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Oracle Solaris Reviews

Vendor: Oracle
4.3 out of 5
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What is Oracle Solaris?

Oracle Solaris is a trusted business platform that provides consistent compatibility, is simple to use, is always secure, and is designed to help you run your modern and legacy enterprise applications. The solution is the most recommended enterprise operating system for Oracle Database and Java applications and is engineered for large-scale enterprise deployments.

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Oracle Solaris is the #10 ranked solution in top Operating Systems for Business. PeerSpot users give Oracle Solaris an average rating of 8.6 out of 10. Oracle Solaris is most commonly compared to Ubuntu Linux: Oracle Solaris vs Ubuntu Linux. Oracle Solaris is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 64% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 12% of all views.
Buyer's Guide
Oracle Solaris
August 2025
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Oracle Solaris mindshare

As of September 2025, the mindshare of Oracle Solaris in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category stands at 1.9%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Solaris1.9%
Rocky Linux14.9%
Ubuntu Linux11.9%
Other71.3%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business

PeerResearch reports based on Oracle Solaris reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryOperating Systems (OS) for BusinessSep 17, 2025Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersSep 17, 2025Download
ComparisonOracle Solaris vs Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)Sep 17, 2025Download
ComparisonOracle Solaris vs Ubuntu LinuxSep 17, 2025Download
ComparisonOracle Solaris vs Oracle LinuxSep 17, 2025Download
Suggested products
TitleRatingMindshareRecommending
Ubuntu Linux4.311.9%95%150 interviewsAdd to research
Rocky Linux4.114.9%100%7 interviewsAdd to research
 
 
Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Oracle Solaris is praised for its strong virtualization capabilities, notably Zones and LDoms. It excels in stability, performance, and security. Its ZFS file system is a standout feature, offering exceptional data integrity and recovery capabilities. Users value DTrace for real-time troubleshooting and analysis. The system’s ease of management and patching, along with its scalability and integration with Oracle databases, are also highly regarded. Its robust architecture is frequently likened to high-end enterprise solutions.
  • "If I talk about the Oracle Solaris platform, it is a very robust system; when you run the database, it will run as intended."
  • "Oracle Solaris has a graphical interface that is user-friendly, especially with its use of dark colors."
  • "We are able to deploy new environments very quickly and securely. Using the virtualization features, we can migrate the environments very flexibly between our servers."

Room for Improvement

Oracle Solaris needs enhanced GUI and user adaptability. More third-party support and improved documentation are necessary. Increasing training access outside Oracle University is essential. Better hardware compatibility, especially for x86 architecture, would be beneficial. Enhanced virtualization, patching capabilities, and kernel live migration are also desired. There's room for improved package management and reduction in costs. Solaris requires better integration with current technologies while improving marketing efforts to counter misconceptions about its relevance.
  • "Oracle is going to discontinue it, so I do not think any improvement is possible in Oracle Solaris."
  • "Oracle Solaris needs to improve its compatibility with office tools like Excel."
  • "Patching without downtime would be nice."

ROI

Users report that Oracle Solaris offers high ROI due to its integration with Oracle's portfolio, stability, and reduced downtime. Efficiency in patching and troubleshooting with DTRACE contributes to savings in time and man-hours. While costing details vary, Solaris is considered affordable, especially on certain platforms and with SPARC hardware. Some find the ROI higher compared to other systems like Windows, while others mention the impact of pricing and licensing complexities on long-term adoption.

Pricing

Oracle Solaris pricing is complex, with no licensing fee for the OS, but costs arise with support and hardware compatibility. It is considered expensive, with yearly licenses often criticized for being high. Some organizations find costs high compared to competitors like Linux. However, the performance and integration benefits are appreciated. Licensing intricacies, especially with CPUs and cores, can lead to cost concerns for enterprise users evaluating its use versus other alternatives like Postgres or EnterpriseDB.
  • "We don't use an authorized license."
  • "As a private user or individual, I wouldn't recommend it to others, considering it is a costly product."
  • "It is an expensive product. I rate the pricing a ten out of ten."

Popular Use Cases

Users employ Oracle Solaris for database management, critical applications, and virtualization across financial, telecom, and energy sectors. It supports software development, cybersecurity research, and cloud infrastructure. Oracle Solaris enables efficient server management on SPARC and x86 architectures, providing compute storage, backup solutions, and compliance with licensing requirements. Clients utilize it for applications, web servers, and CRM integration, often relying on its capabilities for enterprise and internal operations, ensuring robust infrastructure support.

Service and Support

Oracle Solaris users indicate customer service is available 24/7 with fast assignment of issues. Technical support services are generally praised for professionalism, responsiveness, and high-quality problem resolution. However, some find it slow and reliant on scripted responses. Experience may vary based on geographical location and past service with Sun Microsystems. While some users appreciate My Oracle Support's resources, they note occasional delays in escalating complex issues to higher levels for resolution.

Deployment

Many found Oracle Solaris's initial setup straightforward and user-friendly, benefiting from comprehensive documentation and pre-installed options. Familiarity with Unix and technical skills aided those implementing the system, although some encountered complexity when customizing environments or migrating from other platforms. The use of ZFS simplified storage management, contrasting with Linux's partitioning challenges. While the initial implementation could vary in duration, installations typically ranged from quick tasks to more involved processes, depending on the environment's complexity.

Scalability

Oracle Solaris demonstrates significant scalability with robust vertical and horizontal scaling capabilities. Users note its ability to efficiently handle increased workloads, supporting hundreds of CPUs, growing memory capacity, and operating with a large number of users. SPARC servers enhance its performance with large core counts, while features like ZFS contribute to its high scalability. Compatibility with critical applications further strengthens scalability, though hardware can impact performance. Its built-in virtualization technologies facilitate effective management of multiple workloads.

