something very important for my organization.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a big part of my company since we use a lot of servers with its open-source services. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) serves as the base of the servers in our company.
Sometimes, I take care of the maintenance of the product, but it is not something that is required all the time. The maintenance process is pretty normal.
As a part of our company's migration or upgrade plans to stay updated, I will be upgrading from RHEL 8 to RHEL 9.
The product does what it is meant for, especially if MariaDB is installed over the tool.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
User-friendly with good scripting and security capablities
What is our primary use case?
We are using the full setup in Linux and use the enterprise edition. We're migrating a lot of things over.
How has it helped my organization?
We like that it's open-source and fully secure. We've fully migrated to Linux, and we were able to move everything over from the Red Hat database.
Compared to earlier tools, we get more options, and it's very user-friendly. The patching, for example, is easier. It can also support many things. It took us about six months to realize the solution's full benefits.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very user-friendly.
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux scripting is very good. It is easy for us to access those parts in the Linux portion.
The security is very good. It helps us to maintain overall security.
I have a Linux certification, however, they do have good documentation in order for users to get information about the product.
The management experience for patching is very good. We can do the patching through the portal. We can use it based on our own timing. If there isn't something in production, we can do the patching. The patching experience is very nice compared to what we had to deal with previously. For example, with Windows, the patching would happen whenever. We can control it via the portal, and it is very user-friendly now.
We only use the command line. We do not use the GUI. The graphical user interface is useful. However, we prefer to use the command line as we can do many more things.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has positively affected our uptime. It's very fast. If you have to do patching, and need to reboot, it doesn't take too much time to do that. It might only take one to two minutes.
What needs improvement?
For the most part, everything looks fine. Everything is going smoothly.
Right now, we need to get memory and CPU via the console. If it was available in the console so that we could adjust these two things, that would be ideal.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for the last four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is fine. I'd rate it nine out of ten for stability. It's user-friendly and the downtime is low. It won't impact business.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is not deployed across multiple locations. We have around 300 end users.
It is scalable. We can immigrate to servers and it won't impact the business.
How are customer service and support?
We know there are some issues, and if we come across some vulnerabilities, we'll work with support. If we get an error, we'll go to them and discuss the issues. We take advice from them on how to work through problems.
Sometimes, we'll get some errors and we'll send them an email. Sometimes it takes too much time for them to respond. The support time could be better.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did previously use a different solution.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the installation. I have not worked on the OS level and I'm not involved in the migration to the cloud.
We have eight to nine people on our team that may handle some maintenance tasks. If there are any issues, we can patch and fix them. We go through the portal to handle patching and maintenance. We'll check the system pre and post patching.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I'm not aware of the exact pricing of the solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options. We've fully moved to Linux and used Red Hat Enterprise Linux to do this.
What other advice do I have?
I'm an end-user.
We will be moving to the cloud only. I'm not directly involved in that. The main thing will be that soon everything will be in the cloud only. Currently, I work with the on-premises version only. It's on a VM right now.
This is a good solution if you are handling migrations or your internal environment. It's user-friendly and you can connect with technical support easily. It's also very secure.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Helps improve security, reduces risks, and is easy to upgrade
What is our primary use case?
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to manage our database.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps reduce our risk.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps to maintain compliance by making the data required easily accessible to us.
The knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux is good and they provide good training.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Roles help manage our database.
I use the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Web Console and Command Manager. The Web Console helps monitor our database and run queries in Command Manager.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux enhances our security.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps us meet security standards certification requirements, which is advantageous.
What is most valuable?
The security of the OS is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
The labor required to maintain the on-premises storage systems has room for improvement.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux can benefit from more promotions and demos.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We run Red Hat Enterprise Linux in parallel with other OS systems. We are satisfied with how well Red Hat Enterprise Linux works with our other products.
How was the initial setup?
Upgrading the versions is straightforward. All the stakeholders from the system side, database side, and consultants are involved in the updates.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a nine out of ten.
We have ten people that are using the solution in our organization.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Is well documented and stable, but the support needs improvement
What is our primary use case?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux serves as the foundation for our cluster infrastructure, allowing us to deploy applications and connect servers. We further enhance operational efficiency by deploying Kubernetes on top.
We chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux for its stability and well-rounded features and its proven track record of decades of reliable operation.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features and mandatory access control help to mitigate and secure the OS from threats.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is well documented and anyone with a technical background can easily understand and use the OS.
Red Hat's image builder is helpful.
Building upon the industry's 95 percent adoption of Linux OS, our Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Kubernetes setup has helped our operations.
We have not encountered any downtime while using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux enables us to achieve security standards certification.
The performance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is consistent between on-premises and cloud deployments. The key difference is simply a shift from owning hardware to renting cloud space for the operating system.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat is open source, so what we get with Red Hat Enterprise Linux is valuable support that is not included in the free version.
What needs improvement?
Recently, whenever we have applied a Red Hat patch, we have encountered errors requiring additional work. Unfortunately, the release notes for these patches are not always updated accurately, creating further challenges during troubleshooting. Specifically, the notes often fail to mention dependent packages that are also updated alongside the main package.
While the OS hardening feature is helpful, it could benefit from additional automation. A one-click package for hardening all files would significantly improve efficiency compared to the current manual process, especially considering the hundreds of files we've processed over the years.
The support has room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for eight years.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a six out of ten.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is deployed across multiple locations in our organization with 95 percent of our employees that use it.
To ensure optimal performance and security, we must prioritize installing operating system updates as they become available.
Taking the Red Hat administration course beforehand will significantly ease the user experience when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Its good one
Has a top-notch knowledge base, significantly simplifies risk management and compliance maintenance
What is our primary use case?
I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux for my infrastructure and OpenShift primarily for its Kubernetes capabilities.
I wanted to build infrastructure based on Red Hat for commercial distribution for data centers.
How has it helped my organization?
The built-in security features significantly simplify risk management and compliance maintenance for on-premises deployments. The well-documented and regularly updated features make it easy to find solutions to any issues we might encounter.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux boasts a top-notch knowledge base. Compared to other distributions, it offers comprehensive information for each iteration of the operating system. This information is categorized by Red Hat Enterprise versions – seven, eight, nine, and so on. Likewise, the documentation and knowledge base are further organized by platform versions, like 13 and 14. This clear organization makes it easy to navigate and find the information needed for troubleshooting or understanding specific features. Given the ease of use and depth of content, Red Hat's documentation gets an A+.
The uptime has been reliable, minimizing infrastructure impact.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's security advisories typically notify system administrators of potential vulnerabilities, allowing them to prepare for patching easily.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the OpenShift platform.
What needs improvement?
The high cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux has room for improvement. The high cost in terms of a platform is problematic.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux depends on its deployment environment. In a bare-metal setup, scalability is directly limited by the hardware server's capabilities. Similarly, virtualized deployments are still constrained by the underlying hardware resources. However, when RHEL is used within OpenStack, the Red Hat OpenStack platform can manage both virtual machines and workflows, enabling horizontal scaling by adding more nodes to the OpenStack cluster. In this scenario, the number of chassis in the infrastructure becomes the primary determinant of RHEL scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is responsive and efficient, with a streamlined ticketing process. When troubleshooting hardware issues, their technicians typically check relevant files to diagnose potential problems with the chassis or related components.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Canonical in other open-source projects and pushed for a switch to Red Hat because of my familiarity with it in past projects. My current employer does not utilize Red Hat Enterprise Linux because of the high cost.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment complexity is based on the project and the architect of the particular solutions. There are scripts that we can use to perform the upgrades or migration. The number of people required for upgrades or migration depends on the size of the solution. For a small solution, we can automate and don't require any people. If we are using a third-party solution already in place we can achieve the same goal without a large team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The combined cost of implementing in hybrid and cloud environments to fulfill all our client's needs can be considerable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There are only three distributions that offer commercial support. Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Canonical, and SUSE. It all comes down to the cost for each organization.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a nine out of ten.
The amount of people required for Red Hat Enterprise Linux maintenance depends on the type and size of each project.
Red Hat already provides tools to maintain up-to-date migration plans. These tools can not only identify which components require upgrade but also preserve any already installed elements. Additionally, Red Hat offers a web-based solution for managing upgrade processes if required. However, we can choose alternative options: implementing the solution ourselves or employing open-source software for upgrades. I see no significant challenges with utilizing Red Hat tools for the upgrade process.
