I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and we have a couple of customers using OpenShift, the Kubernetes platform based on Red Hat, and also Red Hat Virtualization. My first contact with the Linux platform was with Red Hat.
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Using robust security and detailed documentation has improved our enterprise operations
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The best features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are its stability and the RPM, Red Hat Package Manager, which is perfect. They also deliver Satellite, a platform for updates. It is a very robust, excellent platform.
For me, and for every Linux distribution, the most important security feature in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is SELinux. Security is often misunderstood by others. SELinux is very important because it provides security for the kernel. Many people disable SELinux, but it is the most important and most misunderstood feature. People do not understand it. The updates and SELinux are very important to me. SELinux is very good, but it is complex, and I have seen many administrators disable it because instead of helping them, it causes trouble. For example, securing my NGINX configuration is a pain. It is a very good security option, but I would say it is excellent only if one is an expert.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) documentation is very good and very complete. Regardless of my opinion about the IBM acquisition, the documentation is excellent.
What needs improvement?
IBM committed two major mistakes with Red Hat. The first was destroying the CentOS project, which was a fork of Red Hat. The second was limiting the use of free options and restricting hardware to support Red Hat on just some limited hardware. One can use the system for free, but the statement is not entirely true because it is limited to a couple of virtual processors and I do not remember if it was 24 or 16 GB of RAM. If one goes beyond that configuration, one has to pay, and IBM is IBM. Many companies were in trouble because from one day to the next, IBM said they would no longer support CentOS and told them to move to another distribution. People had to migrate, and for that reason, there are Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, and other Linux distributions that are trying to rise and taking advantage of that situation. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is just for corporate companies with money to waste on licensing.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very expensive. In the case of our customers, the couple of customers with OpenShift, they have enough money to license Red Hat. They bundle Red Hat with virtualization and OpenShift packages. However, it is not suitable for an SMB company. It is not payable or affordable. For me, it is very expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a lot, though I do not remember the exact frequency.
How are customer service and support?
I have worked with Red Hat support, and it is very good because they have very good engineers. In Latin America, during my time, the support in Spanish was mostly provided by engineers from Argentina. In Colombia, I have worked with a couple of engineers from Colombia, and they were very good. I have not worked with support in English for Red Hat, only in Spanish with those engineers.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What other advice do I have?
My first Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) certification, Red Hat Certified Engineer, was for version 6, which was approximately 12 to 15 years ago.
I have tried Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Image Builder and System Roles, and it is pretty good.
I would rate the support at an eight out of ten. My overall rating for this product is ten out of ten.
Effortless to Use with Top-Notch Security
Improved cloud backups and security have transformed how our team builds and manages servers
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.
Manages thousands of servers efficiently with proactive features and strong long-term reliability
What is our primary use case?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) basically runs the bank's apps as my main use case.
What is most valuable?
I like the feature Satellite the most because it has services to manage my multiple Linux servers.
Satellite has no parallel in the Linux distro world, especially for an enterprise, enabling me to manage my servers, patch them, create content, get them binaries, updated security updates, and all that. It makes it easier for admins and reduces the need for a lot of manpower, especially with Ansible that enables me to do configuration management of 20,000 Linux servers.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales with the growing needs of my organization very well as we are expanding ourselves.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped mitigate downtime and lower risk because the servers can run for more than 300 days of uptime. I do have to reboot them for patching, but otherwise, they are a very stable operating system that doesn't crash for no reason. If I experience kernel panics, it often involves EDRs or agents such as CrowdStrike, but otherwise, it's very stable with proactive features. We had issues with CrowdStrike; they identified the issue with their kernel drivers that used to crash my OS and provided a patch to address it, so they take care of us.
What needs improvement?
