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DavidPerez5 - PeerSpot reviewer
Application Support Analyst at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Jun 3, 2024
Along with easy patching upgrades it can be deployed quickly
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of the solution is that the upgrade in the patching area is really easy."
  • "Everything in my company is based on whatever AWS provides, specifically when Linux is on AWS, and I guess it negatively affected my company."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution to manage Atlassian applications. In our company, we initially deployed Atlassian applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). For most of the products my company uses, we create Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)-based servers because we have Red Hat Satellite, so we just bring them up and make them supportive for us.

How has it helped my organization?

The most valuable benefit of the product for my organization revolves around standardization, which is why we have all the same types of machines and operating systems. It makes it very easy and familiar across the board. The tool is also very reliable.

My company does have a hybrid cloud environment. Running Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as the foundation for the hybrid cloud deployment strangely impacted our operations. I think that when my company moved off from the tool's on-premises version for certain applications, we had to leave Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Everything in my company is based on whatever AWS provides, specifically when Linux is on AWS, and I guess it negatively affected my company.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped my company centralize developments because we know what we are going to use in the product, and so we don't have to make any decisions. Owing to the aforementioned area, I would say it offers a good standard.

In terms of the tool's built-in security features when it comes to risk reduction, business continuity, and maintaining compliance, I would say it is very easy to patch, which helps our company to keep it up to date and avoid all downfalls.

Speaking about the portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to keep our organization agile, I would say that we don't tend to move that much with applications. The tool has helped to weave a path for an upgrade while creating a new application server, after which one can transfer it over. Considering the aforementioned details, the tool is portable. In short, whenever I try to use the product's portability feature, it does work.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of the solution is that the upgrade in the patching area is really easy.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for ten years.

Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution since it is easy to make changes in the tool.

If the product is deployed on an on-premises model, it will be deployed on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) system.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't had a reason to use the support services of the product for a long time. I rate the technical support 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?

In the past, my company used CentOS for a while. There were some other products which were also used in my company. My company started to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as it provided standardization, and we required something nice and uniform in nature.

How was the initial setup?

The product was already up and running when I joined the organization.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. If my company opts to have the product deployed on cloud, then we would opt for the cloud services offered by AWS.

What about the implementation team?

I am sure my company did not seek help from many integrators, resellers, or consultants to deploy the product.

What was our ROI?

The biggest ROI I experienced using the product stemmed from the fact that it was really fast to deploy right from the beginning when we were building our company's new systems. The product works fine.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)to a colleague who is looking at open-source cloud-based operating systems for Linux since it offers Red Hat Satellite, so everything is just so encapsulated and there in the tool.

I can't speak of whether the Red Hat portfolio has affected our total cost of ownership across our enterprise landscape since I don't know the cost.

I rate the tool 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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2399145 - PeerSpot reviewer
Ansible Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
May 28, 2024
An enterprise solution for standardization, compliance, and great support
Pros and Cons
  • "The enterprise aspect of it is valuable. There is security patching, security scanning, and compliance. There are all kinds of features around managing and keeping it up-to-date and secure. Everything is in a box for us from Red Hat which makes it very easy to manage them."
  • "It is constantly improving. It is important to continue to improve."

What is our primary use case?

When we are looking for Linux servers or developers need Linux, we have standardized around Red Hat Enterprise Linux. We do not use Ubuntu or any random flavors of the day. If it is a Linux deployment, it is Red Hat.

How has it helped my organization?

It helps with standardization. If someone comes to us and requests a Linux server, we have one product offering. We have a couple of different flavors of it, but people know what they are getting from us. The consistency, reproducibility, and standardization of it have been fantastic.

We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux on-prem and on the cloud. We have it in Azure, VMware, and on-prem. We have it on bare metal. It is all over the place. Our operations are simpler, more efficient, and easier to handle. Our Linux team now supports one OS rather than a whole bunch of flavors that everyone has brought in. It has just made things more efficient and simplified.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enabled us to centralize development. Those developers are now developing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Previously, we had people who were developing on Ubuntu and trying to push Ubuntu to production, but we did not necessarily support it. Red Hat Enterprise Linux gave us a clear path to production. Our developers also get an easier experience. They know which OS to use and what they are using from day to day. There is less confusion for developers.

