Security compliance has been simplified and hybrid workloads run reliably in demanding environments
What is our primary use case?
We use Satellite from that list for all our catalog for everything we're pulling down, and we've recently had to upgrade to better Satellite capabilities. For the security aspects, FIPS compliance, SELinux, and all that ticks all the government boxes that we need to stay compliant with our regulations.
I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in a hybrid manner, as I am part of the AWS team. We're starting to build a presence in AWS, so I have been putting RHEL images up into there as AMIs and working on them there, but for the most part, it's all on-premises because we run most of our operations in-house in our data centers.
Almost 80 percent of our virtual machines are on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and it's our base image for a lot of our containers, with all of our workflows using RHEL.
Our security team can be very specific about things, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) ticks all our boxes for security, FIPS compliance, SELinux, and all the security features we need. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) meshes extremely well with OpenShift, which is what we use mainly to host all our workloads.
What is most valuable?
I have been learning about a few new features, but security is my main focus. In Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10, there's the new remote desktop connection that supports RDC connections, which is really valuable, allowing us to get around a couple of network issues we were having. It boots up really fast, is very lightweight, and the images we use, some of which are hardened, are really nice because we don't have to go in and harden them ourselves.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) features save us a ton of time and money from engineer hours working on security hardening because Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) works out of the box, does what we want it to do, and does it well.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is pretty resilient and bounces back effectively. Recently, we had an issue where some power fluctuations caused many of our servers and virtual machines to go down. None of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) machines were the problem in getting back online because when we flicked the switch back, all our Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) boxes were exactly where we needed them to be within minutes, whereas Windows was what gave us the issue.
Remote desktop was really the big feature that I wanted, which came out in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10, and we are just now starting to test out Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 10 with our machines. Right now, I'm happy with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because it checks my boxes.
I attended a session on Project Hummingbird, the hardened images for container-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), which was really cool. They are breaking down Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) into small, bite-sized pieces, which allows for rolling updates where, when you're updating your system, it's only updating exactly what changed instead of pulling in the whole package. Since we're a disconnected environment, minimizing our downtime is critical, and having these hardened images that just update very modularly really helps us get back on our feet. Focusing on creating a more portable Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) would be great.
Most of what we do involves virtual machines for containers on OpenShift, which meshes extremely well with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). I have never taken more than five or ten minutes to get a virtual machine or container up and running from a fresh start because it's extremely simple and streamlined.
What needs improvement?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) could play a bigger role in our company's implementation of the zero-trust model. For the most part, we're a lockdown environment where if you have access to the network and that machine, you're trusted and can have access. Most of our users need to be working on zero trust implementation a little bit better.
Some of the information provided by the knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can be outdated, and it could be cleaned up a little bit better. However, for the most part, the documentation is pretty easy to follow when you're working with the modern current offerings that Red Hat has to provide.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in the intelligence community computer field in general for about five and a half years, with NASA specifically for just about a year now, and I've been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the better part of three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have never experienced downtime that wasn't my fault, so I find the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) to be quite impressive.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have been able to expand my usage of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because all of our workloads that need to be scaled up have new Pro containers that pop right up when we need them, ready within a minute. It scales extremely well.
How are customer service and support?
Our Red Hat team has been very good with talking with us, working with us on what we need to get done, and there is very little pain in terms of the actual operating system.
The colleague sitting right next to me is our AI engineer, so I have been riding shotgun on a lot of what he's been doing, and it seems really innovative so far. We just got a batch of GPUs in to start working with this technology and have hit a few roadblocks, but none of that was Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) related.
The customer service and technical support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is extremely technical. Even when we get new team members, we're able to make good connections with them quickly because they're very knowledgeable and know what they're talking about. They answer our questions, and if they can't or it's a new problem, they're more than happy to spend a week or two with us working it out.
The biggest return on investment when using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the customer service because our Red Hat team is amazing. We go out for lunches, we talk, and when we were setting up OpenShift, we were on the phone with those team members an hour a day, five days a week for months in a row. Anything that we had questions on, they were right there with us, helping us get what we wanted out of the product.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I worked for Auburn University, and we were kind of all over the place with our products, still trying to figure out what we wanted to do. For the last two years I was there, we were just testing products all the time, getting bad support and bad service. We never went to Red Hat while I was there, and I hope they do someday.
How was the initial setup?
I have set up Ansible Automation Platform, but we don't have a whole lot of automated workflows for our operations yet. We still are kind of just manually doing everything we need to do and applying policies, but I did set it up, troubleshooting a few OAuth issues with some authentication mechanisms, which was no problem. The test that we did run with it worked pretty well.
What about the implementation team?
I'm not our Satellite engineer, but I have interfaced with it a few times, and it was really seamless when I used it. I have never really had to be the one troubleshooting anything like that. It hasn't given us much pain from what I know, and our team seems to be pretty happy about those operations.
