I use the solution as a SIEM tool for system locking purposes.
Security Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
It is a stable solution, but the hardware performance needs improvement
Pros and Cons
- "It is a stable soultion."
- "It is challenging to scale the solution when we have to increase the storage capacity from one end."
What is our primary use case?
What needs improvement?
They should improve the solution's hardware performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
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CentOS
April 2025

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have five to ten users of the solution at our organization. We may plan to increase the number of users. It is challenging to scale the solution when we have to increase the storage capacity from one end.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Kali Linux before. I switched to CentOS as it is free of cost and has a good infrastructure.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is easy. There are installation options provided. We can either do a full or a minimum installation. It is easy to install tools in it. The process takes 30 minutes to complete.
What about the implementation team?
I implemented the solution myself.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend the solution to others and rate it as a seven. I advise others to know about the solution's commands before purchasing it.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

IT Specialist at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Provides extremely useful information and has good compatibility
Pros and Cons
- "Offers useful information and has good compatibility."
- "Lacks sufficient security and some coding tools."
What is most valuable?
The solution provides useful information and has good compatibility.
What needs improvement?
I'd like to see additional security and more coding tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable, we have around 30 users.
How was the initial setup?
I wasn't involved in the initial setup but I believe it was straightforward. We have infrastructure related employees who dealt with the deployment.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution and rate it nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
CentOS
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about CentOS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
Highly stable, easy to use, but could be more scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to use but not as easy as Windows."
- "The solution could improve by being more user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We are using CentOS for some of our applications on one single server.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use but not as easy as Windows.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by being more user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using CentOS for approximately five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution needs to improve on its scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not needed to contact technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is a little difficult.
What about the implementation team?
We have one engineer that does the implementation of this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using a subscription-based license option for CentOS.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution for applications that you want to have high stability.
I rate CentOS a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
High performance, stable, and easy installation
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is performance."
- "The solution might be discontinued but I hope that IBM will continue to develop it and improve on the functionally and features."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this solution as an operating system for scientific computing.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is performance.
What needs improvement?
The solution might be discontinued but I hope that IBM will continue to develop it and improve on the functionally and features.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have more than 20 customers that use this solution scientific computing.
How was the initial setup?
The installation easy and takes approximately 20 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation ourselves and we have a team of seven engineers that do the implementation and maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is no license required for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate CentOS a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Managing Partner at Veribir Ltd
Easy on resources, free to use, and highly stable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is the limited resources the solution uses in operation."
- "The solution could improve by making the management tools better for the DevOps teams. For example, WebEX and Webstacks."
What is our primary use case?
We have been using CentOS for web-based applications, containers, and OpenStack.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the limited resources the solution uses in operation.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by making the management tools better for the DevOps teams. For example, WebEX and Webstacks.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using CentOS for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
CentOS is highly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable but not at the operating system level.
Web-based applications are using this solution in my organization which many users could be using them.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
CentOS is a free solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution for the server-side.
I rate CentOS a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Applications & Systems Administrator at a university with 501-1,000 employees
You can do a lot on the command line. I would like it to be more intuitive.
What is most valuable?
- Command Line
- Cost
- Ease of maintenance
With Linux, you can do a lot on the command line. Once a Linux server has been built, it tends to be stable with no performance leakage.
How has it helped my organization?
- Scalability
- Security
- Performance
What needs improvement?
I would like it to be more intuitive. There could be better help facilities. However, I guess the GUI can be fairly intuitive.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I did not encounter any issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I did not encounter any issues with scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate the level of technical as OK.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We uses Windows before.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was complex initially. However, once we overcame the steep learning curve, it was a lot easier.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This solution is much more cost effective than Windows and the Open Source options.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Sun and Ubantu.
What other advice do I have?
You need to have a command line skill set.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Sr. Network Administrator at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
This solution has contributed a lot to security and flexibility in our company
What is most valuable?
Valuable features for us are security and flexibility.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has made our organization more secure than in previous releases.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution since its release.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Initially, I found it a bit difficult to work with as it was a totally new platform as compared to CentOS 6.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We did not encounter any issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We did not encounter any issues with scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
I have never needed to use the customer service.
Technical Support:I have never needed to use the technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have been working with the CentOS product since the beginning of my career.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was a bit complex as it was quite different to previous CentOS releases.
What about the implementation team?
We performed the implementation in-house.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
We get good support, and our apps run much faster on this
Pros and Cons
- "Its performance is most valuable. There is a performance boost as compared to when the applications are run on Windows OS."
- "It could be more secure."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for the DNS server, and we have some in-house apps that we are running on it for internal processes.
What is most valuable?
Its performance is most valuable. There is a performance boost as compared to when the applications are run on Windows OS.
What needs improvement?
It could be more secure.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a few months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable. In the previous upgrade, there were a lot of bug fixes.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have cluster nodes, so we can extend and have more servers in the cluster. When we have more incoming requests and more processes for extending functions of the software, we need to scale the server. We work with the vendor for maintaining the software and the server.
We have more than 300 users, and half of them are using the software.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is good.
How was the initial setup?
It took two to three days. We did it over the weekend, and we had two technical people.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others. I would rate it an eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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