I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to manage applications and for system administration. The latest version is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10, which has AI with Red Hat Lightspeed inside the operating system, where you can write natural language in the terminal. I am using artificial intelligence inside Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I am working with Ansible, which is an automation tool from Red Hat. I install Ansible inside Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and make many automations.
Red Hat Solution Architect at Seprol Computadores e Sistemas
Insights are helpful to proactively manage incidents and identify vulnerabilities
Pros and Cons
- "SELinux is valuable for security purposes. SELinux is very good because we can give the correct permissions to the employees."
- "Red Hat Insights helps in monitoring Linux servers, providing CVEs that need updating in the operating system, and giving information about server security."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is already good and perfect. They can continue to improve the AI features."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Insights helps in monitoring Linux servers, providing CVEs that need updating in the operating system, and giving information about server security.
In the latest release, there are three important new features: Red Hat Lightspeed with AI integration, image mode capability allowing Red Hat Enterprise Linux to be imaged and transferred to another VM, and Quench-key cryptography for enhanced security. The AI integration through Red Hat Lightspeed is particularly significant as it differentiates it from other operating systems.
What is most valuable?
SELinux is valuable for security purposes. SELinux is very good because we can give the correct permissions to the employees.
Red Hat Lightspeed, added in the latest version, and image mode features are also significant features.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is already good and perfect. They can continue to improve the AI features.
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
911,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have 10 years of experience working with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I worked as an operating system specialist for five years, performing administration tasks such as managing LVMs, users, groups, disks, and performing troubleshooting inside the operating system.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I worked with SUSE and changed to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because I worked at IBM for five years, and IBM bought Red Hat. All systems were integrated into Red Hat solutions.
SUSE is very similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), but I prefer Red Hat solutions because their support is much better. I believe that the support and updates from Red Hat are superior. For example, Red Hat has a feature called Red Hat Insights, which allows me to proactively manage incidents and identify vulnerabilities. SUSE does not offer these features.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment is easy.
What was our ROI?
Red Hat saves time with integration with tools such as Ansible for automation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not involved in the pricing, but it is not very expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Head of IT Operations at NWAXITLHUMANI PROJECTS (PTY) LTD
Good automation capabilities, excellent performance, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
- "The automation is great."
- "It would be nice if they improved vulnerability management."
What is our primary use case?
We are using the solution for automation. Mainly, we're doing a lot of automation with it. One of the projects, for example, is for ensuring payments processes on forms. We streamline and optimize the insurance claims process using OpenShift. This has enabled us to do faster claims processes and make resource utilization more efficient than it was. Everything can be done online. There are no papers involved.
How has it helped my organization?
It is mainly just cutting out redundant tasks. The focus was mainly driven by driving costs down and efficient resource utilization. We wanted a solution that could make deployment easy and ensure scalability.
The biggest benefit has been the automation. It affected our delivery schedule. Instead of doing something in two weeks, we do it faster. We've cut down our production time. And people are able to focus on other tasks since they're automating a lot of things. Even with our clients, when they have issues, we have created a system where they can send out a ticket. And from that ticket, we can diagnose, and it's easier to solve the issue at hand.
In terms of cost per head, we've seen a drastic drawdown from that. It is mainly optimizing a lot of our systems and resources.
What is most valuable?
The high availability is great. It's available most of the time - even when we're doing upgrades, provisioning, configuration, and patching. It made things easier for us.
The automation is great. I'm a big fan of offering convenience to people and making systems easier for people to understand and use.
There are good features, such as proactive monitoring as well. It offers predictive analytics, which helps you identify issues before they impact operations. We can foresee several problems. On top of that, this is how we can combat those problems. These types of features are really valuable when considering a company's strategy and when it comes to the impact of operations.