What was our ROI?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) features save us a ton of time and money from engineer hours working on security and infrastructure operations because Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) works out of the box, does what we want it to do, and does it well.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I don't think my company has ever considered choosing another product other than Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because they've been on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) since I got there, and they've been on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for the longest time, which I feel has become the industry standard at this point.
What other advice do I have?
Every operating system we use has to meet a certain set of regulations set by a board way above us, and we don't really get to choose what operating systems we implement. It goes through a multi-year process of being scanned and tested, and then they give that to us and say we are authorized to use it. Most of that is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) because most of what our center runs on is Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and we stick with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) most of the time, which checks all our compliance boxes.
The colleague sitting right next to me is our AI engineer, so I have been riding shotgun on a lot of what he's been doing, and it seems really innovative so far. We just got a batch of GPUs in to start working with this technology and have hit a few roadblocks, but none of that was Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) related.
For how long I have used the solution, I would rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten out of ten overall. My advice to other companies considering it is that, with NASA, we've got operations in space and we have problems all the time. In my experience, it has never been the operating system causing issues; it's always some other component, but Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has been the solid foundation of what we've been building off of. I give this review a rating of ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Reliable security and uniform updates have supported long-term virtual server operations
What is our primary use case?
I primarily support servers in general, including a lot of virtual machines that support everything from telemetry to software development and business applications. I work in a small corporate IT environment, so I mainly focus on supporting the developers and the applications they create to keep the business running.
Our infrastructure is mostly on-premises, but we are starting to explore cloud solutions in Amazon Web Services (AWS) and are currently in the early stages of that transition.
What is most valuable?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) compared to other distributions helps me trust it more because of the security and the name behind it. Red Hat has maintained a good reputation for customer support and providing security patches, and it is a vendor we can point to when there is a vulnerability or issue, knowing they will take our needs seriously and support us.
I appreciate the philosophy behind Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) in that it is slow-moving and stable. The newer features have been valuable, especially Podman for containers and the package manager, which is simple and just works.
I use Satellite a great deal. We use Satellite to have a comprehensive view of all systems and their vulnerability states, as well as using the OpenSCAP scanning that is built into Red Hat Satellite. This gives my security team insight into how well we are performing in terms of security.
I started using system roles back with Red Hat 7, and I have found them and the image builder to be really beneficial. We run Nutanix for our virtualization infrastructure, and it is valuable to be able to build a new template image from a trusted source and know that it is minimal and easy to manage.
Recently, we have started using the STIG security settings that are built into the Red Hat installer as a good starting point. I have found it is much easier to build a system that is secure from the ground up than to add security after the fact.
The OpenSCAP system profiler allows us to audit the state of those systems and ensure everything is locked down. Using Ansible to apply security controls across our systems gives us something we can point to and demonstrate that the systems are actually secure.
I am confident that installing an update will not break anything, and it will make our systems more reliable than other distributions.
What needs improvement?
It seems the engineers are on top of improvements. I am not sure how I would improve it at this point other than reducing service interruptions, however that could be accomplished.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for approximately sixteen years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is the main benefit, and it is one less thing to worry about. Knowing that the supply chain as far as updates is trusted helps prevent our developers from adding random repositories and untrusted sources. Overall stability is the main thing that stands out.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability has been better than ever, especially with image mode and the image generation tool that allows me to create a good template to scale easily and then use Ansible to configure everything. The scalability is definitely present, and all you need is the compute resources to allocate to it.
How are customer service and support?
I would give Red Hat customer service a solid nine. I usually only reach out to customer service when I am facing a very complex problem and I am at my wit's end. Red Hat does a good job escalating to people who really know their materials. I do not feel stuck on the lower tier of customer service or with someone following a script. The person I speak with is experienced and knows the product, so it has been a good experience.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
In my career, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has always been the solution used at the company since I arrived.
How was the initial setup?
The installation experience is easier and more pleasant than installing Windows. I appreciate that when I install Windows on a device, I am bombarded with advertisements and calls to action to buy additional products, whereas Red Hat does not do any of that.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We do not have significant setup costs. We have a relatively small environment, and I believe we are covered pretty much by the Red Hat Satellite subscription, which also gives us enough entitlements to run all of our virtual machines. The pricing seems good from my perspective.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There has been talk of going with an open-source alternative, either a Red Hat fork or something like Debian or Ubuntu. However, the lack of a good support path is the main reason for not pursuing that.
What other advice do I have?
We have looked at a couple of systems that we are using for artificial intelligence inference, but it is nothing I would call production. At this point, the cost of hardware is holding us back, and the company is probably going to end up using more cloud inference or Software-as-a-Service products for our artificial intelligence needs rather than investing in an on-premises solution, though that may change in the future.
The ability to ensure all systems have uniform updates and seeing the view of the status of CVEs or bugs on the system is invaluable. Using Satellite for this purpose provides a lot of value.
The knowledge base is excellent, and I appreciate the work they are doing with artificial intelligence, which makes it easier to navigate and surface relevant information. Red Hat's knowledge base has always been very valuable for solving any issues I encounter, and it is usually the first place I look.
