Oracle Linux Reviews

We used Oracle Enterprise Linux to replace a Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment because Oracle Linux rolled out a new kernel. We thought it might be more stable than our previous edition.

We have maybe 10 to 15 engineers using Oracle Linux to test the software environment. It has a more stable kernel than Red Hat Enterprise Linux. 

Oracle Linux is almost the same as Red Hat, but it takes a long time to download, in comparison. The download speed is not good. Oracle can improve their servers capacity, especially in Asia.

We have been using Oracle Linux for three years. 

It's stable. We use Oracle Linux because it has a stable kernel, perhaps, more so than other vendors.

It is a scalable product.

It's not easy to obtain Oracle Linux support from emails or telephone support. We tend to look at the Knowledge Base. Oracle's Knowledge Base is excellent.

It is easy to install and only took about 30 minutes.

We use Oracle Linux to test our software, and we also recommend Oracle Linux to our customers. We also recommend the purchasing of a license to activate the product. If our customers want to install Oracle Linux on multiple servers, perhaps Oracle could offer some good discounts, but these would need to be negotiated.

We used several kinds of Linux. Something like SUSE Linux, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and Oracle Linux but especially those with stable kernels. In some software environments, we do not need a stable kernel's performance level, but the machine may be stable in most cases. Before this year, we used Ubuntu. Ubuntu is speedy but not very stable. Its development is very quickly rolled out, and they change it every half year.

I would rate Oracle Linux an eight out of 10. Linux Enterprise is used in our customer's data center. The users may use a lot of server resources, so we recommend they buy a license. Sometimes they need to buy hundreds of server licenses, so the price consideration is important as the licensing is expensive. Our customers tend to use other editions such as CentOS, and other free editions. However, the free editions are not stable. Indeed, the free version provided by Oracle is not stable.

Our organization uses mostly Oracle engineered systems and appliances such as Oracle Exadata, PCA Private Cloud Appliance, Oracle Database Appliance, etc. Anything that is an engineering solution from Oracle, essentially. We also use Oracle Virtualization, OVM. These are on Linux.

Ksplice is the solution's most valuable aspect. Basically, what that allows us to do, is it allows us to patch and update the Kernel without a reboot. To me, that is the most outstanding feature of Oracle Linux.

The pricing is quite good.

The stability is excellent and the initial setup is easy.

Oracle Linux is downstream from Red Hat Linux. This solution has the same pain points. I would probably mention that fleet deployment and management could be improved. 

It would be ideal if they added a faster implementation of the security fixes, if possible.

I've been using the solution since 2010.

The solution is extremely stable. There aren't issues with bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

In terms of adding on features, it's pretty scalable. It's similar to Red due to the fact that it is pretty much adjusted downstream from RHEL.

We have between 50-100 users on the solution at any given time.

I've used support in the past. I'd say it's pretty typical. It's not extraordinary, It's fine.

We switched from Red Hat Linux. Oftentimes I work with the appliances and Oracle engineering systems on hardware and software, which come from Oracle. 

The deployment was not complex. It was very straightforward. How long deployment takes depends on how many OS instances are being implemented. A single OS instance may take about 30 minutes or less. 

I work at an Oracle partner company and assist clients with their implementation in my role as a consultant.

The licensing cost is fairly small. It's pretty much in line with Red Hat licenses. I cannot recall the actual pricing, however, it's my understanding that it's just a few hundred dollars for a CPU core per year. I would just say it's fairly reasonable and low.

 Oracle Linux subscriptions can actually come free if they're purchased with other products.

We're a partner and reseller of Oracle.

I would recommend the solution, especially for the organizations that could be interested in zero downtime patch-ins. That is what the Oracle Linux case flies provide. I don't think the same feature are available in RHEL.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

I am not an Oracle expert, I'm a database expert. From my standpoint, Oracle Linux is more compatible with the latest open-source software than other operating systems like Ubuntu Linux and CentOS Linux. I have faced a lot of challenges with different operating systems but it turns out that other database packages are not very compatible with different operating systems. They are not very compatible with Arch and Ubuntu Linux; however, Oracle Linux is highly compatible with all of the open-source projects.

I wouldn't say that we had many major challenges with Oracle Linux. I can't say it's the most advanced operating system, but I can definitely say that they patch regularly. We didn't have major challenges with Oracle Linux, to be honest.

I have been using Oracle Linux for more than five years.