We are able to move workloads between different clouds or our data center using Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The knowledge base on offer is quite extensive. We started learning from a third-party provider since we've had a lot of use cases. Maybe you are installing something, or maybe during virtualization, you have to do something, and you need more information. The Red Hat OpenShift community is quite huge. Even a resource such as YouTube has people releasing videos on common problems. Even outside of Red Hat itself, the Red Hat community is very good. The information is extensive. The knowledge base is there. There's a lot of information sharing. People do not try to gatekeep information.
When it comes to provisioning and patching, so far, we have not had a lot of issues. We currently are using a subscription model. In terms of getting security patches and updates, they support us quite well. There's a 24-hour support base and they're quite good.
I've tried the Leapp and Red Hat Insights features. It helps with proactive monitoring. It did analyze the system configurations and compares those against databases of known problems and fixes. Basically, there's a pool of data that has common issues and it analyzes how you've configured your system and then compares them. It can come back to you and say, "Hey, this is your problem. Why don't you try the solution?" It's like a good AI tool. It gives us a lot of help. It's quick. Thanks to this feature, we sometimes find that we don't really need to open a ticket for support.
We realized the benefits of using RHEL in months. We were told when we were doing the onboarding, we'd see benefits in six months. For us, it took a little over eight months. That was due to some of our internal processes that we had to do, some sign-offs, et cetera. Still, it took us less than a year. Over time, we are down 20% to 30%.
In the beginning, we didn't start on the cloud. Only now are we fully transitioning to going off-site. There are still some clients who are a little resistant to going to the cloud. It's nice to be hybrid, to accommodate both. We've done a lot of virtualization and server consolidation. So far, everything is running smoothly.
What needs improvement?
When moving workloads between different clouds or data centers, it's not that simple. There are a lot of things that you need to consider, including prerequisites and things like hardware, network, operating systems, et cetera. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier. However, in the beginning, it was very, very challenging. Coming from a development background, I found it easier to use command lines.
I've hit some snags doing updates or changing things for clients.
It would be nice if they improved vulnerability management. They could add more security tools and tools for provisioning.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good. We don't really have any downtime. I'd rate stability nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We've had no issues with scalability. It's quite user-friendly.
How are customer service and support?
During the implementation, we did have to open a support ticket. They assisted us effectively.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've never tried other solutions. I know of other solutions, such as Ubuntu. However, my interactions with that solution have been minimal.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was a little bit complex. The instructions, however, were very clear, and our deployment strategy was clear. Still, for the technicians doing it, it was complex.
The setup took about a week and a half.
I've been involved with two upgrades so far. They were challenging. There were a lot of teams involved. There needed to be a lot of migration planning. We had to use the Link Utility and we did a lot of testing first. We spent a long time verifying the applications and checking dependencies. It was quite a learning curve.
There is some maintenance needed in the form of system updates.
What about the implementation team?
We did get a lot of help from RHEL. We had senior engineers guide us through the setup.
What was our ROI?
We've seen an ROI of around 30%.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When we went through IBM, it was quite expensive. Now, we are going through AWS, which is less pricey.
What other advice do I have?
We started off as a partner to IBM, and IBM opened up the opportunity for us to build certifications for Red Hat through the certification program. Then we became support specialists, taking on RHEL projects. We are in the process of becoming a reseller.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. We're doing a lot of big data infrastructure and they are giving us good stability and performance.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
August 2026
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2026.
911,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Dev Ops Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
RHEL has strengthened security and standardization in a disconnected environment
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to standardize a lot, and the enterprise-level support that we get from Red Hat is really helpful."
- "Sometimes the support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be better."
What is our primary use case?
I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for servers as well as workstations.
Our site has around 3,000 workstations that our developers are building our software on. For servers (~1000), we are using it for self-hosting tools required for software development and testing.
Furthermore, we are also working on implementing a process for using Image Builder to build a Standard Operating Environment image deploy that to virtual machines. Then we use RHEL System Roles and a lot of custom ansible roles to manage the state of the machines.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers enterprise security and really well-written documentation.
