I mainly use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as a financial application.
Senior System Engineer at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Automation eases workload while strong support mitigates downtime
Pros and Cons
- "I appreciate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for its stable product and good support, and it helps me solve pain points through automation with tools such as Ansible."
- "I don't think Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is saving money because it is expensive, but saving time is a benefit because they have a lot of automation and good documentation, and it is a stable product."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I appreciate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for its stable product and good support. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points through automation with tools such as Ansible. It helps mitigate downtime and lower risk because you can recover.
What needs improvement?
Regarding security requirements from my side, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is somewhat satisfactory, but in most organizations, they are asking for more enterprise solutions for security. If Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can invest in monitoring, it would be great. For example, Instana is an IBM product, and since IBM owns Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), if they invest in Instana, it will be a great improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Red Hat Enterprise Linux for more than five years.
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
916,582 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
For Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) stability, I rate it a nine. It is really stable, with no issues. I found one server running for more than two years without any issue.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For scalability, it depends on the hypervisor you're using, and if you have a template, you can clone it. It doesn't matter which OS you are using, even in the cloud, it's the platform that can scale.
How are customer service and support?
I am satisfied with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s knowledge base. They have one of the best knowledge bases for their products with good documentation and articles that help solve issues without needing to open a case.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is simple.
What was our ROI?
I don't think Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is saving money because it is expensive, but saving time is a benefit because they have a lot of automation and good documentation, and it is a stable product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I can say about pricing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is maybe a two on a scale where ten is a high price.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I think of Ubuntu and SUSE Linux as the top in my mind competitors to RHEL.
What other advice do I have?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can run anywhere, everywhere, so it is easy to run on any platform. On RHEL, it is a more general OS, so I don't know if there's a particular feature to consider.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps mitigate downtime and lower risk because you can recover, but upgrades require downtime. We mostly do in-place upgrades and haven't used migration much.
We are involved in upgrading RHEL 7 because it has reached end of life; sometimes we upgrade to eight or nine. I am already a Red Hat Accelerator and a reference.
Overall, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) eight to nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Teamansvarlig Serverdrift at a government with 501-1,000 employees
Significantly improves maintainability and provides enterprise-ready stability
Pros and Cons
- "The customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is pretty good."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped mitigate downtime and lower risk significantly."
- "Although SELinux is complex as it does a lot. I cannot fully understand it, so that could be simplified."
- "The only thing that I really have difficulty with is SELinux, so perhaps there is room to make it more accessible."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) now are mostly traditional workflows, web applications, and web servers.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has benefited my company by offering great features such as Satellite and all the enterprise features that provide us value, which enables stability and maintainability.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me solve pain points by providing significant maintainability compared to other Linux distros.
It is very stable and enterprise-ready, giving me substantial stability and manageability.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped mitigate downtime and lower risk significantly.
With Satellite and everything else, we can effectively control which patches go to specific servers and reduce risk with different CVEs and insights, providing us with substantial control.
We manage our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems using Satellite, which works really effectively, and we also use Ansible Automation Platform.
My assessment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s built-in security features shows many cool features in the new version. From what I have used in 8 and 9, there are good features such as built-in firewalls.
What needs improvement?
Although SELinux is complex as it does a lot. I cannot fully understand it, so that could be simplified. The only thing that I really have difficulty with is SELinux, so perhaps there is room to make it more accessible.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for approximately ten years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been able to scale to the growing needs of my company. We are not a huge company, so it works effectively.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is pretty good. We have used them extensively and they work effectively.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), we were using legacy systems running on AIX, but all new implementations are now on RHEL. The main difference between AIX and RHEL is the support from third-party applications. When installing third-party applications, there is always support for RHEL and almost never support for AIX.
How was the initial setup?
I would describe the experience of deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as really easy. It is similar to other systems, and I am really excited to explore Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10 and try Image Builder.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the manageability we receive, with numerous features in the packages that free up substantial time from the operations side of things.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are within normal operating system pricing ranges.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
While using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I did consider other solutions. There are always many other options, such as another RHEL distribution, but RHEL is the only one that has extensive support for numerous other systems.
What other advice do I have?
We have not fully implemented Ansible Automation Platform yet, but we are starting to integrate it and we really appreciate it.
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) from one to ten overall as probably a nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
September 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2026.