The implementation had challenges like whenever we bring out new products, there's always one issue: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s documentation is not complete. I have to really have an enterprise account because I get access to their support, which sorts me out since every environment is unique. It's not a cookie cutter; I would deploy RHEL 8 in a way different compared to a retail store. So when it gets to those niche deployments, they don't have anything documented. I really have to get hold of the support, saying, "Hey, I'm trying to do this. It's not working," and then they will give me a solution, but I would expect that a document would have solved that issue without raising a ticket. That's my only complaint.
The area for improvement in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is documentation. I don't have any other suggestions. I think it's just the documentation that needs improvement. Otherwise, technically, I don't have anything to suggest.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have experienced downtime or security incidents as a result of the solution when proper practices are not followed, especially if I am using any third-party security. You have to manage kernel options; otherwise, the base OS itself is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales with the growing needs of my organization very well as we are expanding ourselves.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate customer service and technical support based on my experience. I felt naive about being a small enterprise versus a big enterprise, but the response time of tickets is consistent. I haven't seen a difference; I thought I would have a slower response being on a small account, but the speed of our calls is the same.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I considered other solutions before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but it was a default choice for us. I see that they have expanded; earlier, it was just a bare-metal OS and not an ecosystem, but now they are in OpenShift, providing Kubernetes and everything.
I wasn't using another solution to address my needs prior to adopting it.
How was the initial setup?
The upgrade or migration is straightforward if I have applications that depend less on what the OS is, but in our case, it was not that simple. We had a business requirement, so we had to shut down the older one, provision a new one, and move everything.
What was our ROI?
I have seen ROI from using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in terms of uptime itself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup, and cost of the solution is that it's a service based on how many cores, not sockets.
What other advice do I have?
My deployment model for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is on-premises, but I am just starting off with cloud.
For security requirements in the cloud, I don't do SELinux; I just depend on my ACLs because my servers are not internet-facing. We trust Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) with the binaries, with nothing on the base OS such as firewalls or SELinux.
I use AWS and Azure as my cloud providers.
I manage my Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems for security, updates, and patches with Red Hat Satellite, which makes it very easy.
I have been involved in upgrades from RHEL 6 to 7 and from 7 to 8.
My assessment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s FIPS and security compliance features is that it's the best in the industry. They have FIPS, which I think is more for federal clients, and although I haven't used it, I know they offer it by default on their Linux.
My upgrade and migration plans are to always try to stay on the current version all the time, unless there's a legacy application. Any apps I manage are always on the latest Red Hat release, and we keep migrating them as Red Hat provides the first-ever release out, which is a requirement for our Satellite to support the latest version.
The area for improvement in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is documentation.
I would assess the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as paywalled, so if you don't pay for it, you wouldn't be able to access their system. The KB is pretty good, but you need to have a Red Hat account.
My advice to a company considering this solution is to go for it. It is supported by enterprise support from Red Hat, which I don't think any other enterprise can offer. While I know Canonical does it for Ubuntu, SUSE is another good option; however, the adoption is not there, and you don't have a lot of sysadmins. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a bible due to the abundance of resources in the market. I would rate this solution a 10.
Has improved server monitoring and helped manage hundreds of databases with strong security and performance
What is our primary use case?
The main use case for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is to manage the database and the server.
The solution helps solve pain points for monitoring servers, for example, databases and servers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the security and also the performance for scheduling and tasking for the memory.
These features benefit the organization because we have hundreds of servers, databases, and many files, and we have the ability to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What needs improvement?
I am interested in migrating to the cloud platform, so we are trying to implement that in the organization.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for five to seven years.
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).
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales well to meet the growing organizational needs.
We are looking for containerization for scalability, and it is easy to scale out and scale in.
We have expanded usage and tried manually to increase the number of servers, and we see the disk increasing exponentially, which is why we are looking for scaling.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate customer service and technical support as quite good, since I technically get 24/7 support if I encounter issues from updates or new features.
I would assess the level of support from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) team as very informative; we learn a lot from the documentation from the Red Hat support team.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before selecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I considered the availability of resources and security, as we have files and a lot of data with not enough time to handle that from the internet, and distribution is mostly for security.
