Program Analyst at a government with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Platform used for four years for disaster assistance that has increased the speed of systems and offered consistent stability
Pros and Cons
  • "It has improved our organization's management and efficiency."
  • "The cost of this solution could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for disaster assistance. 

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has increased the speed of our technology. It is easy to troubleshoot using RHEL. RHEL's built-in security features and security profiles for helping to reduce risk and maintain compliance are good. It has also improved our organization's management and efficiency.

What needs improvement?

The cost of this solution could be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for four years. 

Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution and we have not had any major issues when using it. 

How are customer service and support?

The customer support team are very responsive and always provide the help we need. I would rate the support a nine 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 use JBoss at my previous company.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
System admin at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable and cost-effective solution that is easy to use and manage and operates with very little down time
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is how easy it is to use."
  • "When there is downtime from a system admin perspective, this solution could improve how they communicate why this down time is happening."

What is our primary use case?

For applications, we are the OS support. We build servers and deliver applications.

How has it helped my organization?

RHELs overall effect on our organization's management and efficiency has been good. It's easy to support and involves no downtime. It is simple to handle, apply patches and maintain.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is how easy it is to use.

What needs improvement?

When there is down time from a system admin perspective, this solution could improve how they communicate why this down time is happening. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for seven years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. Our machines reside on vSphere and when a server goes down, we have to find out the root cause. This requires pulling information from the vSphere. 

How are customer service and support?

I would rate the support for this solution an eight out of ten. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Solaris. We moved to Red Hat because it is easier to manage and more cost-effective. It is also easier to manage patches and security using Red Hat. 

How was the initial setup?

I was only involved in testing this solution during the deployment process. During testing, it was easy to make changes to configurations which also support our decision to use Red Hat. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is a cost-effective solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. It is easy to use, manage and handle with very little downtime. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Principle consultant at Active Data Consulting Services Pty Ltd
Real User
Absolutely rock solid performance, security, stability and reliability.

What is most valuable?

Absolutely rock solid performance, security, stability and reliability, essential features for a business that needs to mission critical applications in a 24 x 7 environment.

Plethora of useful tools and services that just make getting the job done a lot less time consuming.

How has it helped my organization?

RedHat Enterprise Linux has been running mission critical systems in my organization now for nearly 8 years, in a 24 x 7 environment.

During this time we have never, ever had any of our servers fail to function as needed.

Red Hat Linux has given us five nines (99.999%) uptime for years.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Linux in various forms for 10+ years

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Mainly just the usual issues one will encounter whilst learning the platform, working out the best way to deploy and configure the servers, other than that though, the actual deployments were very straight-forward.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

None, our RHEL servers have been rock solid.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, we have RHEL servers of varying capacities and workloads, so far it's taken everything we can throw at it.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

The technical support subscription is absolutely worth while if you need to use RHEL in production, knowing you can get support if you need it is comforting.

Technical Support:

I've lodged a few support tickets over the years and always had prompt, informative responses, I would rate their support as being excellent.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using an earlier version of HP UX running on PA-RISC architecture, however we became concerned about the cost of remaining on the PA-RISC HP UX platform and possible future issues at virtualization.

How was the initial setup?

When setting up any Linux environment, make sure you understand how the LVM works. Other than that it was all fairly straight-forward.

What about the implementation team?

It was implemented in-house.

What was our ROI?

The uptime and reliability are the main ROI's, the product is also very competitively priced RE: Licensing, so many thousands of dollars in licensing costs alone.

The ROI on 10 years of rock solid reliability is almost impossible to calculate.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In Australia, you need to go through a channel partner, shop around and find a good partner that understands the licensing model well.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated HP UX 11.23, which we had been using before hand. However HP (at the time) had not delivered an x86 port of HP UX at the time when we were going to virtualization, so we needed an alternative to HP UX as we could not move into onto VMWare.

RHEL ticked all the boxes and was support by our technology provider.

What other advice do I have?

Well worth a look if you want supported enterprise Linux.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Assistant Manager at Cosmopolitan Communications Limited
Real User
Top 20
Provides us with good security
Pros and Cons
  • "The security features are better than many other solutions offer."
  • "Could include additional security fefatures."

What is our primary use case?

We are internet service providers in Bangladesh and resellers of this product to our customers to manage their network infrastructure. 

What is most valuable?

I think this solution is more secure than others because it's not open source. Red Hat will ensure the details when you purchase the package. Having a certification will offer value. 

We've found that there is a huge demand for it. 

What needs improvement?

Although the security features are good, I'd like to see more added in the security sphere.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for just three months and still not completely familiar with it. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

How are customer service and support?

The documentation is sufficient for my needs. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy, it takes around 10-15 minutes. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Useful Red Hat Satellite deployments, integrates well, and very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "We find the Red Hat Satellite deployments very useful. It integrates well with other solutions."
  • "It could be a bit more user-friendly. It could also be cheaper."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for application services.

