What is our primary use case?
I use it to manage my Red Hat infrastructure, basically, for patch management, configuration management, security management, as well as third-party updates.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is the fact that you don't have to expose your mission-critical environment to the Internet. With the Satellite system in place, it acts as a barrier between your Red Hat infrastructure and the public Internet. This is crucial because if you have the Red Hat infrastructure, you need to have a subscription running on it. Without Satellite, you would be compelled to connect your production servers directly to the Internet.
However, one of the most important features of Red Hat Satellite is its ability to sit between your processes and the public Internet. It assists in managing resources such as subscriptions, purchases, and software, ensuring that you don't have to expose your mission-critical environment to the Internet.
What needs improvement?
The only thing I think would be great for improvement is if Red Hat could open up its platform. You know, people have mixed environments of Linux services. I know Satellite can manage Center OS because it's Red Hat-related. It can also manage Fedora because they all use a subscription manager. They all have similar systems. If it could be opened up to all Red Hat and non-Red Hat Linux platforms so that people can have a single platform for managing their Linux environments, that would be fantastic.
Another thing is that the dashboard of Satellite is not encouraging. It does not adequately showcase all the functionality it offers. It would be nice to have a CIO dashboard tailored for business users and another dashboard for technical users. There is so much that Satellite can do, but it is not effectively presented on a single dashboard. These are areas I believe they should look into.
In additional features, the first thing I would do is create a robust and customizable dashboard for both business and technical support. Secondly, I would enable remote jobs to be executed with a single click without the need for prior hardware configuration. And thirdly, I would simplify the activation process, a feature used for system compliance, by implementing a three-step button. These three additions would greatly enhance the usability and convenience of Red Hat Satellite.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Red Hat Satellite for four years now. I'm using version 6.12.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable. Red Hat solutions are very stable. It doesn't break down.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. Red Hat Satellite has a feature called "Capsule Server." With the Capsule Server feature, you can achieve scalability, but it does require some manual configuration. You need to deploy additional servers of different types to scale Red Hat Satellite.
How are customer service and support?
I have an ongoing support case with them right now. I would rate it a six. So the deduction of four points is for a few reasons. Firstly, it's challenging to get them to connect to your environment and work with you. Secondly, even when they have a live session with you, they avoid taking charge of the work and don't handle the mouse or keyboard, which can be frustrating. And, of course, ten is reserved for excellent support.
In terms of responsiveness, there are times when there's a delay in assessing the severity of the issue. It feels like they only start suggesting solutions after several days of back and forth. They should proactively investigate the problem once they see the explanation rather than waiting for us to ask after several days have already passed.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
The deployment, which is the installation, is an easy process. Some of the basic setup configurations are easy as well. However, when you start delving into advanced features like remote script execution on the managed servers, it becomes a bit difficult.
Integration with other Red Hat solutions becomes a bit difficult too. It requires some manual configurations and complex setup steps. Additionally, features like OpenSCAP are not straightforward to apply. They should be easily enabled with a simple click instead of having scattered configurations.
What about the implementation team?
So my company is actually a services company, and we are not necessarily using Satellite in-house. However, we have customers that we deploy it for. We actually use it as a partner.
We are partners with Red Hat. We are system integrators. We get their solution and deploy it for customers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Red Hat works with subscriptions, and the minimum period of time you can apply for a subscription is one year. The cost for Red Hat Satellite varies depending on the subscription plan, but overall, it's affordable, especially when you consider that the subscription is based on smart management.
The infrastructure for data satellites is not charged separately. The cost depends on the number of systems you intend to manage, which is determined by the number of subscription lines you purchase. So it's quite affordable, but the drawback is that your systems need to have both a subscription and a smart management subscription for Red Hat Satellite to manage them. It's like a double subscription; that's the only drawback, but in general, it's worth it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend using the solution because it allows you to develop infrastructure and ensures compliance, among other things.
I would give it a nine. The reason being that it provides a comprehensive solution for managing the entire IT infrastructure, not just limited to enterprise limits. It is very stable and robust, making life easier. So, that's basically it. It deserves a high rating.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner | System Integrators