How was the initial setup?
The experience deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was easy, as we use different methods, such as installing or using some source files by using some servers to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
The most common challenges faced with the deployment are mostly enterprise related, such as resource compatibility and making automation instead of active compatibility.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The opinion on pricing and its cost-effectiveness for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it is quite good for production on-premises.
What other advice do I have?
The advice I would give to other organizations is that they should mostly rely on the Linux operating system; it is quite reliable and easy to use, install, deploy, and manage, so I would advise them to use it.
I would rate this product a 10.
Has improved deployment speed and weekly patching has strengthened system security
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases include running our application in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since all our applications are based on a Red Hat server. Everything we use is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What is most valuable?
As SecDevOps Lead, I drove the adoption of Red Hat’s Ansible Automation Platform, which transformed our deployment process. Previously, manual scripts led to inconsistencies and delays; now, we achieve consistent, error-free deployments in under 10 minutes. Weekly RHEL patching, integrated into our CI/CD pipeline, has strengthened our security posture—critical for meeting regulatory requirements. These improvements have directly supported our business goals of agility and reliability.
What needs improvement?
A key area for improvement is the ability to apply patches without requiring a full server reboot. This would minimize downtime for mission-critical applications. I’m actively evaluating Red Hat’s live kernel patching solutions and advocating for their adoption to further enhance our uptime and operational efficiency.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for almost seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I assess the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as good since I didn't see much downtime with the servers or any random problems coming up with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I would say it's good in terms of stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales well with the growing needs of my organization because whatever solutions we are trying, we are able to do in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It's coming along well.
How are customer service and support?
I evaluate customer service and technical support as something I'm not sure about because I didn't directly work with them.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I didn't consider any other solutions before Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and I haven't used any other solution to address similar needs.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is nice, but I didn't deploy anything from a Linux perspective. Overall, I think it's a nice experience that I have with Red Hat.
What about the implementation team?
When it comes to managing my Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems for provisioning and patching, it has come up well over the years. Before, I think it took a lot of time to provision a server and patch it, including securing and hardening the server. Nowadays, it's very easy. I didn't work directly, but I have provisioned.
What was our ROI?
I feel that we've seen ROI since I'm not involved in purchasing, but I can feel that it's a good ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, including cost and licensing, is that I'm not sure.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I haven't expanded any usage of it, apart from using Ansible and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
My assessment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s built-in security features when it comes to simplifying risk reduction and maintaining compliance is that it's pretty good from what I've heard when I talk with the team, even though I'm not directly working on that.As for my upgrade and migration plans to stay current, we recently upgraded to Red Hat 8. If we want to do another Red Hat 10, it's good.Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk as it allows provisioning servers very easily. In case the servers go down, it comes up very fast as well.I assess the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as very good. Recently, I had a walkthrough of a trial, and it's pretty much simplified and whatever we need is there.My advice to other organizations considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is to just use it. It's easy. I gave this review a rating of 10.
Red hat enterprise linux review
2. Performance is best as compare to any other operating system even if we allocate minimum required resources like cpu ram etc
3. Used in almost every organisation to host most of the mission critical applications as rhel providers performance, security and free to use.
2. Creating repository removes the packages dependency and installing packages without subscription is difficult.
3. If audit happens removing vulnerabilities and updating packages without subscription is so much difficult.
4. Making changes in the /etc configuration files and restarting any service as per need when selinux is in enforcing state is difficult.
5. Allowing ports and services when firewall is in on state is difficult.
2. We can use and host mission critical applications free of cost since red hat is free where and we can use windows server free trial for only 180 days. For rhel we only need expert guy who can manage the entire rhel infra.
3. Since source code of rhel can be changed and we can do any customisation in rhel it is much much secure than windows so no need to buy any antivirus for rhel.
4. This is very much more stable os as compare to windows server