I have heard people discussing artificial intelligence-driven upgrades, and that is certainly of interest to me. We have a lot of Red Hat 8 systems that will eventually need to be upgraded, so it is something I would be curious about pursuing.
I would rate this review as a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Enables consistent networking performance and increases uptime while supporting collaborative problem-solving
What is our primary use case?
My main use cases for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) for the server, supporting Telco work workflows, manufacturing software for manufacturing, and travel software. I have a huge base for what we're targeting around AWS or Red Hat solutions.
What is most valuable?
I favor the network manager feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL); I appreciate the versatility and flexibility of network manager. I appreciate that we can make super-fast modifications to networking solutions, and I value the support for IPv6.
I also value the support for working with the community very specifically. Bringing the solutions we need for customer problems to reality tends to result from our conversations with Red Hat. Normally, if I need help making a customer experience better, I can have a conversation with the business teams at Red Hat, and then we can find a collaborative solution.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has helped to mitigate downtime and lower risk; although it's hard for me to say that I really understand it outside of an analyst report, I can say that I truly believe it has increased uptime based on my experience.
There's a consistency, and my example is that I trust the kernel and the quality engineering, which leads me to more favorable results in places where other distributions might make changes that slow down my networking or storage network in unpredictable ways.
What needs improvement?
For a new release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), the main improvement could be in the pricing models, particularly understanding how to better present those pricing models in a more predictable manner. It is very difficult from a partner perspective to figure out how to position software to a customer when the pricing may or may not be competitive, so that's my biggest 'how could I fix this?' question.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for 25 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
When assessing the stability and reliability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I can say that on every operating system, there are always exceptions and new issues to fix.
However, if I have software validated for RHEL, I know I can expect a certain level of certainty that issues will be ones that have either never been seen before or are the result of our new approaches.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by itself scales incredibly. However, the problem tends to arise where increased consumption raises total costs.
As the total cost increases across the operating system distribution, my requirements for support decrease, making it difficult to gauge a return on investment, which complicates the situation for me as a representative of an entire fleet.
How are customer service and support?
I would evaluate customer service and technical support as generally positive; I've never had a problem with my support. Sometimes, individual support agents might not know what they're discussing or misunderstand the question, possibly due to my clarity or other factors. I would say that it is at least at the same level or better than any support group I've ever engaged with in technology.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to adopting Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), I was using another solution within the RHEL family. I often test workloads using Fedora or CentOS as a foundation and then move those production workloads to Red Hat.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been confusing; it feels different every time. The complications often arise from being unable to predict exactly what is necessary for a deployment, as the build-out and sales cycles are significantly more complex.
What was our ROI?
I have most definitely seen a return on investment with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL); I don't think my job would exist if there wasn't a return on investment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
By policy, I am required to use Amazon Linux for everything, however, by necessity, I am replacing that with Red Hat solutions where we have space during my evaluation process.
What other advice do I have?
My business relationship with Red Hat is that I am a Partner.
The knowledge base offered by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is still hard to search, but I recognize that AI is probably making that easier during this period. I think Lightspeed is an important part of our structure for interacting with the knowledge base information, and I look forward to making that work better.
I typically advise other organizations considering Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) by asking how important their workload is to them. I question what happens if it goes down and how much time they have to spend fixing it. If they value that aspect, then it's their choice to determine their path.
My biggest question often relates to how much they would pay to replace the community, and if they are willing to understand the significant number of partners and open-source champions contributing to Red Hat, they will see how that community cannot be replaced in terms of how software fits their business needs.
I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Administer Linux servers efficiently for three years with fewer outages
What is our primary use case?
For administering Linux servers, my main use case for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is focused on day-to-day tasks.
I used Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on newly deployed on-prem VMs for the company I work for, which adds to my use case.
What is most valuable?
Stability definitely stands out to me as one of the best features Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) offers.
What makes Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)'s stability stand out for me is that I've noticed it's very error-prone, which I appreciate.
Since using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) instead of Ubuntu, my organization has seen more stability in our infrastructure.
I noticed fewer outages and less downtime as specific outcomes since we began using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
What needs improvement?
I appreciate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) the way it is right now, and I believe it can be improved but have no specific requests.
If I had to imagine one thing that could be even better about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), it would be more information in the man pages.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for three years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is indeed stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is excellent; it can easily grow with my organization's needs, making it easy to add more servers or resources as needed.
How are customer service and support?
I have interacted with Red Hat's support team, and I find their customer support to be pretty much okay.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the customer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a nine.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before switching to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), we used Ubuntu, but we decided to make the switch because of stability.
What was our ROI?
I think Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) saved nearly 20 or 30% of our money, indicating a positive return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was straightforward, without facing any challenges.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), we evaluated SUSE, but we preferred RHEL for its more stable ecosystem.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is to examine its ecosystem.
My company doesn't have a business relationship with Red Hat beyond being a customer.
I was offered a gift card or incentive for this review.
I don't have any additional thoughts about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) before we wrap up.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) a ten overall.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