The most important security feature in the Red Hat ecosystem is the errata data, combined with Satellite. It tells you exactly which component is vulnerable, which versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are affected, and overall the documentation provided with errata is easily readable for various audiences (for example a summary for management as well as more technical for engineers).
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk by providing kpatch. These are kernel patches, which allow us to apply security patches to a running kernel. We can then plan a full reboot outside of office hours.
The Red Hat Offline Knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is really helpful. In a disconnected environment it allows you to search all documentation and errata up to a given date without having to reach out for the internet to check the details.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes the support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could be better. Since we're in a disconnected environment, it's sometimes really hard to share explicit details about the issue we're running into and we keep getting asked for an SOS report, which we cannot supply due to security concerns.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with RHEL for seven years.
What other advice do I have?
Look at the interactive labs provided by Red Hat, they give a great hands-on experience and show off the benefits would advise others looking into using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to investigate the training that is available.
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.
Last updated: Aug 10, 2026
Flag as inappropriateOffers great support and many features for efficient management
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux has a vast set of features."
- "Overall, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a ten out of ten."
- "To become more competitive, they might consider changing their licensing model, for instance, by offering an instance-based payment for cloud computing services."
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux positively impacts my organization with its various capabilities. We use the orchestration processes with cloud services using Ansible.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has a vast set of features. I can use the setup features and many other features. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a whole world.
What needs improvement?
To become more competitive, they might consider changing their licensing model, for instance, by offering an instance-based payment for cloud computing services. In the future, I expect features regarding changes to the subscription model.
I would prefer Red Hat Enterprise Linux to allow easier cancellation of instances unless they are needed.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 and 7.6, and now, I have Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product has been stable since installation.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. I have not experienced significant issues with scaling it.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support by Red Hat is great. I would rate them a 10 out of 10.
The knowledge base offered by Red Hat is accessible. As you log in with your Red Hat account credentials, you can find the knowledge platform on your dashboard.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is not complex. We just need a Red Hat Enterprise Linux image to install on any operating system and use the console. Since I have worked with Linux for around 10 years, installing it is straightforward for me.
I just need to upgrade the operating system with the latest update, and after that, I log in to my Red Hat account from the CLI to connect to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux service.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. If you are using the service properly, especially in cloud computing, understanding the services you are using and what technology and applications are required can help manage your ROI very efficiently. Excessive services that are not compatible with your applications can impact your ROI negatively.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
When I started using it, Red Hat Enterprise Linux was free for all and open-source. It is now paid with access to many features to upgrade and use their services.
Due to multiple organizations and corporate systems in Pakistan relying on it, it continued to be used, especially in corporate and banking systems even after becoming a paid service.
The pricing is not always reasonable, but it also depends on your requirements.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a ten 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.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
Enables compliance with regulatory requirements by providing customized images that meet various security standards
Pros and Cons
- "The Red Hat Enterprise Linux knowledge base is a valuable resource."
- "Customer service by Red Hat is very good."
- "In terms of improvement, Red Hat could consider offering cheaper licensing."
- "The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to host applications with our virtual machines.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers an excellent and comprehensive knowledge base for Linux. It is among the most thorough available.
Our Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment utilizes a patch management system for updates. However, provisioning remains a manual process, with virtual machines being installed individually. We currently don't use automated provisioning solutions like Ansible, Vagrant, or Terraform.
Red Hat Insights is helpful for deep dives into OS-level issues and remediation, as it links directly to the Red Hat knowledge base.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux enables compliance with regulatory requirements by providing customized images that meet various security standards. This streamlines our process as every virtual machine image is deployed with hardening by default, reducing the need for manual application per virtual machine.
What is most valuable?
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux knowledge base is a valuable resource.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvement, Red Hat could consider offering cheaper licensing. The licensing model is good, but we would all appreciate a lower price.
