SUSE Linux Enterprise Reviews

Over the last few years, though I found SUSE Linux Enterprise to be a good solution, I prefer Oracle Linux. My company uses SUSE Linux Enterprise for our production environment.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is generally a stable system, especially since we have a lot of SAP products in our company. SUSE Linux Enterprise provides all the binaries for SAP.

The quality of support offered by SUSE Linux Enterprise is not that great, making it an area where improvements are required. The tickets opened with the support team take a long time to be resolved. In general, it is difficult to get access to a senior engineer in the support team for help. My experience with support teams has been better with other vendors.

I have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise for five years. I am an end user of the solution. I use the solution's latest version.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

There are more than 2,000 users of the solution in my organization.

The solution is used on a daily basis in my company, so it is used twenty-four hours and seven days a week.

I rate the technical support a four to five out of ten.

Neutral

I have experience with another solution before moving to SUSE Linux Enterprise. I did not make the decision to move to SUSE Linux Enterprise in our company.

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

The solution is deployed on the public cloud and on an on-premises model.

The solution can be deployed in a few minutes. The solution's on-premises deployment in our company's data center takes a few minutes. Our company has a few tools to automate most of SUSE Linux Enterprise-related work, so it's an automated process.

Three people take care of all the product-related deployment processes in our company.

The product's installation phase is carried out with the help of an in-house team.

SUSE Linux Enterprise will have software support costs, so it's difficult to calculate the ROI.

I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price. In terms of the additional costs attached to the solution, I would say that my company has purchased a few add-ons for SUSE Linux Enterprise, but they are all different products.

My company has a team of five engineers to take care of the product's maintenance.

SUSE Linux Enterprise makes it easy for users who have an SAP Store. There are better solutions available in the market for non-SAP workloads.

I rate the overall tool a six out of ten.

I like the fact that SUSE has a secure operating system. SUSE is one of the more mature versions of Linux and one of the best out there - it's very easy to install and upgrade. One of its advantages is that it doesn't consume as much memory as other operating systems and you can trim it down. If you're trying to fortify the operating system it's very easy. If you were using Windows you'd have to do all kinds of things and it would take a lot longer, it's easier with Linux. 

I think the solution needs to move away from offering so many community or feature software. They need to develop something similar to Marketplace in AWS. SUSE has a tool that allows you to patch and update and install free software to separate channels. It provides a channel to patch the operating system and add new features and another channel to deal with installing free software. When you use the tool you're dealing with everything and for security reasons I think they need to separate the free software because it's a risk, especially nowadays when we're doing a lot of fortification or strengthening the operating system. We need to have the ability to not have to deal with all the free software because it sometimes has security holes. They really should just focus on the operating system updates and give the administrator the ability to put a block on all the free software. In other words, I just want the operating system updates. 

I've been using this solution for about seven years. 

I haven't had contact with technical support. I downloaded the free version of SUSE and never purchased SUSE products. It's old, but you can use it. It's unlike the IBM Linux version, there's no free IBM Linux out there for now.

The initial setup is straightforward. One of the things I like about Linux is that it's a lot easier to update than, for instance, Windows. I have experience with Windows, but the last eight years I have been using primarily Linux and only use Windows when I need to clean because sometimes you try to watch videos on Linux and they don't work or require you to install an additional decoder. As far as patching goes, Linux is a lot easier to patch than Windows and a lot easier to protect than Windows, I think.

I haven't kept up on licensing costs, I haven't been selling or supporting products on a day to day basis. 

In terms of other similar solutions, I know that Red Hat Linux is more complex than the standard Linux distribution but it's better because it has so many extensions and so many different products within the Red Hat family. It's a lot more mature than SUSE. Now that IBM has bought Red Hat it's going to become even better. It can become a serious competitor in the cloud, although they need to standardize the naming conventions and there isn't a convention as with Amazon where it's very easy to understand the cloud features and products, and they have a well-organized system. IBM doesn't have that.

I've had this version of SUSE for a while and just patch it and carry out the software updates because I want to keep my environment stable. When I was installing my multiple systems, I selected the best update of the lot and SUSE was one of them. I selected several different Linux distributions. I have the SUSE Linux, Fedora, Scientific Linux and I have Mango Linux. I wanted to develop a feature on my laptop that would allow me to run multiple operating systems concurrently and have multiple keyboards on the laptop, rather than having to switch between them. It's a work in progress. 

I rate this product a nine out of 10.  

We use the product in a desktop environment for testing purposes.

SUSE Linux Enterprise has a good management system for DevOps operations and integration with Red Hat.

The platform doesn't support certain APMs. In terms of configuration, it is very good for beginners. However, it could be more compliant. The command line tools need to enhance regarding compatibility similar to Red Hat with different languages like C++, Python, etc. Additionally, it is an expensive product. They could provide a free development license before working in the production environment.

