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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs Windows Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers responsive customer service, valued for its knowledgeable team, quick escalation, and extensive support resources.
No sentiment score available
Microsoft's Windows Server support receives mixed reviews, with some praising its responsiveness and others highlighting slow service and improvement needs.
They respond immediately based on the SLA level.
The technical support is excellent.
They promptly addressed my concerns regarding permission issues when I contacted them.
I had the need to contact Microsoft customer support on a matter, and their engineer was able to remotely assume control of the screen (with my permission and after following instructions) and in a few minutes had resolved the problem.
When we get the support from Microsoft's Shanghai division, the support is very good.
There have been cases where the problem is too complicated to easily correct over the phone, so they sent a local technical from their support team to assist us in troubleshooting.
 

Room For Improvement

Sentiment score
5.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux requires improvements in documentation, support, pricing, UI, compatibility, updates, and integration for better user experience.
Sentiment score
5.2
Windows Server needs improvements in security, integration, interface, optimization, support, and cost management for better user experience.
The solution operates on a subscription-based model, which may not provide immediate return on investment for small to medium-sized organizations.
Risks, for example, specific to Linux, need improvements.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux could make the interface more colorful and improve the user experience.
This tool simplifies the control and monitoring of all servers.
Microsoft should expand to integrate the Windows Server with Azure and Linux distribution to provide a simple container environment for running dockerized applications.
If the service could be better integrated with the Azure Cloud, I think it would be a plus for Windows.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is scalable and adaptable, supporting efficient workload scaling across various environments, ensuring seamless IT operations.
Sentiment score
8.2
Windows Server offers scalable solutions for various organizations, though larger deployments and advanced cloud scaling may pose challenges.
I would rate the scalability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux as nine out of ten, indicating it scales well with our needs.
In general, it is scalable and manageable.
It works for any size of organization from small to large.
I'm on a 16GB system with a 500GB SSD and I can run multiple VM's on VirtualBox, client sessions, multiple displays and so forth without any issues at all.
 

Setup Cost

Sentiment score
6.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux's pricing is justified by its support, stability, flexible subscriptions, and appeal for reliability-focused businesses.
No sentiment score available
Windows Server pricing is complex and costly compared to Linux, with various licensing options and additional support fees.
It may be considered expensive compared to other solutions like CentOS or Ubuntu, which offer some of the same features without additional costs.
Its pricing has room for improvement because it's more expensive in the local market due to purchasing power parity in India.
Some of our customers have spent approximately $12,000 a year on the operating system license.
Some competitors are offering their operating systems for free.
It's a bit expensive if you were to compare it to Linux.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is highly stable and reliable, performing well for business-critical applications with minimal downtime.
Sentiment score
8.2
Windows Server is praised for its reliability and stability, with recent improvements, especially in handling updates and usage increases.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux offers great stability and performance compared to other operating systems.
The solution is quite stable.
There aren't really bugs or glitches.
It's very reliable and the performance is good.
 

Valuable Features

Sentiment score
8.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is praised for robust performance, security, scalability, seamless integration, and comprehensive enterprise-level support.
Sentiment score
8.1
Windows Server offers ease of use, stability, scalability, robust management, virtualization, and Microsoft integration, enhancing enterprise application performance.
It also has strong security features, is OIS and FIPS certified, and has built-in Linux security configurations.
The security features are the most valuable.
The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is its command-line capabilities, which allow you to execute large operations quickly.
I love using it for the DHCP server, DNS services, and using a computer to map sites on our domain.
The most valuable feature of this solution is the ESRP that is used with the Windows Platform.
Integration with other Microsoft solutions like Exchange and System Center Configuration Manager has the great ability to manage all of the different features on system support, like upgrading, securing, and troubleshooting different Windows systems for clients.
 

Categories and Ranking

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (R...
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
259
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows Server
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
182
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is 11.9%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server is 9.4%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Saravvana Kumar. - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly stable, good knowledge base, and reasonable price
Its installation on a RAID or cluster system is something difficult. There are specific teams working on that. The GRUB configuration is also a little different from the other Linux distributions. In terms of additional features, as technology keeps evolving, the product will also have to evolve. For example, Microsoft Windows has come a long way. In Windows 11, there are so many features that are fundamentally the same as the oldest version, but there are other aspects or processes that have improved. macOS has also evolved over time. Similarly, in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux that I used in 2003 and the one that I am using now, some things are the same and some things have changed. Red Hat can continue to engage clients, understand the use cases, and update them.
Dan Campeanu - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports various hardware interfaces and offers excellent value for money
Windows Server was crucial for our business as it offered scalability, allowing us to seamlessly upgrade servers as our company expanded rapidly. It served as the backbone for all our tools and applications, providing a unified platform for our operations. Windows Server's security features have significantly improved our IT security posture. While occasional vulnerabilities arose, Microsoft promptly addressed them, providing clear instructions on mitigation. Consequently, we have had no security incidents in over 20 years, thanks to proactive measures and effective security management. Managing Windows Server in a multi-server environment used to be relatively easy, but in recent years, it has become increasingly challenging due to the removal of useful tools and Microsoft's focus on cloud services. Integrating Windows Server with Azure was initially challenging due to limited documentation and some synchronization issues, but it became smoother over time with the help of user experiences and shared knowledge. Integration with AWS for specific tasks was less problematic. I would recommend Windows Server to others. Overall, I would rate it as a nine out of ten.
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Comparison Review

it_user281973 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 24, 2017
It's improved our company's system environments that run Oracle databases.
Red Hat is mission critical to our environment Red Hat has improved the mission critical environments running Oracle databases, while CentOS has improved our web environment and MySQL. Oracle and SAP Environment and all HPC environments. 10 years No issues Very stable i don´t find any problem…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which would you choose - RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) or CentOS?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is fantastic. It is an inexpensive solution that has excellent security, performance, and stability, and also lots of features. I specifically like that the solution has fe...
What do you like most about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
It is open source. We can customize it as per our requirements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)?
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is expensive, but I'm not paying anything because it's the company's money. However, it's priced comparably to other enterprise Linux solutions. It costs a lot because you ...
What needs improvement with Windows Server?
Active Directory should have groups and policies. It could probably provide a better overview of how Active Directory is built.
What is your primary use case for Windows Server?
We use the solution for deployments, troubleshooting, Active Directory policies, and Windows patching.
 

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Linux, RHEL
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Travel Channel, Mohawk Industries, Hilti, Molecular Health, Exolgan, Hotelplan Group, Emory University, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, HCA Healthcare, Paychex, UPS, Intermountain Healthcare, Brinker International, TransUnion, Union Bank, CA Technologies
Rakuten, Rackspace, Tyco
Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) vs. Windows Server and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
816,192 professionals have used our research since 2012.