916,582 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Associate Principal Systems Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Centralized access management and certified integration have supported long-term client infrastructure needs
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat provides a more complete integration between the operating system and platforms, and what stood out to me in my evaluation process was how easy it is to integrate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) into the existing IT processes of our clients, which is the main driver for us as cost concerns are not my focus."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are extensive, but mostly we utilize it for our clients as a base operating system.Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) solves pain points related to security patching and support.Security requirements for choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in the cloud depend heavily on the client's business. For some clients, we don't have any special regulation, but for domains such as oil and gas, there are very strict security requirements that we must meet. In most of the current products, we can find the appropriate and certified product for our clients.
What is most valuable?
The features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) I appreciate most are centralized account management and SSO. The integration of SSO features, particularly with Azure Active Directory, benefits our organization greatly because it is very easy to grant appropriate access to the operating system.Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk.
What needs improvement?
I don't believe there are any additional features that should be included in the next release.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What works well for me is that it is pretty stable over the years, and I don't face many challenges with it.I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales well with the growing needs of my organization.
How are customer service and support?
I evaluate customer service and technical support as brilliant.I regard that support as pretty good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
While I sometimes use other solutions, we are not limited to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and for some cases, we use Canonical products. A long time ago, we used SUSE, but not recently.
How was the initial setup?
I would describe my experience with deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as easy.Managing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems from a central management console is a form of centralized management.I am satisfied with that centralized management console.
What was our ROI?
I have seen ROI with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
When selecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the other solution I considered was Canonical, which is direct competition at the operating system level. However, Red Hat provides a more complete integration between the operating system and platforms.What stood out to me in my evaluation process was how easy it is to integrate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) into the existing IT processes of our clients, which is the main driver for us as cost concerns are not my focus. Maintaining security patching and support over the long term is also crucial for enterprise clients.
What other advice do I have?
I have expanded usage of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for myself and my clients.My advice for other organizations considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that if you are talking about long-term solutions, you need to choose a base infrastructure that is supportable for a long time.I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) overall as a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Software Developer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Server reliability enhances cloud analytics efficiency with fast reboot and infrastructure flexibility
Pros and Cons
- "Time has been saved since using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and the application performance has improved after using it."
- "Compared to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu is more stable for Kubernetes and Docker-related applications."
What is our primary use case?
I am working on a Cloud Infra project in which many analytics applications are hosted on Cloud Infra, and their applications are hosted on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
The applications are customer-facing and mainly focus on analytics regarding an automotive company.
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was pretty smooth, as we can subscribe the servers from the RHEL portal.
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on both on-premises and public cloud.
What is most valuable?
One of the best features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is that it is lightweight and it is the industry standard.
Whenever I start the servers, they switch on very fast compared to other Linux servers.
We can deploy clusters in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and we can scale up and scale down our infrastructure with the help of the RHEL server.
The subscription model and vendor support are also good. We can subscribe our servers to RHEL so that we can get the packages installed for our project-related dependencies.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted my organization. The speed of the applications has improved after deploying them on RHEL.
Whenever we face an issue and need to reboot the server, it comes up very fast compared to other servers, and it has improved the latency of our applications.
Time has been saved since using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and the application performance has improved after using it.
What needs improvement?
There should be some automation for patching the servers in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Patching in the sense that automatically, whatever servers we need, we can patch them using a utility present inside RHEL.
It is stable, but compared to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu is more stable for Kubernetes and Docker-related applications. If improvements can be made in RHEL so Docker and Kubernetes-based applications can be deployed more easily, that would be great.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the past six months.
How are customer service and support?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales up very easily, and RHEL vendor support is also good; it has helped us many times.
We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) from the start; we can see that RHEL provides good vendor support and bug fixes.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not evaluate any other options before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
I can see more improvements can be added to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). They provide many certifications such as RHCE and RHCSA which are very important for learning Linux, learning about automation, and deploying the servers in the cloud.
The architect-level certifications are very important. The customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) rates around an eight.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a great platform to learn Linux. Red Hat provides many certifications such as RHCSA, RHCE, and RHCA, which is architect level.
RHCA is an architect-level certification through which you can learn Ansible and many automation-related activities in Linux; it can help you grow your Linux knowledge as a professional in the IT industry.
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) an 8.5 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Support and automation significantly save time and cost
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers a very easy-to-use experience in the Linux environment apart from any other flavors, and it's a very easy, systematic structure that provides easy support from Red Hat if any complex issue arises, which is the best point of RHEL, along with its affordable subscription model."