I don't think that we had any kind of stability issues. Most of the time, if I remember correctly, we worked with Oracle Linux when it was a part of the private cloud. By private cloud, I mean it was in VM. Being in VM with limited resources, sometimes the software packages would crash, but I don't recall the operating system ever crashing. The issues we experienced were due to the software and filter packages, not the operating system.

Oracle tech support is pretty well organized. They have a long history of offering support for their Oracle packages. It doesn't matter if it's an Oracle database, an Oracle operating system; they give support 24/7, covering every time zone. They have multiple experts available for every issue you could experience. They can always be reached no matter what. They are very well organized with their support.

Oracle Linux is very easy to set up.

Oracle Linux is very much compatible with other platforms. Installing VMs is very easy. If you are installing on a hard metal server, it's still very easy. I installed Oracle Linux myself, I didn't have major challenges with it.

Nowadays, Oracle is very open toward price negotiation; they negotiate well with their clients. 

If you're interested in Oracle Linux, make sure you know the infrastructure of where it's going inside and out. You have to have a clear idea of where exactly your organization is heading in the future, whether private cloud or public cloud. These decisions are not made in seconds, minutes, or even days or weeks. But you have to have a clear idea. For example, if a company wants to use Oracle Linux and they think after two or three years they might be in a hybrid cloud, or maybe a public cloud, they had to make sure they aren't too dependent on the operating system. Whatever software packages they are using should be very compatible with the existing infrastructure like a hybrid or a public cloud.

Picture two containers that are very much independent: you can implement Containerization in Oracle Linux and the same containers can and will work well in both a private cloud or a public cloud infrastructure.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Oracle Linux a rating of eight.

Because nothing is perfect, I wouldn't give any operating system or any other software packages a rating of 10. They have bugs sometimes. For some extra points, they should keep aligned with the ope-source community. Oracle is very loyal to their own customers. If a client is experiencing an issue, they will work with them until it is fully resolved. But what about the open-source community? I think they should also pay more attention to the open-source community. 

We use it on-premises because there is more data and then we download and upload it to the cloud. Customers are a little upset whenever they have to upload all the data to the cloud and they are also very specific. Whoever is working with us has the data on their systems.

We are not impacted by new releases, because whenever there is a new release, we are informed by our IT team and we prepare accordingly. However, if the number of releases is too frequent you begin to doubt the stability of the system even if it is stable. So if a new release is required, it will be better to consolidate all the features in one release instead of sporadic releases.

We have been using this solution for ten years. It is deployed on-premises which is more secure. 

It is a stable solution with a secure operating system.

Oracle Linux is scalable because it allows for a hybrid cloud environment. We have more than 100,000 users in our company.

Our IT team handles interactions with technical support, so we route everything through them. It has been smooth, and we have gotten some good responses, even over email.

I rate this solution a ten out of ten because I am happy with the platforms.

We're using Oracle Linux to run virtual machines for their database solutions in the cloud. We're also using Oracle Linux to run an SFTP server.

We have several Oracle Linux 7s that support the databases. We have about ten of those. We have one SFTP server as well. That is the extent of it.

We do a lot of mounts so we can use shared storage. It has a good amount of mount points. I'm just getting very comfortable with it as far as the ACLs and the users go.

I cannot recall any areas that require improvement, or any missing features I have come across. 

Occasionally, we might get an alert to restart our database, and if we don't do it on our own, the system will do it automatically. That can cause downtime issues if your clients aren't expecting it.

I've used the solution for about a year and a half at this point. It hasn't been too long. 

The stability is very good. The databases are all VMs. Sometimes the database might have an underlying condition, hardware condition, and Oracle will send us an alert to tell us to please restart our databases so that they can be moved to another piece of hardware by a certain date. If we don't do it on our own, they will do it. That, however, leaves room for corruption. Also, you run the risk of not telling our customers ahead of time that there might be a little bit of downtime.

The solution can scale up or down easily. You can always scale up, scale down, add more storage, add more memory, that kind of stuff.

Since we have an Oracle cloud subscription and a tenancy, our service requests are answered by tech support from OCI tech support. It's pretty much whatever we need. However, I must say, their tech support usually addresses OCI problems, such as infrastructure problems. When it comes to the Oracle support, you really have to dig and you really have to get on them to actually get it down to the Oracle support. That said, I want to say, so far, so good. I'm happy with the support so far.

Before I worked on Oracle Linux 7, we were on-prem with Red Hat 6 or 7. It might have been Red Hat 6. Everything really just transfers very well as far as the commands and all of that. Oracle Linux 7 is basically Red Hat 7.