What is most valuable?

We find the Red Hat Satellite deployments very useful. It integrates well with other solutions.

What needs improvement?

It could be a bit more user-friendly. It could also be cheaper.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. It is more stable than Windows Server.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. The number of users would be in thousands. They include IT teams and end-users who obviously don't even know that they're using it.

How are customer service and technical support?

I don't call them directly, but their technical support is good. 

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward. Our deployments are automated. To deploy a build internally, it only takes half an hour, but that's usually in automation. It would probably take a couple of months to put the infrastructure in place to be able to deploy it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have a site license on a yearly basis. Generally, we're okay with its price, but everything could be cheaper.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. I would advise others to do their research before deploying it and make sure that they are up to speed with the OS and what it can do. It is fairly easy to use as long as you know what you're doing.

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Tech Advisor at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 20
Helps to create clusters but needs to incorporate a feature similiar to GNOME system monitor
Pros and Cons
  • "We use RHEL in our infrastructure, which consists of VM and Linux. We use it to create clusters."
  • "I would like to see the GNOME system monitor feature, which shows CPU usage and other aspects. It will help to save time."

What is our primary use case?

We use Red Hate Enterprise Linux in our infrastructure, which consists of VM and Linux. We use it to create clusters. 

What needs improvement?

I would like to see the GNOME system monitor feature, which shows CPU usage and other aspects. It will help to save time. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Red Hate Enterprise Linux for eight years. 

How are customer service and support?

We have a separate team that handles any issues. We inform them whenever we encounter issues. 

What other advice do I have?

I would like to see user training sessions that last about one to two hours on new features and releases. 

We have a separate team that creates dashboards for us. I rate the product a seven out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Associate Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A Linux distribution solution with good customer support
Pros and Cons
  • "Customer support is valuable."
  • "Their pricing and documentation can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We deploy front-end and back-end software applications on RHEL, and it's our app server. Most of our app servers and our production servers are on RHEL. They're running on RHEL, and that's why they are profiting from it. I2C is the issuer in the processing payment industry. Basically, we do the issuer processing for credit cards, and all the bank magic that happens when you swipe a credit card is handled by us. We're also using RHEL servers for processing debit card payments.

What is most valuable?

Customer support is valuable. Because most of the Linux distros are open source, most of them don't have customer support. RHEL isn't open source, and that's why I prefer it more than other distros.

What needs improvement?

Their pricing and documentation can be improved. They need to have developer variance that's more developer-friendly and less costly. They have a free developer version, but that's very limited in terms of features from RHEL. They also need to build their own open source community.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using RHEL for about four months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

RHEL is very stable. Unlike Kali-Linux or Solaris, RHEL solutions are very stable. We have licensed projects, and they must be stable to provide all customers with instructions. They're stable, compared to other Linux options too.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's very scalable. When you're using the right machine and the right settings or right parameters, it's highly scalable

How are customer service and support?

Technical support from their customer service team is very good. They give responses unlike other Linux distros, and I think RHEL has better customer support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

My current company was using Solaris before. I was using Core Linux for three to four years. From Ubuntu, I shifted to RHEL and Solaris because I changed companies and jobs. We are using RHEL and Solaris in my current job, and I had to shift to these operating systems.

I have used the Ubuntu Linux base, I have used Kali-Linux and Debian. Of all those Linux systems, I think RHEL is much better, but I find Ubuntu much easier to use than RHEL.

Ubuntu is Debian-based, and Red Hat is, I think VM based. Another difference is open source systems have less support. Still, the community of Ubuntu is very strong and answers your query very promptly. But Red Hat is a certified, licensed product, and customer support from them is very good.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

RHEL is expensive. The servers or cloud images are quite expensive. But I guess the client groups they target can afford that kind of a license. If you're a small business owner or a student and want to shift to RHEL, you must spend a lot of dollars. The developer version of RHEL has minimal functionality, but it's given away for free.

What other advice do I have?

I would tell potential customers that they should go for the latest releases. If they want to buy it, they should get a developer account from RHEL first and use that dev account before buying it. They might have some hands-on experience before spending too much money on Red Hat.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) an eight.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A stable and easy-to-use product that is much simpler than other tools
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is easy to use."
  • "The solution should provide demos so that users can learn to use it and improve their environments."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product to use the virtual servers.

What is most valuable?

Compared to Windows, the solution is much simpler. The product is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

The solution should provide demos so that users can learn to use it and improve their environments.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for three to four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have no complaints about the stability. It is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have no complaints about the scalability.

What other advice do I have?

We use the on-premises solution because we work for the government. We cannot use the cloud version because we have to maintain confidentiality. We are using versions six, seven, and eight. We also use Windows in our organization. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.