To ensure compliance and security on our Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, we had to install additional software, such as endpoint detection and response or antivirus solutions. The built-in security features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux were insufficient for our needs, necessitating the implementation of supplementary security measures.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has not affected our systems negatively regarding stability, experiencing no issues so far.
How are customer service and support?
Customer service by Red Hat is very good. I haven't noticed any shortcomings in response time or overall competence.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
What about the implementation team?
The upgrade from version seven to eight was done with Red Hat's assistance, as we manage hundreds of virtual machines.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing model of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is good, but lower prices are always preferable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated several alternatives, including CentOS and Rocky Linux, but the support question kept coming up with community distributions. We chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux for its enterprise support, which is crucial for maintaining production systems.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a nine out of ten.
I would recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux to others, especially in the enterprise space. However, for startups or companies that do things themselves, alternatives like Ubuntu or CentOS Stream might be more suitable.
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.
Linux Administrator at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Daily use enables in-depth system troubleshooting with helpful customer support
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux is most valued for its reliability, as evidenced by my daily use."
- "Providing more detailed explanations would make it easier to work on projects."
What is our primary use case?
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux as our server operating system to install and configure various applications. Its uses include system troubleshooting, DNS configuration, and many other tasks, especially in a mixed environment with Ubuntu.
How has it helped my organization?
Patching Red Hat Enterprise Linux in our environment is a straightforward process that utilizes Red Hat Satellite. We identify necessary patches for production servers in the content view and notify customers two days in advance via email. Before patching, we verify the Nagios servers for identification purposes. We then execute a pre-configured Ansible playbook to efficiently patch our 300 servers. This playbook was already established, and our only interaction with it is to run it.
The web console is handy, especially for tasks like command line operations. Its secure environment allows for the safe execution of queries.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is most valued for its reliability, as evidenced by my daily use.
What needs improvement?
The documentation needs improvement. Providing more detailed explanations would make it easier to work on projects.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for my entire career, which spans over eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable. There has been no significant issue regarding lagging or downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat is highly scalable and essential in the industry. I would rate scalability nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support from Red Hat is good. They are always there to help when needed.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Ubuntu, and Kali Linux alongside Red Hat.
How was the initial setup?
I have been involved with migrations to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which are not complex. For example, migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 or 8 is easy, requiring only the installation of necessary dependencies and the creation of a file to sync files to the new system.
What about the implementation team?
I typically work as part of a team rather than implementing integrations on my own.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is quite expensive, particularly its technical support, which can cost $500 per hour.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.
Realizing the benefits of Red Hat Enterprise Linux took time, as post-deployment troubleshooting was often necessary. This included tasks like opening ports and verifying functionality, which were sometimes prerequisites for the system to operate. These requirements varied depending on the specific application used and its security needs.
We perform maintenance on Red Hat Enterprise Linux every weekend, including backups. Incremental backups are done daily, while full backups are completed every weekend.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public 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.
Manager Infrastructure Engineer at Cox Automotive Inc.
A reliable and well-supported OS that saves a lot of cost for our company
Pros and Cons
- "It integrates with our automation base. We have Red Hat Satellite and Red Hat Ansible. All the engineers who are a part of our infrastructure or operation on the Unix side are Red Hat Enterprise Linux certified, so it is a lot easier for us to manage and integrate with the tools that we have. It makes much more sense from the middleware perspective and management too."
- "The bootup time for Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on physical hardware in the data center can be improved. We have seen cloud-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and it is instantaneous. You wait for a few seconds, and the operating system is up and running. It is a lot faster, whereas it takes a very long time when running Red Hat Enterprise Linux on physical hardware."
What is our primary use case?
A lot of our Red Hat operating systems run middle-tier applications. We are mostly a JBoss shop, so they are homegrown applications. They are Java-based. We have several types of applications. We have identity, security, Oracle database, etc.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps with standardization. A lot of middle-tier applications hosted in the data center or in the cloud are unified in one standard operating system, which is Red Hat Enterprise Linux. On the data center side, we only have Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We have one unified operating system.