- "They should provide patches on a quarterly basis instead of monthly, as patching every month makes it a burden on us."
What is our primary use case?
It depends on the company environment and client environment. Currently, we are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for application deployment and server management, and sometimes we use it for DB deployment also.
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for learning purposes for new things in Red Hat technology.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers a very easy-to-use experience in the Linux environment apart from any other flavors, and it's a very easy, systematic structure that provides easy support from Red Hat if any complex issue arises, which is the best point of RHEL, along with its affordable subscription model.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) saves time, saves money, and it's very easy for automation purposes; we support third-party tools for automation, so it's very beneficial.
I see a return on investment from using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because patching is very easy; it supports third-party tools such as BMC or BigFix, so it's very time-saving for patching and performing any operation to fetch data from multiple servers.
What needs improvement?
To improve Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), they have to provide a playground for their OS for free or for some time, or they have to provide OpenShift multitenant clusters for improving skills in Red Hat technologies and in RHEL also, which will be very easy for a growing career in technology and providing support in an organization.
They have to make it easier to raise a ticket for Red Hat. Currently, when we raise a ticket, they show multiple options, so they should provide a direct option for raising the support cases.
They should provide patches on a quarterly basis instead of monthly, as patching every month makes it a burden on us.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since my career started in 2020.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is stable. In my last five years of experience, I haven't encountered any stability issues when everything is done properly.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has good scalability, and with the RHEL OpenShift tool, we use the scale up and scale down features.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is very quick and provides support on call. It's easier to get support from RHEL compared to other enterprises such as IBM.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did everything manually before Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but since working with RHEL, we use automation, which saves time and costs.
How was the initial setup?
I am not aware of billing, but for the setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), it's very easy because we directly get a golden image and replicate to make a new machine, so it can be set up in very little time.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I evaluated other options such as CentOS, Rocky Linux, and Ubuntu. However, RHEL is an enterprise OS that provides multiple features and support, with a very systematic structure.
What other advice do I have?
The Ansible tool is very nice, and currently, they have released OpenShift, which is also a very nice product provided by Red Hat.
I would advise others looking into using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that if they don't have budget issues, they should go for RHEL; otherwise, they can consider AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux, which are also open-source products.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a very nice Linux distribution that provides quick support, and in my last five years in the corporate world, I found it to be a very good OS, but they should lower their charges for mid-scale and startup companies in countries such as India, Bhutan, and Nepal, as they can't afford that much amount in dollars.
On a scale from one to ten, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Architect at a tech consulting company with 10,001+ employees
The integration of tools enhances autonomy and operational efficiency
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points with all the integrated tools that it brings to us, including all the Ansible Towers that we exceedingly use."
- "AI features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) would be an improvement because they reduce operational time and help administrators with features such as finding and troubleshooting issues and resolving them automatically."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are for our private cloud, so we deploy it and use RHEL extensively for that. We set up the environment and their applications will run on our environment, and I work in that architecture space where we will set up the environment for our customers to come and deploy their applications.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) helps me solve pain points with all the integrated tools that it brings to us, including all the Ansible Towers that we exceedingly use. My favorite feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is Ansible as a tool to work on RHEL. The combination of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) reduces the operational overheads and helps keep us autonomous, allowing us to move faster with less time.
What needs improvement?
AI features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) would be an improvement because they reduce operational time and help administrators with features such as finding and troubleshooting issues and resolving them automatically.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for about a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is, so far, very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Regarding scalability, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) keeps up with our demands, so I think it is on par, as we've been partnering for a long time.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate the customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as great. From one to ten, I would rate customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as an eight.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Security requirements were definitely a consideration before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). The reason security requirements were considered is that it's just part of our bread and butter as a company, and we would not be able to do anything without security.
How was the initial setup?
Currently, we are not in the middle of any migrations or upgrades regarding Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), so it's running what we have right now, and that's what we're focusing on.
What about the implementation team?
I am not directly involved in managing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems when it comes to provisioning and patching, but I have teammates who do that, and they seem to have a very good experience.
What was our ROI?
From my point of view, the biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the platform itself; I would say it's a good investment that keeps our job running.
What other advice do I have?