We have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise since 2023.

According to my colleagues working on product maintenance, it has good stability.

We work with small and medium businesses. However, sometimes, I also work with enterprises. We need to consider that support availability, documentation quality, and interface optimization can vary based on geographical locations for scalability.

The technical support services are good.

Positive

The initial setup process is easy with assistance from a consultant or support team. It is very simple to install and requires a maximum of two executives to work on the implementation. We can use a web interface in a development portal to repair the console and manage registered servers.

The product is expensive. We purchase its yearly license.

Before buying the product, I advise others to learn about the organization's requirements regarding use cases. They can opt for SUSE Linux Enterprise if they have an essential budget. If not, they can look for Linux distributions like Red Hat, Arch, Fedora, etc.

I rate it an eight out of ten.

It is used for integration with the SAP HANA solutions and for SAP products, which is an ERP, and our customers use SAP ERP to run their business. For example, one of our customers is Lepilo Foods, which manufactures cheese and whey protein. They use SAP, and it sits on SUSE Linux Enterprise.

Our clients use HANA Database, which is in-memory computing and makes business transactions faster.

The pacemaker cluster and the SUSE Manager used for patching are the most valuable features.

We previously had trouble integrating Autodesk with the SUSE Manager, but the issue was resolved and improved.

We have been using this solution for more than ten years and are using version 15. It is deployed both on-premises and cloud. We are implementation partners, so we deal with SAP technologies and ERP implementation.

It is a very stable solution. 

It is scalable. It is very easy to maintain, migrate and upgrade. No downtime is required in a lot of cases.

We have not used technical support. Everything has been seamless without any problems. But we know that SUSE support is very good, and if there are any issues, they will be able to help us.

We have experience using Red Hat. To run SAP, we would recommend SUSE Linux Enterprise. Red Hat is also very good, but SUSE Linux Enterprise is a master in the SAP market.

The initial setup was straightforward. Also, if it is deployed on cloud, it's very straightforward. The deployment can take from ten to 30 minutes.

I rate this solution a ten out of ten. SAP HANA and SUSE Linux Enterprise are the best to run the SAP business. Currently, all the features available in the market are integrated into SUSE Linux Enterprise.

It's like an operating system, and then on top of this operating system, I install the Mitel application.

The most valuable feature of the solution is the installation part. The process is carried out through a download from Mitel's support site. It more or less preconfigures the system.

Mitel offers a specific version of SUSE Linux Enterprise, and whenever they make improvements to the operating system to better align with their application, I download it for distribution. Then, I work with what I have. But, anyways, it's okay to learn more since it helps me with my laboratory work.

I don't like the frequency of updates, especially if they're only from the vendor. However, in today's world, numerous threats need to be addressed. So, I believe that security upgrades should be implemented quickly, including the deployment process. If the software is stable and I know that there are new features to be added or configuration changes needed to be made, I'd rather not have to make changes too often.

I have been working with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for around four to five years now. I work as an integrator for voice systems. The version I am utilizing is tailored for voice systems and can also be utilized as a platform.

It is a stable solution since it is great to configure. We don't face any issues related to the operating system or application. There are some difficulties sometimes because we need to interconnect different types of devices from different vendors.

The scalability of the solution depends on the customers, who are the ones paying for it. In Romania, it is not easy for customers to choose cloud services because they question where my equipment is, and they also want to know whether it is safe to enter certain information. The customers also wish to know who knows how to operate the device and which security configuration should be deployed since there are concerns about the safety of their data. Despite our efforts to provide clarification, explaining these issues to customers is difficult.

In my company, I don't use it because my company is very small. But I work as an integrator with my customers.

I had a very fine experience with the tech support team, and I found almost all the valuable information on the Mitel site.

I work with VMware and Hyper-V from Microsoft in my laboratory for testing purposes. I don't work with other teams or companies. Recently, I installed VMware ESXi.

I have used Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager, Microsoft Project, Team Foundation Server, IIS, and Windows Server, but not on an operational team. So, I know about these tools, but I don't work with them on a day-to-day basis. My experience is in voice devices like Mitel. I have experience with all the imported applications. However, I am currently working on configuring virtualization and virtual machines for a customer, a task that requires the use of these tools.

The setup process isn't too difficult and is the same for all operating systems, especially with Linux, regardless of the distribution. However, if I need to perform specific tasks, such as adding external devices like a network adapter, then finding the correct driver can be challenging. It's tough to answer how long the deployment process takes since it depends on the type of device being used. If all the required drivers are available in the distribution or for all interfaces, then the installation is quick and easy.