We are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for containerization projects. It has helped with simplification. We do not have to create too many of our own custom container definitions and do our own thing. We use minimal images and whatever is provided is supported under our subscription. It simplifies things and puts guidelines around things.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features are good when it comes to risk reduction, business continuity, and maintaining compliance. We use Red Hat Satellite to manage our Linux. That makes it all very simple. There is a feature called OpenSCAP. We use it for security scanning. All the features that they provide on top of the base OS make it very easy to manage.

The portability of applications and containers built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux is great for keeping our organization agile. We know we can rely on that middle layer. We can start with the container and then build on top of that. Having a solid and standard foundation makes it all easy to do.

What is most valuable?

The enterprise aspect of it is valuable. There is security patching, security scanning, and compliance. There are all kinds of features around managing and keeping it up-to-date and secure. Everything is in a box for us from Red Hat which makes it very easy to manage them.

What needs improvement?

It is constantly improving. It is important to continue to improve. That is another reason I like it. They are using newer kernels, which gives us access to newer hardware. They are already doing that. I cannot pretend to tell them what to do better. They can just keep on doing what they are doing.

For how long have I used the solution?

Personally, I have been using it for about 12 years. I have only been with my company for about four months, but I know they also have been using it for years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. They define scalability. I am a basic user. I just deploy more VMs if I need to. It is easy to do. Its scalability is great.

How are customer service and support?

They are great. I would rate them a ten out of ten. A big selling point is that when you submit a support ticket, you know you are reaching out to experts. That is great, and that is one of the primary reasons we went with Red Hat.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

In my company, they were using AWX for automation, and we moved them to AAP. For Linux, I was a part of a project to migrate some of the other operating systems over to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I am on the tail end of the move or standardization to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

There were a lot of Ubuntu operating systems in the environment, but they had challenges standardizing around it. There were different versions. There was also CentOS, but it was old CentOS. They are naturally moving that to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The support and the standardization around it were the main reasons for going for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. CentOS is more of a community thing now, whereas we can call Red Hat and they help us with everything. The support and the enterprise features we needed pointed at Red Hat Enterprise Linux rather than CentOS. It is a better choice for production.

How was the initial setup?

We deploy them from AAP and then we deploy them into VMware. We deploy them into Azure, which is our main provider. We do that all orchestrated through Ansible and Satellite.

What about the implementation team?

We have outsourced support. TCS is a general contractor, but for Red Hat deployments, we generally go with Red Hat Consulting. We just finished a consulting engagement with them for that. I know they have used them in the past prior to me being here. We generally just use Red Hat Consulting.

What was our ROI?

We have standardization. I know what I am walking into every day. I know there is support behind it. There is the support of Red Hat and the community behind it. I feel confident using Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I might use other Linux operating systems at home, but a lot of the time, there is no documentation for them. There might be three guys in a forum from ten years ago who may have talked about my problem. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux, when I am going to work, I know what I am walking into. I can feel safe and assured using something industry standard that works, and I can get help with it very easily. It makes life a lot easier.

Our total cost of ownership across our enterprise landscape has gone up because we were using a lot of mixed and free open-source solutions. However, there was an extra cost of operations and extra cost of hiring for specialized skills and things like that. With the Red Hat portfolio, I feel that we spend more on subscriptions, and we save in terms of efficiency and operations. I feel that we spent some money to save money on the backend, and I hope that is how it ended up.

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

I do node counts for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. I am gathering data for our decision-makers about how many nodes we need and how many things we need. Once or twice a year, they ask us to true up and find out how many nodes we are using and what the actual consumption is. I then report that, and then the account team usually works on the money part of it. I just work on the count.

What other advice do I have?

We use Red Hat Insights a little bit. I am more of an Ansible guy, and we use Red Hat Insights for our licensing and a few other things. We have not been using Red Hat Insights as much as we wanted to. I know that on the Linux side, they are using it a lot for license count, monitoring, and other things.