My assessment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s built-in security features is that I have had good experiences so far. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped me to mitigate downtime and lower risks, though the specific details are confidential at this time.
The improvements with AI in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are exciting, as I was attending one of the sessions, and RHEL 10 with AI is already coming. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10, I look forward to seeing the AI features they were describing.
I assess the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as pretty good; there is still extensive documentation that I constantly refer to if I get stuck. My advice to any other company that's thinking about choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as their solution is to try it out and find out for yourself. I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) overall as an eight.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Systems engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Seamless integration with Ansible and less overhead than others
Pros and Cons
- "There's less overhead than using Microsoft products in general, as is the case with the Linux operating systems."
- "For me, the biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ease of use and quality of life."
- "I haven't dealt with it much, but I would say Podman and containerization could use a little more work, although I don't know exactly how that would proceed."
- "The UI could use a little bit of work. The graphical interface could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases are related to Ansible, mostly involving software automation, software installation automation, and data collection.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has less overhead compared to other operating systems for my company. The command line interface is much easier to use—there's not as much navigating around screens. The command line interface is much easier to instruct and manage in that sense.
What is most valuable?
There's less overhead than using Microsoft products in general, as is the case with the Linux operating systems. I enjoy the command line interfaces a lot more than the UI. For me, that's a plus, but it's also nice to have the GUI interface on top of that if I need to.
The seamless integration with Ansible is always a plus. I can just get it running. Podman, as well, is valuable. Having it just there and ready to use is such a quality of life increase. I don't have to mess around with dependencies.
What needs improvement?
It's been good and reliable. I haven't dealt with it much, but I would say Podman and containerization could use a little more work, although I don't know exactly how that would proceed.
The UI could use a little bit of work. The graphical interface could be improved. I'm not too big of a fan of it right now, but some of that can be customized. Right out of the box, I'm not the biggest fan of how it looks, but that's personal.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for about two years now. I've been dabbling in it on and off. I started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and went all the way up to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 most recently.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very reliable. It's fairly robust. I haven't had many issues with it.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't had any issues with customer service and technical support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Their customer service has been great.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
It's seamless. When it comes to managing my Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems, I most often do manual patching, and it's not any more challenging than any other system I've dealt with, so it's standard in that sense.
What was our ROI?
For me, the biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is ease of use and quality of life.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Architect at Infosys
Supports long-term industry migrations and improves infrastructure versatility across consulting services
Pros and Cons
- "In my organization, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) provides an agnostic interface for many storage vendors that we deal with, which helps us to have a wider spectrum of offerings in our consultancy offerings."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been one of the key strategic providers offering a good price to implement automation and containerization across all of the network elements we manage with several vendors, and in the latest five years, we have observed a good investment return in terms of ROI."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved by adopting a feature similar to YaST from a big European competitor, which would significantly enhance Red Hat technologies."
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are that it has been part of our core delivery solutions for many industries, mostly for telecom.
What is most valuable?
The features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that I find most valuable include all of the features since system V.
In my organization, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) provides an agnostic interface for many storage vendors that we deal with, which helps us to have a wider spectrum of offerings in our consultancy offerings.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be improved by adopting a feature similar to YaST from a big European competitor, which would significantly enhance Red Hat technologies.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since 2005 when it was in release four, which makes it 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would assess the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as favorable, noting that during the last five years, we've experienced fewer crashes and downtimes compared to other commercial Unix and Linux distributions in the market.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) scales excellently with the growing needs of my organization, and I would rate it ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I evaluate customer service and tech support as excellent; with either the partner portal or customer portal, we receive very good RCAs and analyses for any case we submit to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). On a scale of one to ten, I would rate customer service and technical support as ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to adopting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I was using Commercial Unix, Oracle Solaris. The factor that led me to change was that during the last decades, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has absorbed many features straight from Solaris, enabling us to perform effective migrations from Commercial Unix to RHEL.
How was the initial setup?