I recommend evaluating all the available solutions that offer the tools that Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers and comparing their functionality and cost to avoid issues after purchase.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
CIS benchmark is more secure than default
Moving workloads is easy, helps save cost, and avoids cloud vendor lock-in
What is our primary use case?
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux on-premises and in the cloud.
How has it helped my organization?
We are able to easily move workloads between the cloud and our data center using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps us avoid cloud vendor lock-in.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has helped save us costs.
What is most valuable?
The frequent updates are valuable.
What needs improvement?
The training documentation requires revision. The numerous links to different pages disrupt the flow of information and make it difficult to maintain focus.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good, but they need to work on their response time.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Windows and switched to Red Hat Enterprise Linux for flexibility and support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux eight out of ten.
We have around 20 Red Hat Enterprise Linux users in our organization.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Offers portability, security, and stability
What is our primary use case?
We are a Red Hat Enterprise Linux partner and provide host servers for various applications, including web applications and databases.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features simplify risk reduction and compliance maintenance, making them easy to use. We utilize SA Linux, a highly secure operating system. Its risk mitigation and compliance measures are effectively implemented due to the regular delivery of patches, updates, and bug fixes. This continuous maintenance enhances the stability of the system.
We are able to maintain compliance when it comes to the security regulations.
The level of portability succeeds in keeping our organization agile.
We used several platforms, but Red Hat provides us with a more uniform installation process, a more consistent platform, and easier system maintenance. Additionally, the Ansible playbooks are now simpler to manage due to the standardization of our platform. We quickly realized the benefits of adopting a single platform instead of using multiple platforms. This decision has streamlined our operations and simplified license management for our sales department. Additionally, the purchase process has become more straightforward.
We operate a hybrid IT infrastructure consisting of both on-premises and cloud servers. We have had positive experiences with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which has enabled us to build and deploy applications with confidence and ensure their availability across physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
Red Hat Insights is a valuable tool for preventing emergencies caused by security vulnerabilities, non-compliant configurations, and unpatched systems. Although we haven't faced an emergency yet, we've noticed that the tool provides valuable advice and sometimes even playbooks to resolve security and stability issues. It's a powerful tool indeed.
Red Hat Insights provides us with vulnerability alerts and targeted guidance. All systems are stable and we have no crashes and no failouts.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's most valuable attribute is its stability.
What needs improvement?
A targeted package tailored for small and medium-sized businesses can help increase business.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable. We have been running the solution for years with no crashes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is scalable. We have not encountered any issues. Since we are virtualized, it is merely a matter of allocating virtual CPUs, virtual memory, and so on. The limits are very high, so we are not currently experiencing any constraints.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We switched from our previous solution to Red Hat Enterprise Linux because of the uniformity of the platform. It is also a larger organization that is well known.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment is straightforward and well-documented. The deployment time is between 15 to 30 minutes.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux eight out of ten.
From what I've seen of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, it's well-documented. There are comprehensive notes and documentation available. I've been using it recently, and I've found that all the information I need is readily available. If we can't find what we're looking for, our support organization is there to help.
We have a virtual environment and deploy the solution from a satellite.
Currently, we require two people for the maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The lifecycle management features help us maintain compliance and keep the components updated
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's role-based security model enables us to provide discretionary access levels to users based on their roles and their responsibilities. We can also assign access based on service level to maintain service-level accounts for any purpose. If we need to back up a Red Hat Enterprise Linux box, we can assign a role to access that box only on the backup level.
Red Hat Insights allows us to find vulnerabilities and conduct assessments from our central portal. It gives us insight into the compliance levels of different boxes and their licenses. Red Hat Insights helps us be proactive by giving us the details of recurring issues and vulnerabilities or zero-day threats. It automatically shows us what needs to be prioritized. It improves operations to have a single pane of glass for all your inventories and business. You can also implement automation and remedy most things from the cloud console. This is very helpful.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps us achieve security standards certification. Most of our customers require compliance with regulations and internal security policy also. We have to be compliant with the profile for each standard based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux profiles or OSCAP integration. Satellite helps us remedy and manage compliance issues in daily operations.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the most reliable Linux flavor in terms of enterprise governance. I prefer it for its code stability, support, and integration. The lifecycle management features help us maintain compliance and keep the components updated.