I feel we are underutilizing Red Hat Insights. Our account executive has shown how it works and where it is, but we have not committed to it yet. That is coming soon. As we gain more Red Hat products and standardize more, we will have to rely on a single pane like that, so we will be using it more. I know that Red Hat Insights provides vulnerability alerts and targeted guidance, but we are not utilizing it right now.

To a colleague who is looking at open-source, cloud-based operating systems for Linux instead of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, I would say to go for whatever they find to be the best. My standard for an enterprise solution is Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It works very well, but they have to make sure that it fits their use case. Fortunately, Red Hat Enterprise Linux fits most use cases. They might end up there, but if there are licensing or cost restrictions, there are other free options, such as CentOS. The ecosystem of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is healthy, so I would recommend it, but if they want to use something else, they need to come up with all the standards around that.

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux a ten out of ten. It is my preferred enterprise operating system. Everywhere I go, they are using it. It has been great. There are no complaints.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Russell Burgos - PeerSpot reviewer
Compute And Storage Associate Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
May 30, 2023
We can dynamically expand volumes and easily scale, and the solution offers excellent support
Pros and Cons
  • "Logical volumes allow us to dynamically expand volumes, which is valuable from an operational perspective."
  • "The price has room for improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We are currently using Red Hat Enterprise Linux's versions 6, 7, and 8. We run the OS both on-prem and in the cloud.

We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux for web applications, containers, Kubernetes, and simple scripting servers. The scripting servers are used to run scripts on run drops and so on. However, the biggest use cases are containers and web app workloads.

The cloud providers are AWS and Alibaba.

How has it helped my organization?

Red Hat helps our organization avoid cloud vendor lock-in because we can run Kubernetes and a few different workloads directly on Red Hat across different cloud providers. Since Red Hat is an operating system, we can migrate our workloads to any cloud provider that supports Red Hat.

Avoiding vendor lock-in and being able to move workflows between cloud providers has saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is easy to recover, especially from a backup. I believe this is because of its resilience. If I use an instance, I can go to my backups and restore it without much trouble. I was going to compare it to Windows for a moment, where there might be some additional steps required to clean things up after recovery. However, I haven't had many issues where I needed to do any cleanup afterward.

It is easy to move workloads between the cloud and our data center using Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The ease of migration depends on the cloud provider and what they allow us to do. However, for the most part, replication-based migration between cloud providers or on-premises works well. 

What is most valuable?

Linux is good for hardening the operating system. Logical volumes allow us to dynamically expand volumes, which is valuable from an operational perspective. This is especially true in cloud environments, where we pay for every kilobyte of storage. By using logical volumes, we can expand the disk on demand without downtime, which can help us keep costs down.

What needs improvement?

The price has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for three years, but I have known about the OS since version four.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is definitely resilient and easy to recover, especially when compared to Windows. I enjoyed working with Red Hat Enterprise Linux more than Microsoft Windows, especially because of its resilience.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's scalability is easy to manage. We can simply spin up more instances as needed, and then turn them off when we no longer need them. This means that Red Hat Enterprise Linux's scalability is not as much of an issue with the cloud provider.

We have around 2,500 instances of Red Hat Enterprise Linux in our environment.

How are customer service and support?

Red Hat support is generally good, but it can sometimes take a little longer than we would like to get a response, especially when the issue is through a web-based chat.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

The on-premises deployments are subscription based, and the cloud instances are from the providers which are AWS and Alibaba.

We can always ask for Red Hat Enterprise Linux to be less expensive but when we compare it to other options, there are savings in the long run.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux was our first choice because of its enterprise support. That was the key factor. We do also run other Linux distributions, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux is our primary choice because of the enterprise support. 

The big difference between Red Hat Enterprise Linux and other Linux-based operating systems is the support. There isn't much difference other than the syntax, where the command is "at, get" versus Red Hat using YUM or DNF for installation. So outside of that, the support is the main difference.

What other advice do I have?

I give Red Hat Enterprise Linux a nine out of ten. No solution is perfect, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux is very close.

Our engineering team probably used the image-building tool. I am on the operations side, so I do not see that part of the process. I take the images that are already built and deploy them.

