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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Logo

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pros and cons

Vendor: Red Hat
4.4 out of 5
Badge Ranked 1

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is praised for its stability, allowing it to function without issues, improving uptime and reliability in various environments.
RHEL offers robust security features, which are considered superior to other operating systems, enhancing compliance and reducing vulnerabilities.
The support provided by Red Hat is highly valued, offering fast response times and helping to resolve technical challenges efficiently.
RHEL's comprehensive documentation and knowledge base make it easier for users to manage and implement the system effectively.
Integration with tools like Ansible and Satellite enhances automation and management capabilities, adding significant value to IT operations.

CONS

RHEL has a high cost, making it less attractive for individuals or small businesses compared to other options.
The pricing model may not provide immediate ROI for small to medium-sized organizations, and licensing can be confusing.
There are challenges with customer service and technical support, as responses can be slow and vary in quality.
Some improvements in patches and updates are needed, as inconsistencies can lead to challenges in managing components effectively.
Migration between RHEL versions can be complex, requiring manual intervention, which complicates the upgrade process.
 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Pros review quotes

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 24, 2017
Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL.
it_user715155 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Aug 7, 2017
Stable Linux OS. The stability of the OS is very important for the computer system.
it_user806466 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Jan 23, 2018
Enterprise support is available for our customers.
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.
AL
Software Engineer at a security firm with 10,001+ employees
Feb 14, 2018
The GUI for network adapters and built-in tools provided by RHEL, such as the Mozilla browser, have been valuable. Since they come built-in, it saves the time of having to install them, and you have everything necessary with the installation itself.
it_user840444 - PeerSpot reviewer
Growth Incubation Leader, Poland and Baltics at IBM
Mar 19, 2018
Open architecture allows for accelerated growth while secure repositories guarantee stability.
FL
Systems Analyst at Intraservice/City of G̦teborg
May 27, 2020
The solution has features that simplify adoption for non-Linux users. There is an interface that you can activate on RHEL systems, and on other Linux systems as well, so that you will get a graphical user interface instead of just a shell. It's easier for an administrator who is used to only working on Windows.
FA
Linux Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Dec 21, 2020
Its security is the most valuable. It is very stable and has many features. It also has good performance. Some of our clients were using Windows servers and products. I suggested Red Hat Linux to them and described the features. They switched to it, and they really loved it. There were around 50 servers in my last company, and they switched all those servers from Windows to Red Hat. I used to manage those servers.
IS
Associate Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 14, 2021
Customer support is valuable.
reviewer1486413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Analyst - AIX and Linux at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Feb 9, 2021
The integrated solution approach reduces our TCO tremendously because we are able to focus on innovation instead of operations.
it_user1571253 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
May 18, 2021
We find the Red Hat Satellite deployments very useful. It integrates well with other solutions.
 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Cons review quotes

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage and VMware Expert at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aug 24, 2017
The licensing valor is too high and must be improved
it_user715155 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Aug 7, 2017
Many areas in version 5 are obsolete such as filesystem ext2, ext3, while the new versions (v.6, 7) support ext4, Btrfs, ZFS, etc.
it_user806466 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Jan 23, 2018
I only had to engage support once for an escalated issue and their support team tried to pass the blame onto our Hypervisor vendor, when it was indeed an issue with a Red Hat package.
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.
AL
Software Engineer at a security firm with 10,001+ employees
Feb 14, 2018
I really think that the upgrade policies between the major versions, like from from RHEL 5 to RHEL 6, should be much easier, similar to what is in place for upgrading from RHEL 6 to RHEL 6.8.
it_user840444 - PeerSpot reviewer
Growth Incubation Leader, Poland and Baltics at IBM
Mar 19, 2018
Workstations: More applications for graphics.
FL
Systems Analyst at Intraservice/City of G̦teborg
May 27, 2020
Sometimes they don't have new versions for applications like Apache or PHP. I understand it's because they have to have support for them, so they can't have the latest version all the time, but that's the main thing I see that could be improved.
FA
Linux Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Dec 21, 2020
It is mostly better than other solutions. However, it is sometimes difficult for disaster recovery, so we have to plan accordingly.
IS
Associate Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jan 14, 2021
Their pricing and documentation can be improved.
reviewer1486413 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Analyst - AIX and Linux at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Feb 9, 2021
Linux overall needs improvement. They cannot go much beyond what Linus Torvalds's kernel implementation can do. I come from AIX, and there were very cool things in AIX that I am missing dearly, e.g., being able to support not only adding, but also reducing memory and number of processors. That is not supported on Linux right now, and it is the same for the mainstream file systems supported by Red Hat. There is no way of reducing a file system or logical volume. Whereas, in AIX, it was a shoo-in. These are the little things where we can say, "Ah, we are missing AIX for that."
it_user1571253 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
May 18, 2021
It could be a bit more user-friendly. It could also be cheaper.