The built-in security features simplify risk reduction. For example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux has built-in OSCAP profiles that we can select during implementation based on our industry and compliance needs. Using the OSCAP profile, we can minimize the effort needed to keep the software up to date. We also like the Red Hat Co-Pilot, which allows you to configure most things from the GUI.
We also have OpenShift, which enables elaborate, portable, and reliable ccontainerization. We use the System Roles feature when we have to disable root users and assign the system roles on the application level because some applications do not require root-level access or real group access. The System Role feature allows us to impose level controls and segmentation between the users. We can also automate security configurations to maintain consistency across systems over time.
What needs improvement?
I would like to use OSCAP profiles without the dependency on Red Hat Insights. If you install the OSCAP profiles from Red Hat Insights, I'm not sure if it is currently available in the cloud console. Most of the time, we manage compliance from Red Hat Satellite, but this feature could also be built into the console. Maybe it's not an issue price-wise most of the time, but it would be easier if we could use the same console and test-level capabilities.
I also want the co-pilot to provide more granular control and more features in the GUI, so we can have one configuration from the GUI itself. It would be helpful to have a feature similar to the one in Windows where we can manage all the net flows from one console in a single pane of glass and install it on-premises like an admin center. It would be great if Red Hat had some kind of admin center to manage all the Red Hat Enterprise Linux boxes without using an additional product like Satellite or something, we could use the co-pilot on all the systems to monitor the dashboard.
For how long have I used the solution?
We started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 in 2015. Now, we are on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, so it has been around eight or nine years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a robust product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability depends on the computing capacity and architecture. It varies based on whether we are replicating boxes or putting the Red Hat Enterprise Linux images into containers. The tool we use for orchestration is also a factor.
How are customer service and support?
I rate Red Hat support 10 out 10. We are mostly dealing with Level 1 or Level 2 support, and we always get a prompt response. Remote support is also available, which is nice.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used some open-source Linux flavors that are now obsolete and CentOS. Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides excellent support for migrating from CentOS to Red Hat Enterprise Linux at any level, so kudos to Red Hat for that. There is a great tool that enables us to migrate an existing application without any changes, so we can convert CentOS boxes.
There are one or two commercial Linux flavors that can compete with Red Hat, but their based on different architectures. Red Hat has a large portfolio, including OpenShift and SQL automation, offering deep integration between these tools. I don't think there is a competing product that offers a comparable product portfolio because Red Hat is under the umbrella of IBM now and also provides a multi-cloud solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment is straightforward. There's no problem. However, it also depends on what we want to achieve. Some of the options add a little complexity. It isn't very complicated, but it requires a different method. Overall, the general installation and configuration are effortless, and we don't have any issues. The initial installation can be done in 15-30 minutes, depending on the computing and storage capacity.
We have one administrator experienced in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and enterprise Linux for maintence. We prefer a certified person who can understand the data complexities and advanced configuration, but a technician doesn't need to be a specialist to conduct the installation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing depends upon the customer's bill of materials and what the customers are planning. Sometimes, a reseller and vendor partners provide a better price. I recommended buying the Red Hat Virtual Data Center instead of buying the Red Hat Enterprise Linux standalone licenses if anyone just wants to run a workload in the cloud environment. Virtual Data Center is the most cost-efficient.
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux license has a one-time cost, but there is an ongoing subscription for support with various levels. The license is perpetual, but we pay annually for support. Red Hat's support license is robust. You get three levels of professional support plus community support. Our banking, finance, and telecom clients rely on Red Hat Enterprise Linux entirely for their production workloads, so they need to minimize downtime. There is no comparison between professional and open source. We can provide support for some of our clients and set up redundancy, so that's something we can consider when we're looking at licensing or support costs.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 out of 10. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is an affordable product and a great value. It is constantly evolving and adding capabilities. We can orchestrate a multi-cloud environment for Nutanix under Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It's an excellent product for virtualization.