I think it's just a workflow issue. We need to improve our own workflows to be able to manage them better. Red Hat support is already good when we encounter something we're unfamiliar with. So, we need to get Enterprise CoreOS from Red Hat for those cases. I think as we encounter more of our own workloads, we'll need to improve our workflows even further.

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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2587206 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Nov 22, 2024
Streamlined system integration and robust security through effective automation
Pros and Cons
  • "Integrating Ansible Automation offers benefits, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides robust security features, including benchmarks and CIS security hardening."
  • "I would like a more straightforward process for extending file systems without the need to write all the names of volume groups and logical volumes, to simplify automation."

What is our primary use case?

I am utilizing Red Hat Enterprise Linux for automated workloads.

Having prior experience with Ansible and its automation capabilities, I sought a centralized platform with a graphical interface. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform seemed like the ideal solution, especially since I was already familiar with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This familiarity made it a natural progression to explore containerization within the RHEL environment.

How has it helped my organization?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps to centralize development.

Choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux for our container environment provides a more secure and reliable platform for our applications.

I appreciate the robust security features in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, such as including security benchmarks like CIS security hardenings. These benchmarks offer a significant improvement over previous Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions and provide numerous valuable security enhancements.

The most crucial factor is arguably the availability of fast, reliable, and effective support, as this prevents isolation when managing Linux systems and significantly mitigates risk.

Open integration is beneficial because it enables the use of various benchmarks to strengthen Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

What is most valuable?

Integrating Ansible Automation offers benefits, while Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides robust security features, including benchmarks for security hardening.

What needs improvement?

I would like a more straightforward process for extending file systems without the need to write all the names of logical volumes, to simplify administration and automation.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for about ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Early versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux had several issues, but up from RHEL 7 I have found it very stable.

How are customer service and support?

The support is accessible and responsive. I have engaged with them almost every day for two weeks and opened many cases, receiving assistance with my challenges and issues.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscriptions are quite expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is considered an industry standard.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.

I recommend considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux if the budget allows, as it is widely used in the industry and offers superior software support.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2587212 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Infrastructure Manager, Information Technology at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Oct 30, 2024
Enhanced security and automation ease workload management
Pros and Cons
  • "Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features are very good."
  • "The licensing cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is high and could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a versatile operating system for many workloads, including databases, web applications, and infrastructure. It is a reliable and adaptable platform suitable for various computing needs.

When I started my current job 14 years ago, we used many different Linux distributions, which created management challenges. However, when we began deploying a hardened version of Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux was the best option due to its robust support, familiarity with our team, and overall suitability for our needs, making it an easy choice.

How has it helped my organization?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has performed well for our business critical applications.

It offers robust built-in security features that surpass those found in Windows. Its highly customizable environment allows for easy system hardening, eliminating the need for additional purchases as all necessary security components are integrated within the operating system. 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux enhances security and reduces risk. In a mixed environment with Windows, securing Windows systems is significantly more challenging and achieving a truly secure state is nearly impossible, whereas Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers robust security features that mitigate these concerns.

It contributes to risk reduction through its strong security features. With a mixed environment of Linux and Windows, making Windows secure is challenging, whereas RHEL does not have such issues. Furthermore, automation with RHEL reduces manual labor, allowing us to automate almost everything, which saves work.

The portfolio helps reduce our total cost of ownership by significantly decreasing employee work hours. Automation through ready-made images eliminates manual labor, allowing us to automate almost everything and ensure consistent accuracy, ultimately saving time and resources.

What is most valuable?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's built-in security features are very good. Compared to other systems like Windows, it's on another level. With SE Linux and the customizable nature of Linux, creating a tightly-hardened environment is easy. Additionally, the knowledge bases and white papers provided by Red Hat support are very helpful.

What needs improvement?

While there are no specific features I would like added to the next version, there is always room for improvement.

The licensing cost of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is high and could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux since 1998.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux performs admirably, earning a nine-point five out of 10. While minor issues exist, they are not significant enough to substantially detract from its effectiveness.

How are customer service and support?