For our containerization projects, we are looking into OpenShift. Our Ansible Automation Platform executioner uses container-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We use Podman. We have moved to the Red Hat Podman container. It is a lot easier. We can scale up easily and manage it. It reduces the security risk. We do not have to worry about patching. We can just image a new container that is up to date. That is great.
We had a situation where we had to create an image for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, and there were built-in playbooks for hardening the system. We were able to run that and create the image. It made the work much easier than it used to be in the past.
Red Hat Insights provides vulnerability alerts and targeted guidance. It has that capability. It has a lot of features built in that not only help with security but also with misconfigurations. If a system is misconfigured, it detects that. It gives you the solution for the problem it captured. It is a great tool, but we have been focusing on the security perspective. We have not been focusing on operating system configurations. I have not yet looked at the new version, but in my opinion, it would be better if Red Hat puts a lot of focus on Insights and take it to the next level where the company could use it for its OS compliance.
What is most valuable?
We have all types of different versions running in our environment except the obsolete ones. We are moving towards versions 8 and 9. We have had version 7, and it has been very stable until now. It is ending this year around June 30, so we are in the process of moving to version 8, and we have just released an image for version 9. So far, version 8 has also been very stable.
It is a Linux-based operating system. It integrates with our automation base. We have Red Hat Satellite and Red Hat Ansible. All the engineers who are a part of our infrastructure or operation on the Unix side are Red Hat Enterprise Linux certified, so it is a lot easier for us to manage and integrate with the tools that we have. It makes much more sense from the middleware perspective and management too.
What needs improvement?
The bootup time for Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on physical hardware in the data center can be improved. We have seen cloud-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and it is instantaneous. You wait for a few seconds, and the operating system is up and running. It is a lot faster, whereas it takes a very long time when running Red Hat Enterprise Linux on physical hardware.
We used Red Hat Insights, but we are more focused on compliance, patching of operating systems, and things like that. In the past, when we looked at Red Hat Insights, it was its own platform, and then it migrated to Satellite. Companies are struggling to be compliant from the security side. Everyone is focused on how to patch the systems, what the environment looks like, whether they are under 90-day CVE, how their environment is compliant, and where they can see it as a dashboard. I wish Red Hat Insights was focused on that. From the Red Hat perspective, I am not seeing any sessions. I do not see anyone talking about that, which is a huge deal for us. I would like Red Hat Insights to go to the next level where it is focused on patching and compliance.
I do not have any other areas of improvement. It has been stable for us. There is a lot we do in terms of automation and integration. I know Red Hat 8 now has Podman for containers. Cockpit has a UI, so that is good now. That helps with certain things.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for close to 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have not run into something that caused a huge problem to our environment. If something is happening, such as it is running an Oracle database and that system has kernel panic or something like that, it is usually the database or application software running on the operating system. It is not the operating system itself.
We have not run into any major infrastructure incident costing us because of the operating system. They have it integrated with all other products such as OpenShift, OpenStack, etc.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have three data centers at different geographical locations. Two are in the state of Georgia and one is in Las Vegas. In all three data centers that we manage, the compute-based are all Red Hat-based.
How are customer service and support?
We have a Red Hat TAM, and that helps a lot in terms of the problems and things that we run into. He is the interface with Red Hat. He escalates our service tickets and things like that. That is a huge help from our perspective.
The support that we get directly from putting tickets in has always been great. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is probably the best and most stable product that Red Hat has especially in regards to getting support and getting things fixed. They are on top of that. It has been a great experience. I would rate them a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to run Sun Solaris. We were a Sun Solaris shop in the beginning. This was 15 or 20 years ago. We moved because of the Intel-based hardware, licensing, and cost reduction. Moving away from Sun SPARC hardware to Red Hat was a lot of saving. It saved a lot for the company. We can now run Linux-based systems on Intel commodity hardware using Dell.