Stability

Oracle Solaris is praised for its exceptional stability and reliability by users. Many have experienced no issues, attributing any occasional problems to third-party applications or specific circumstances. Users commend Oracle Solaris' robust kernel, maintenance ease, and infrequent crashes compared to other operating systems. Despite rare instability events during updates, users generally rate Oracle Solaris highly for stability, describing it as an industry-leading and reliable operating system with minimal downtime and seamless patching.
These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.
Download our Oracle Solaris Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
By visitors reading reviews
Company SizeCount
Small Business103
Midsize Enterprise74
Large Enterprise315
By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Performing Arts
4%
Retailer
3%
Hospitality Company
3%
Media Company
2%
Energy/Utilities Company
2%
Insurance Company
2%
Outsourcing Company
2%
Aerospace/Defense Firm
1%
Real Estate/Law Firm
1%
Construction Company
1%
Legal Firm
1%
Pharma/Biotech Company
1%
Transportation Company
1%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
1%
Wholesaler/Distributor
1%
Non Profit
1%

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Oracle Solaris Features

Oracle Solaris has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

  • Application binary guarantee
  • Unified archives
  • Rich selection of DevOps tools
  • REST-based configuration and monitoring
  • Software security assurance
  • Automated installer
  • Image packaging system and ZFS boot environments
  • Simplified system life-cycle, application life-cycle, and cloud capabilities
  • Constraint packages
  • Fault diagnosis
  • Service management facility

Oracle Solaris Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Oracle Solaris. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

  • Portable and scalable
  • Interoperable and compatible
  • Simple to use
  • Infrastructure designed to scale on large systems without code
  • Supports a wide range of hardware
  • 24 x 7 support from Oracle
  • Portability across different architectures
  • Supports tools optimized for Oracle hardware devices
  • Guarantees binary compatibility for your applications across various Oracle Solaris OS releases
  • Supports programming languages such as Perl, Ruby, and Python
  • Mitigates risk and easily proves compliance
  • Reduces costs
  • Helps reduce planned and unplanned downtime

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Oracle Solaris solution.

A CEO at a computer software company says, “The most valuable feature is virtualization. They have attained virtualization and it's quite simple to create the Oracle Solaris zones. The solution is quite powerful. Oracle Solaris is great due to the fact that it actually is meant for high-end servers. The high availability is great. You can clone and you can do quite a number of things with them. There's also the ZFS File system which is very good. Is one of the best file systems that there is.”

Diego A., Oracle ACE - Specialized in Systems Technologies at Telecom Argentina, mentions, “The most valuable features for me are virtualization (Containers, Zones, Security, PDOM's, LDOM's) and Performance, ZFS, Debugging with Dtrace.”

A Service Manager at a tech services company expresses that the solution is “Stable, scalable, and has easy installation.”

PeerSpot user Marcel H., Oracle ACE Director "Solaris," CEO, Enterprise Consultant at JomaSoft, explains, “Solaris includes two virtualization solutions: LDoms for SPARC and Solaris Zones. Both solutions can be combined to create private clouds. Solaris Zones is ideal to separate applications and to migrate from older to current hardware. LDoms is very efficient because it uses the hardware hypervisor of the SPARC servers. Both technologies increase Security, because they separate the applications from each other. Using the Security Compliance Framework we are sure the systems are set up properly.”

Shafiq K., Senior Manager IT Operations at a financial services firm, states, “The reliability of the solution is excellent. The security has been very good overall. We've found the solution to have good availability. The backup capabilities are quite good. The solution has proven to be quite stable so far. The product can scale. The solution is 100% free to use. It doesn't cost a company anything as it's embedded in the hardware.”

Oracle Solaris was previously known as Solaris 11, Solaris.

Oracle Solaris customers

Siemens, IVV

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Oracle Solaris Reviews Summary
Author infoRatingReview Summary
SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd4.5I've used Oracle Solaris for over 20 years and found it stable, secure, and ideal for large organizations, though costly and complex for smaller ones. With its discontinuation, I now recommend switching to Oracle Linux.
System specialist at Savecore4.0I've used Oracle Solaris primarily for general IT operations and appreciate its stability, predictive self-healing, and scalability, though usability and ZFS flexibility could improve. Setup is straightforward, and it's cost-effective with strong security and virtualization features.
CIO at Clarinox Technologies4.0I tested Oracle Solaris on a regular PC and found it user-friendly with a lightweight, dark-themed interface. While it improved performance, its compatibility with office tools like Excel needs enhancement. Previously, I used Windows systems for similar tasks.
Network Administrator at Mzansi Security and Fire5.0In my company, Oracle Solaris integrates with our CRM, offering excellent security and user-friendliness. Despite its complexity, which could be simplified, its ability to facilitate immediate verification and integration with Home Affairs makes it valuable.
Senior Infrastructure Specialist at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees4.5I manage diverse systems totaling around 250 and appreciate Solaris Zones and Containers. However, I'm concerned about the lack of updates beyond version 11.4. Despite my Unix expertise, I chose Solaris for its opportunities but seek version progression.
Sr. Manager - System Analyst (Datacenter Infrastructure) at Sohar International5.0We are using Oracle Solaris on Sparkbox for our core applications and appreciate its built-in virtualization, which eliminates additional license costs. While it's stable and easy to set up, we occasionally encounter issues with the DataFast file system.
IT Project Manager at Awash International Bank4.5No summary available
System specialist at Savecore4.5I use Oracle Solaris for mission-critical systems due to its excellent performance, reliability, and stability, especially with databases and applications. The ZFS file system is valuable, although Oracle's lack of development resources is a drawback.