The Red Hat support works well, though I haven't used it extensively. I appreciate the knowledge bases and articles provided by them. Consultancy services have been used, but not much of the support services itself.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

At my current job, we started with a lot of different distros. Managing them was chaotic. When we began using hardened versions of Linux, Red Hat was selected because it was the best option for us. We have a support system in place and Red Hat Enterprise Linux is familiar to our team, making it the easy pick.

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

Red Hat Enterprise Linux licensing is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.

We will soon be using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for containerization projects.

For servers, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the recommended choice due to its robust features, including comprehensive updates, ease of management, and excellent compatibility with tools like Ansible. While other distributions may be suitable for workstations, Red Hat Enterprise Linux excels in server environments with its stability and long-term support.

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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2585646 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Owner at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Oct 30, 2024
Has enhanced our business continuity and compliance efforts by providing stability and security
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a very stable and secure platform with support options."
  • "Data migration issues during upgrades can sometimes arise from the layers above Red Hat Enterprise Linux."

What is our primary use case?

We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux for investment back-end applications.

The application's lack of readiness for a cloud environment has necessitated the repatriation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux to an on-premises infrastructure.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the go-to standard within our organization because it is managed, supported, and automatically patched.

How has it helped my organization?

it helps us as the base layer to centralize our development.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has performed exceptionally well for our business-critical applications.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides a stable and secure platform, which helps reduce risk in our environment.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has enhanced our business continuity and compliance efforts by providing stability and security, allowing us to strengthen our servers.

What is most valuable?

It's a very stable and secure platform with support options. Third-party software vendors often require Red Hat.

What needs improvement?

Data migration issues during upgrades can sometimes arise from the layers above Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for around ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux has performed well for our business-critical applications. Stability is essential for us.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scaling Red Hat Enterprise Linux depends primarily on the underlying machine, and virtual machines enable on-demand scaling for effective performance.

What was our ROI?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux's stability, security, and predictability are significant returns on investment.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.

The current plan is to refrain from running AI workloads with Red Hat until its AI capabilities mature and we have complete confidence in its security and accuracy.

I would advise considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it is stable, secure, and supported by third-party software vendors.

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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2585460 - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Oct 30, 2024
Enhanced deployment control through effective API integration and management
Pros and Cons
  • "API integration streamlines connections with other tools, simplifying data sharing and enhancing workflow efficiency."
  • "Red Hat Enterprise Linux packaging could be improved to simplify infrastructure maintenance and provisioning."

What is our primary use case?

We use Red Hat Enterprise Linux for configuration management of on-premise servers within the bank, making it a bank-wide solution.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is hosted in the cloud, but the use cases are for on-premises.

How has it helped my organization?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux enabled centralized development by controlling deployments through features like sign-in, role-based access control, and Ansible Tower. The API integration enhanced control by standardizing deployments, providing oversight, and enabling management from a central location.

It facilitates easier environment management and performs well in that aspect, as we haven't encountered any issues.

Regarding the portability of applications for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the only tool we utilize is Ansible Tower. Its ease of use on servers and local machines, consistent interface and debugging process ensure a streamlined workflow regardless of the platform.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux significantly enhances the bank's capacity to manage numerous deployments. Its integration with Ansible Tower provides exceptional scalability, which has proven invaluable. Furthermore, the seamless integration change simplifies deployment management, making it substantially more efficient.

What is most valuable?

API integration streamlines connections with other tools, simplifying data sharing and enhancing workflow efficiency. Features like sign-in, role-based access control, and API integration provide crucial control over deployments.

What needs improvement?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux packaging could be improved to simplify infrastructure maintenance and provisioning. While Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a robust operating system, managing it alongside external tools can present maintenance, provisioning, and compliance challenges. Streamlining the packaging process would enhance efficiency and ease of use for administrators.

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 a stable platform.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux is highly scalable. By adding more hosts and doubling the number of VMs, it has successfully worked for our needs.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support responds quickly to urgent issues, but minor bugs may take a considerable amount of time to resolve.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

Our projects utilized various solutions, including XLD and UCD, as well as some legacy technologies. Red Hat Enterprise Linux proved easier to configure than previous platforms, offering greater flexibility and alignment with current best practices.