Its usage is growing. Our team is working with other business units within the enterprise to get them onboarded to the Red Hat-based operating system. We have multiple entities that are running CentOS and Ubuntu. We have to have a standard operating system, and that is Red Hat. Our portfolio is increasing. We are growing and migrating a lot of nonstandard ones to Red Hat.
We have an enterprise technology group that utilizes Oracle Linux. We have worked with OEM. Our team is managing that too.
How was the initial setup?
We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux on-prem. We also have a cloud environment, but other teams are using it on the cloud. The cloud provider is AWS. The database team also uses Red Hat Enterprise Linux in AWS.
We use Red Hat Satellite and Ansible for Red Hat Enterprise Linux deployment across all three data centers.
My first deployment experience was almost 30 years ago. I started with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 or something like that back in 1993 or 1994. There has been a tremendous change in the way you install it and utilize it now. It is night and day. It has come a long way.
What about the implementation team?
We implement it on our own.
What was our ROI?
Our costs are reduced. We can allocate that OpEx and focus on some other project. We do not have to struggle and say that this is how much we are going to pay licensing just on the operating system cost. We now have a model that works for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are a huge VMware shop. Our licensing cost works well with Red Hat. We license based on the data center. The way our license works is that we can run as many Red Hat VMs as we want and pay for a single license. On the VMware side, we gain a lot, and it makes much more sense.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other operating systems and compared them with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We just went from Solaris to Red Hat.
What other advice do I have?
We are an agile environment. We practice agile methodology. Anything we manage and deploy has to go through a sprint phase. We do not have a fully containerized environment. In the future, once we adopt OpenShift, it is going to increase our productivity because of how we manage things through agile. It is going to help us a lot.
To a colleague who is looking at open-source, cloud-based operating systems for Linux instead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, I would say that it all comes down to the company and how a company foresees security. Anything we support and manage has to have a support base. If something gets impacted from the security side, we know that we have Red Hat support, and it is reliable. We can get the patch we want. If you install an application that needs a bug fix, you can reach out to Red Hat and open a ticket. If you want to have a stable environment, then I would highly recommend getting the support and running Red Hat.
Overall, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Update strategy provides confidence and security with seamless deployment experiences
Pros and Cons
- "What sets RHEL apart is Red Hat's proactive approach to handling vulnerabilities - they not only identify security issues but also provide clear solutions and upgrade paths."
- "The only significant concern isn't about the product itself but rather its pricing structure."
What is our primary use case?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) serves multiple purposes in our enterprise environment. It's used for running containerized workloads, third-party software, and tons of automation. RHEL predominately runs critical production systems because its versatility makes it suitable for various enterprise workloads.
What is most valuable?
One feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) that is most valuable is its sophisticated update strategy. The system allows for staged updates rather than requiring all changes to be implemented simultaneously. This approach is crucial for maintaining system stability, ensuring that packages remain compatible during upgrades, and preventing software failures during operating system updates.
The security benefits RHEL provides are particularly significant to most customers. There's a reassuring confidence that comes with Red Hat's support and commitment to system security. What sets RHEL apart is Red Hat's proactive approach to handling vulnerabilities - they not only identify security issues but also provide clear solutions and upgrade paths. This level of support and accountability is unique compared to other operating systems, where such comprehensive security guidance isn't always available. Additionally, RHEL's robust security architecture results in fewer vulnerabilities overall, making it a more reliable choice.
What needs improvement?
From a technical standpoint, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) performs exceptionally well - it's reliable, straightforward, and functions as intended. The only significant concern isn't about the product itself but rather its pricing structure. Red Hat's recent changes to their pricing model have prompted some customers to question the cost and explore potential alternatives. While I can't speak to the business aspects, the feedback I've received consistently indicates that cost is the only notable concern. The product itself meets or exceeds expectations; it's purely the financial aspect that has raised discussion among users.