At the very beginning, at the earliest versions of Red Hat since version six, there was a kernel that was not compatible with many cluster vendors, and that's why we were adopting another vendor of Linux. However, we've seen that during these past years, Red Hat has been experiencing a lot of enhancements overcoming these kinds of barriers. And now Red Hat has become more versatile in accepting more hardware that allows us to standardize our Red Hat offerings in our consultancy services.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). For data points, in one of the key industries I handle, which is telecom, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been one of the key strategic providers offering a good price to implement automation and containerization across all of the network elements we manage with several vendors, and in the latest five years, we have observed a good investment return in terms of ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing is that I strongly believe Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers a good relationship between value and price, and despite it being quite pricey, it's definitely worth it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before selecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I considered SLES, which is a competitor of Red Hat.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to other organizations considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is to have a good plan and to establish the relationship as a key strategic reference for any upcoming migration. The partnership and customer support provided is a high-value option. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped mitigate downtime and lower risk through high availability solutions and key features that enable network redundancy, allowing us to achieve this.
I would assess the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as excellent because it has become one of the key standards in the industry for following guidelines according to any topic in the RHEL environment.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution an eight.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Engineer & Principal Officer at Pubali Bank Limited
Security improvements help maintain compliance and optimize operations
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted my organization because its improved security helped our team to maintain compliance issues, even though it's a bit complex."
- "The GUI operation needs to be improved, especially for day-to-day desktop operations."
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is for all the tasks, which can be utility services or web services, DNS, NTP, or identity service as well as mail service in my day-to-day work.
What is most valuable?
The best features Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers are that it's a well-managed operating system, and I can use anything regarding the system and other features.
It is good for performance, reliability, and updates.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted my organization because its improved security helped our team to maintain compliance issues, even though it's a bit complex.
What needs improvement?
It's acceptable to work with the current system and current initiation regarding how Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be improved; I don't have significant frustrations.
The GUI operation needs to be improved, especially for day-to-day desktop operations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I'm working about 10 years in my current field.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is stable in my experience.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a highly scalable solution, and it can handle growth and increased demand well.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is exceptional; I have interacted with their support team, and it's awesome.
I rate the customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a 9 out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Oracle Linux before Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but I prefer RHEL now.
What was our ROI?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) saved our money and is good, which indicates we've seen a return on investment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have evaluated Ubuntu before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
I absolutely give others looking into using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) the advice to adopt RHEL for their other production systems. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior IT Consultant at Xerif
Enables smooth enterprise integration but comes with high costs
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is straightforward; I find it very easy to set up."
- "I find the most valuable aspect of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is its stability in working with other enterprise devices, such as firewalls and centralized storage."
- "Personally, I don't see good benefits from their support and paid licensing compared to completely free and well-documented Linux distributions, as I find RHEL excessively expensive."
What is our primary use case?
My use of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is for on-premise vertical solutions, but everything is on-premise. The main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) include enterprise applications, such as databases and enterprise web applications, or security applications like WebSphere.
What is most valuable?
I find the most valuable aspect of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is its stability in working with other enterprise devices, such as firewalls and centralized storage. Enterprise applications and devices communicate well with RHEL, and it provides appropriate drivers for those enterprise devices. However, apart from that, I see almost the same performance with other open-source distributions like Ubuntu or Debian.
When assessing the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I find their documentation online to be excellent. I would rate the experience I have had with the documentation or knowledge base of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as excellent, giving it a ten out of ten. It is very good and useful for other Linux distributions as well.
The most important security feature in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is similar to that of other distributions, such as user creation and minimum privileges during the operating system's operation. In enterprise environments, I don't notice anything special in terms of security compared to others; it interacts very well with enterprise devices like firewalls and storage solutions.
RHEL has its own firewall, which is SE Linux, and I consider that to be a remarkable security feature. I have not tried Red Hat Insights; I don't know how to use that feature of Red Hat. Regarding the Image Builder or System Roles in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I haven't used them; I only use the ISO image directly for installation.
What needs improvement?
The solution has high pricing.
For how long have I used the solution?
My overall usage of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been uninterrupted. In total, it has been three years.
How are customer service and support?
In terms of Red Hat support, I haven't used it, as everything I need to solve is in the documentation, which is very good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used other solutions like Debian or Ubuntu.
I switched to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) based on the direct requirements of the customer, not by my own decision.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is straightforward; I find it very easy to set up.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) indicates that this was the main topic that made me step away from RHEL. Personally, I don't see good benefits from their support and paid licensing compared to completely free and well-documented Linux distributions, as I find RHEL excessively expensive. Normally, the customer asks for a three-year licensing agreement for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as a nine technically, however, considering the cost, I would rate it a six, since it is very expensive. Combining technical and financial aspects, I give it a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: September 2026
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