How was the initial setup?

While I lack direct deployment experience, I understand that Red Hat Enterprise Linux facilitates straightforward modifications, minimizing concerns about system disruptions.

What was our ROI?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers the greatest return on investment through its invaluable support, which is crucial for our critical applications. The comprehensive documentation and extensive resources, including Q&A and solutions to previous issues, are also essential.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux nine out of ten.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers robust built-in security features that help with risk reduction, business continuity, and compliance. However, hosting external tools within a bank environment can create challenges in synchronizing policies and meeting security expectations. Ensuring the tool's security configurations align with the bank's server requirements can be complex, but this challenge is not unique to Ansible and is a common issue when integrating external tools into secure environments.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers greater control and a higher level of security compared to some open-source alternatives, which can be crucial for enterprise applications where stability and reliability are paramount. This focus on security is a key factor in choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

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.
PeerSpot user
Ali Mahdi - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Team Leader at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
Oct 7, 2024
We get better performance, reliability, and security with this operating system
Pros and Cons
  • "The main reasons for using Red Hat Enterprise Linux are security, reliability, and efficiency. The system is very reliable, and it is more efficient than others."
  • "It is not very easy to manage because it has a command line interface, and it can be a little bit confusing from one version to another."

What is our primary use case?

We use this operating system for our on-prem servers because it is more secure and reliable. We can install whatever application we want.

How has it helped my organization?

I chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it is more secure and reliable than other operating systems. Red Hat has a feature called SELinux. I always use it because it is more secure than the other operating systems. I am using it with most of the applications. It is our baseline OS for any application.

The built-in security features are helpful when it comes to simplifying risk reduction and maintaining compliance.

Red Hat has very useful documentation. I always use it when I face an error or something like that. It is very reliable, and I use it all the time.

Over the last three to four years, I did not work in just one environment. I worked in two environments, but all the time we used Red Hat Enterprise Linux, we got more security and reliability. We have seen performance enhancement and less downtime for our main application. There is more reliability and better performance. It has improved our environment. We now have better performance, more reliability, and more security. There is about 30% to 50% improvement.

I have previously worked in the banking sector for one of the banks. We can now configure Red Hat Enterprise Linux for PCI-DSS Compliance. It has improved in that aspect.

What is most valuable?

SELinux is valuable. The main reasons for using Red Hat Enterprise Linux are security, reliability, and efficiency. The system is very reliable, and it is more efficient than others.

What needs improvement?

It is not very easy to manage because it has a command line interface, and it can be a little bit confusing from one version to another. For example, the administration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 is a bit different than Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. It is a little bit hard but not that much.

The GUI experience can be better. They can make it easier to access files and copy them. We should be able to do that without the command line. For example, if you compare it with Windows, Windows is easier to use. They can just simplify the user experience.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux for three to four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable. I would rate it an eight out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I did not face any issue with scalability, so I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We implemented it at the HQ and the DR site. We used it at two locations. We had 100 to 200 users using these servers.

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

I have experience with Windows Server. From a security perspective, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is more secure. From a performance perspective, Red Hat Enterprise Linux has better performance, but from the ease of management perspective, Windows is better.

How was the initial setup?

The installation at the application layer is a little bit complex. The duration depends on the application, but most of the application takes months. Implementing an easy application or service, such as a web service, takes two to three days.

When it comes to the management, I manage it locally. I go through SSH on the command line and manage it. For security patching and updates, most of the time, I use Red Hat Satellite. It is a product from Red Hat for managing updates. Red Hat Satellite is easy to use and very helpful. I have upgraded from Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.

When it comes to security patches, they require a restart. That can cause some downtime.

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

I do not have much knowledge of licensing. That is handled by the procurement team, but I know that it is expensive. If they can provide more licensing options, it will be much easier for companies to buy.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux because it is more secure, reliable, and scalable.

I used System Roles two years ago. It was simple to use System Roles. I succeeded in implementing them, so it was simple. They can be managed, but I used them only one time, so I do not have this much experience with them. 

I also used a service called Cockpit. It was easy to use. It was very helpful and easy.

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

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.