What is RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux)?

RHEL is a commercial Linux distribution from Red Hat, specifically tailored to meet the needs of businesses. It excels with features like technical support, LSB certification, and flexible subscriptions. Typical use cases range from high-availability database and file servers to DevOps pipelines and edge computing.

What is RHEL?

RHEL is a Linux distribution developed by the company Red Hat and designed for use in businesses. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is considered the leading enterprise Linux distribution and is extensively supported by a variety of independent software vendors. The Red Hat Entreprise Linux OS is based on proven open-source core components, but is supplemented by strict quality assurance, certifications and professional support. This means RHEL offers a stable and validated platform for productive environments, serving as a foundation for various IT structures.

What product variants of RHEL are available?

RHEL is available in different product variants, each tailored to specific workloads and use cases. The product range includes the following editions:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server: This edition represents the most commonly used RHEL variant. It offers straightforward control and administration and can be deployed on both physical hardware systems, virtual machines, and in the cloud. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server serves as a foundation for IT infrastructure and standardizes development as well as deployment.
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI: RHEL AI is optimized for AI workloads and machine learning. Specifically, this edition provides a platform for foundational models, enabling companies to develop, test, and run their applications using large language models (LLMs).
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Workstations: The workstation variant is particularly suitable for high-performance and graphically intensive workloads such as animation, visual effects (VFX), and scientific research.
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the Cloud: RHEL for the cloud offers certifications for hundreds of public clouds and ensures flexibility through standardization.

What features make RHEL stand out?

RHEL has a range of characteristics that make it ideal for businesses. These include:

• Long lifecycle: Individual RHEL versions receive support for ten years. Red Hat has occasionally extended the lifecycle by an additional three years. However, during the Extended Life Phase (ELP), only limited support is provided.
• Comprehensive security mechanisms: The Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS features various integrated security functions like SELinux (access control) and Mandatory Access Controls (preventing unauthorized access and enforcing policies). RHEL is also certified according to Common Criteria and FIPS 140-2.
• Software management: The installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is done through a graphical installer called Anaconda, which is user-friendly even for inexperienced users. For package management, RHEL uses two proprietary tools, RPM and YUM.
• Open-source insurance: Red Hat offers insurance for its RHEL distribution against intellectual property lawsuits directed at the software. This option allows users to legally protect themselves against claims made against them.
• LSB certification: All RHEL versions are certified by the Linux Foundation according to the Linux Standard Base (LSB) specifications. This certification proves that Red Hat Enterprise Linux is binary compatible with other Linux distributions.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of RHEL?

A subscription for Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers businesses numerous benefits that go beyond basic operating system functionality. The following overview summarizes the main advantages:

• Professional support: Businesses can access dedicated phone and online support, comprehensive documentation as well as a detailed knowledge base for resolving issues.
• Stable and secure: To ensure maximum security and stability, applications and updates are thoroughly tested by Red Hat.
• Compatibility: RHEL is licensed by thousands of software, cloud, and hardware products, ensuring seamless integration.
• Supported lifecycles: An RHEL subscription allows you to freely choose between supported versions and perform upgrades individually.
• Product roadmaps: Users can view product roadmaps and influence the direction of RHEL through feedback.
• Integrated analytics services: The Linux distribution comes with Red Hat Insights and associated analytical services, which allow for rapid identification and resolution of security, compliance and configuration risks.
• High usability: RHEL boasts a user-friendly, often intuitive interface that allows users, even those without specialized knowledge, to work with the Linux distribution.

The only downside to mention is the paid subscription for Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS. This makes Red Hat Enterprise Linux less attractive for individuals and small businesses, such as startups.

What is RHEL best suited for?

Red Hat Enterprise Linux primarily targets companies and organizations that rely on maximum stability, security, and long-term planning of their IT infrastructure. Target audiences include IT departments of large enterprises, development teams, and data analysts. Typical application areas include:

• Business-critical workloads: Databases, ERP/CRM systems, or email clusters
• Security-critical applications: Financial services, healthcare, or government agencies
• High performance computing (HPC): Scientific research, risk analyses in the financial sector, or animation and special effects
• Edge computing: IoT applications (IoT = Internet of Things), autonomous driving, or Industry 4.0
• App development: CI/CD pipelines, testing and deploying applications, container workflows
• SAP workloads: Operating and hosting SAP NetWeaver, S/4HANA, and other SAP solutions

What RHEL license models are available?

Which license model applies depends on whether RHEL is used physically or virtually. If physical hardware is used, the number of socket pairs in the systems used is crucial. One subscription covers two sockets, but they cannot be split. In virtual environments, the number of virtual nodes determines how many subscriptions are needed. Here, one subscription covers two virtual nodes.

Subscriptions can be booked for one year or three years—either without support (Self-Support) or combined with a Service Level Agreement (Standard or Premium). After the subscription expires, the software can still be used, but this doesn’t apply to applications based on Red Hat services.

What are the main alternatives to RHEL?

Among the numerous Linux distributions, several qualify as alternatives to RHEL. For a long time, one of the most popular alternatives was CentOS, mainly because it’s a clone of RHEL. However, as of June 2024, no new updates or security patches will be released for CentOS. CentOS Stream is its successor project.

Other popular alternatives include:

• Ubuntu is a promising alternative, featuring high user-friendliness, easy configuration, and reliable stability. New versions of Ubuntu typically receive five years of support.
• AlmaLinux is an open-source distribution with high stability and extensive security features, based on RHEL.
• Rocky Linux is also based on RHEL and places great importance on stability, forward-looking roadmaps, and transparency in development processes.