For how long have I used the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the industry standard operating system for businesses. Based on my experience across multiple companies, RHEL is widely adopted because of its long-standing reputation for stability, security, and reliability. Most choose RHEL specifically for those three reasons.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What can I say? Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) just works. The system consistently performs as expected, and on the rare occasions when issues arise, Red Hat's response is swift and effective in both identifying and resolving problems. This reliability stands in stark contrast to other operating systems like Windows, which has experienced high-profile failures - such as airport system outages - due to problematic updates. RHEL's track record of stable performance and minimal disruption makes it a trustworthy platform for critical operations.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s scalability is effectively enhanced by the cloud infrastructure running it rather than RHEL itself, but the operating system works seamlessly in the cloud. When additional capacity is needed, new RHEL instances can be automatically provisioned to meet demand. The combination of RHEL's reliability and regular updates, along with cloud platform flexibility, ensures customers can confidently scale their operations as needed.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate the customer service and technical support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as great. I am a former Red Hatter, so I might be a little skewed. But when I talk with customers, they love it. That is never a concern.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Security requirements were a primary consideration when choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the cloud. We have Amazon Linux as. Red Hat is often the requirement, so we have to follow this path.
For many customers, security requirements drive them to choose Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). For example, while Amazon Linux on AWS is an available option, security policies and third-party software often specifically require RHEL. This compliance requirement effectively determines the path, making RHEL the mandatory choice in some situations.
How was the initial setup?
My management of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) systems is streamlined through AWS Systems Manager, particularly for provisioning and patching operations. The cloud environment simplifies this process significantly, as I have access to pre-configured Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) and built-in management tools. The system's orchestration and automation capabilities handle most of the work automatically, reducing the manual intervention to mainly scheduling tasks. This cloud-based approach has greatly simplified what was traditionally a complex system administration process, making RHEL management more efficient and less labor-intensive.
What was our ROI?
The primary return on investment (ROI) from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) comes from two key areas: robust security and reliable support. The platform's strong security features protect daily operations, while Red Hat's consistent and dependable support ensures expert assistance is available whenever needed. This combination of security and readily available support creates significant value for the investment, providing peace of mind and operational stability.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been largely positive, though there was a significant shift in their pricing structure last year. That change caused considerable discussion among customers. While I'm not familiar with all the specific details, this pricing change became a major talking point, particularly because it resulted in increased costs for many users. What's noteworthy is that customers' concerns were solely focused on the new pricing structure - never about the product's quality or performance. This pricing change led some customers to reevaluate their commitment to RHEL, purely for financial reasons rather than any technical considerations.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We only consider other solutions before or while using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) if it is a requirement, for example, if they have to have Windows, then nothing we can do. If that is the requirement, but other than that, I think it is pretty much the default in most cases. There are other players, Amazon Linux, of course. It just depends on what the use case is and what the requirements are. That dictates which way to go. In most cases, we go with Red Hat because that is what is required.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the default operating system in many cases, but alternates are considered when requirements allow. For instance, if a system explicitly requires Windows, we have no choice but to use that instead. While other options exist, our operating system selection is primarily driven by specific use cases and requirements. Most frequently, customers implement RHEL because it's either mandated by their requirements or is the most suitable choice for their needs. Their decision-making process is straightforward: RHEL is the go-to solution unless project specifications or technical requirements specifically demand an alternative.
What other advice do I have?
Regarding system updates, our approach has evolved away from traditional upgrades. Instead of updating existing instances, we follow a more modern deployment strategy: we create new instances with the desired specifications and simply decommission the old ones. This approach aligns with container methodology and works well with our automated infrastructure. The process is efficient and straightforward, eliminating the complexity of in-place upgrades.