When it is in the could, the initial setup is very easy. When it's in the cloud, you just pick a shape and say, "Make me a machine."

What makes each shape different is the number of CPUs. The amount of storage comes with it. 

I'm just an Oracle customer and an end-user.

For those considering the solution, I would say, if you're familiar with Red Hat, there's very little change and the users should just go for it.

As far as dependability and ease of use go, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. 

I use this solution for developing applications and APIs for our platform.

There needs to be overall better integration.

I have been using this solution for approximately 20 years.

I have found the solution to be stable.

The solution is scalable.

We have approximately 25 users using this solution in my organization.

We use vendor support and it is good.

I use Windows systems as well as this soltuion.

The installation is straightforward.

We used integrators to help us implement the solution into our systems. 

We have six engineers that do the maintenance of this solution.

The licensing cost is expensive. It should be reduced by at least half.

I recommend this solution to others.

I rate Oracle Linux an eight out of ten.

We are primarily using the solution for our Oracle Database.

The solution is very, very stable. The performance is reliable. 

It's very useful for hosting other Oracle products.

The solution is very scalable. You can expand it if needed.

Technical support is very good. They have been responsive and they understand the product.

The initial setup is quick and easy. It doesn't take too long.

The pricing of the solution is not too high. It's reasonable. 

The security could always be slightly improved on the product. We'd like it if it was a bit more secure.

I've been using the solution for a couple of years at this point. It's been a while. I have some experience with it at this point.

The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's very reliable in terms of performance.

The solution is very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so with relative ease. It's not a problem.

We currently have about 50 people on the solution.

We do plan to increase the usage in the future.

Technical support is good. They are helpful and responsive. We are quite happy with the level of support we have received from them so far. They are available when we need them.

Previously, we had a mixed environment and we were using all sorts of operating systems. 

The initial setup is not overly difficult or complex. We found the process to be very straightforward. The deployment itself was fast.

We have two members of the technical team that can handle any maintenance required. 

We handled the implementation ourselves. We did not need the assistance of a consultant or implementor. 

We pay for a license on a yearly basis. It's not an overly expensive product. It's affordable.

We're using the latest version of the solution at this time.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. We're quite happy with the capabilities of the solution so far. It works as expected and does what we need it to do.

I would recommend the solution to other users and organizations. 

• Performance – Running on an operating system that is optimized for Oracle software provides significant performance gains.
• Stability – Oracle Linux provides a far more stable platform than Microsoft Windows.
• Supportability – Oracle releases security fixes and bug fixes first on Oracle Linux. Environments are more secure and easier to support.
• Cost – Oracle Linux is roughly half the cost when compared to other comparable Linux distributions.

When designing a new Oracle database platform, Oracle Linux provides built-in benefits for database customers that are not available on any other platform. This has improved the performance, availability, scalability, and security of our architecture.

While the Oracle Linux software is perfectly suited for our needs, the related support processes within Oracle can often be challenging. Having your ticket routed to a capable support engineer can involve several escalations, and there is then a risk that the ticket is transferred to another engineer when the original person’s shift ends, often resulting in a frustrating process of answering many of the same questions again.

Similarly, the time to receive a bug fix can often be longer than in open-source equivalents. Therefore, we always recommend that Oracle Linux implementations are handled with an experienced Oracle Partner, specialized in Linux, who can supplement Oracle’s own support structures with a deeper level of expertise and faster response.

We have used this solution for seven years.

We hit a couple of bugs in the early days of Oracle Linux 5 but in the last few years, the platform has been extremely stable.

The platform is extremely scalable, either in a virtualized fashion or by using the available clustering technology.

I would rate the support provided as a 6 our of 10, due to some slow responses and some delays on getting senior, experienced technical support personnel engaged.

In the past, we had primarily used either Oracle Solaris or Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a standard. Oracle Linux provided a more-agile, easy-to-deploy platform than Solaris, at a lower cost than Red Hat, and including optimizations not available in either of the previous platforms.

The initial setup is very straightforward for a basic server. However, there are complex configurations that can (and should) be added in for enterprise-level environments to provide better performance, stability, and redundancy.

Oracle Linux is roughly half the cost in terms of licensing and support when compared to other comparable Linux distributors.

We had primarily been using Red Hat Linux in the past. We also evaluated SUSE Linux and CentOS.

While it is very straightforward to set up an Oracle Linux server, seek advice from experienced Oracle Partners to ensure that your new servers are customized and optimized to provide the performance, availability, and redundancy you need.