As for rating Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I would give it nearly a perfect 10. Its reliability is exceptional - once deployed, it runs consistently and dependably. RHEL has established itself as a trustworthy platform, similar to IBM's reputation in the mainframe world. Users can count on both the product's performance and Red Hat's ongoing support.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partnership
DevOps at a government with 201-500 employees
The system's stability has eliminated any noticeable security issues
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a stable and supported platform with valuable built-in security features that help reduce risk and maintain compliance."
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to achieve security standards certification, which has allowed us to maintain business operations without interruption."
- "While their documentation is helpful, it can be frustrating to be referred to it instead of receiving direct assistance from a support representative."
- "The cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a bit high. Red Hat Enterprise Linux's support could be improved by offering human support in addition to their documentation."
What is our primary use case?
We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux primarily for our entire group because most of our applications are based on Linux.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has robust built-in security features.
It has an extensive knowledge base.
We used to patch our systems manually, and now we use Red Hat Satellite to manage the patching of our systems.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a good way to manage our OS.
It has enhanced both our uptime and security. The system's stability has eliminated any noticeable security issues.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to achieve security standards certification, which has allowed us to maintain business operations without interruption.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a stable and supported platform with valuable built-in security features that help reduce risk and maintain compliance.
What needs improvement?
The cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a bit high.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's support could be improved by offering human support in addition to their documentation. While their documentation is helpful, it can be frustrating to be referred to it instead of receiving direct assistance from a support representative.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is stable overall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Red Hat's support is generally good, but their response time and overall competence could be improved. Occasionally, we are referred to their documents when requesting assistance, which can be frustrating.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has a yearly subscription cost for the licensing that includes maintenance and support.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Microsoft Windows Server, Ubuntu Server, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux before ultimately choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.
I recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux for its support and stability.
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 Manager, Credit Settlement Risk at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Centralized development with long support and compliance commitment
Pros and Cons
- "Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a strong foundation for compliance and offers extended support, which is particularly valuable for critical upgrades and assistance."
- "To enhance Red Hat Enterprise Linux, I would like to see more focus on improving performance and tools such as compilers."
What is our primary use case?
Our banking applications, primarily those focused on transactional data services, operate on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
We run our workloads on Red Hat Enterprise Linux due to its compliance and long support cycle.
How has it helped my organization?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to centralize development by providing a standardized image that we customize for developer laptops, developer environments, virtual machines, and production machines.
Our containerization projects run on OpenShift, a virtualized platform based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, where we deploy and manage our workloads and applications.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a high-performing operating system that effectively supports our business-critical operations, including high-latency, high-throughput applications essential for transaction services.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux has robust built-in security features that effectively reduce risk in our environment.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux significantly contributes to our business continuity and compliance efforts by inherently supporting various compliance standards, including PCI and others. This built-in compliance functionality is a major advantage, as it simplifies the process of meeting regulatory requirements and provides robust evidence for audits. Ultimately, Red Hat Enterprise Linux streamlines our compliance procedures and strengthens our overall security posture.
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux portfolio helps reduce our TCO.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a strong foundation for compliance and offers extended support, which is particularly valuable for critical upgrades and assistance.
What needs improvement?
To enhance Red Hat Enterprise Linux, I would like to see more focus on improving performance and tools such as compilers.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for almost ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers high performance for our business-critical operations, especially for high-latency throughput applications that are critical for transaction services.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is flexible, and we always get support from the team if something is not working.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support and technical service from Red Hat is good. When we needed support, such as for Java 21, we received early access. However, it's rarely the case that we need support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What was our ROI?
The most significant return on investment is the long-term support, as we don't need to worry about support over an extended period. It ensures the continuation of service.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is not cheap, but it is worth it, especially considering the compliance and support it provides.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.
If you're considering a third-party Linux OS, try Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It offers a free subscription for developers, and if it suits your needs, you can easily transition to the production-ready Red Hat Enterprise Linux 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.
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Updated: August 2026
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