In the deployment process, the first step is to install VirtualPBX and the necessary applications for voice configuration, such as conference and phone. After that, it's important to connect the device and establish a virtual connection. However, I needed to consult with the developer and IT department to determine the type of network redundancy or software redundancy required. Then, I try to understand and learn the configurations of VMware or Hyper-V.

Most of the time, integration becomes easy when you put all the information on the table and collaborate with other teams and departments, such as the IT department. From their end, they provide a guide on the exchange along with the provider. If everything is taken into account, then it becomes easier.

Although I can install the system on my own, when I visit the customer's site, I often require additional support from their IT department. This is because I cannot make some modifications to their equipment, such as switches and phones.

The license comes directly from Mitel since it is personalized distribution, and everything depends on that particular distribution. Regarding pricing, everybody would want it to be cheaper. It's not just one person who is working on the solution. So, there are a lot of people who work for that particular software to maintain its high level of valuation, and they should be paid for their work.

I would recommend people to use this solution. I rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We normally use SUSE for application servers.

The ease of use is quite exceptional in SUSE Linux. Whenever you need to set up any application role on that particular distribution, you normally just use the inbuilt package manager or installer called YaST, which is basically the management toolkit for the server. Compared to other distributions, maybe where you need first to go ahead and install the package and probably do a bit of configuration, it's normally easier to do this in SUSE since the package is already installed and all you have to do is just do your configurations for that particular feature you need.

Part of the advantages of using SUSE Linux is that it comes with support. So you do get it for free. However, if you need support, that is when you need to pay a subscription cost. Still, patches, you can get for free.

It's easy to set up.

The solution is stable.

It can scale. 

Support is very responsive. 

The turnaround time needs improvement. Whenever we have a new project or whenever we have a new solution we're deploying, using SUSE is quite easy to configure. This allows us to get up and running within a few minutes. However, the turnaround time of deployment could be faster. 

SUSE is also portable, so you can run it on any virtualized platform, including containers. 

The portability of the solutions is also key and needs improvement. For example, you might have a hardware failure, and you need to run all the backup of the same server and run it on another host. 

Compliance also needs improvement, especially around security due to patching.

My main issue with Linux distributions is majorly around clustering. They should probably just make clustering a bit simpler and also provide more descriptive log files for cluster services.

I've been working with the solution for around a year now. 

I'd rate the stability eight out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

The scalability is great, and I would rate it eight out it ten. It does support the same or almost the same tooling as Red Hat. For example, OpenShirt and containerization. 

We have about 500 users on the solution right now. We expand on an as-needed basis.

Technical support is actually superb in the sense that whenever you raise a support mechanism, their support is within 30 minutes to two or three hours.

Positive

The solution is very simple to set up. It is not overly complex or difficult. I'd rate it nine out of ten in terms of ease of deployment. 

What we did is we came up with a template of what we wanted our image to look like. For example, simple things such as a date and time setting, the region setting on the OS itself, patching, having the latest patches, and user management. We came up with a template of what we like to call a golden image that was already installed with everything that we usually use on a day-to-day basis on our server. We took that golden image, and we deployed it on every other little application that we needed to install. 

This means that we do not have to repeat similar processes, for example, user management, installing the latest patches, configuration, et cetera - basic OS-level configurations. 

Our strategy is basically to have a golden image with all the settings that we think are necessary and that apply to all of the systems that are running across our environment, and then we use that golden image to continuously deploy new systems when need be.

The full deployment itself takes less than 20 minutes. Normally it's done by one system admin.

There is no maintenance needed per se. Maybe this is patching and a monthly OS checkup. That's it. 

The entire deployment was done in-house. We did not need help from outside integrators or consultants. 

In terms of time and money-saving metrics, I'd rate OI nine out of ten.

In terms of cost, they are cheaper than Red Hat. I'd rate the affordability of pricing six out of ten. 

For SUSE Linux, currently, we normally use the free versions that come with both patching and support for patching. We normally pay for support whenever we need to, so they'll charge us for every hour after the engineer has connected.

We're customers.

We have an on-premises and cloud deployment. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. 

It's a superb choice, especially when you are running anything, let's say web services or operating system-level services. It's easy to set up and quite stable. 

We use SUSE Linux Enterprise to migrate SAP workloads to the cloud.

The price of SUSE Linux Enterprise could improve, it is too expensive.

I have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise for a long time.

SUSE Linux Enterprise is stable.

I have found SUSE Linux Enterprise to be scalable.

We have approximately 700 to 800 users using this solution.

The initial setup of SUSE Linux Enterprise is simple.

The time of the implementation depends on the project, such as the length of time and how many VMs you have. For example, if I need to have 100 VMs I will need three people. 

The price of SUSE Linux Enterprise could be cheaper. Other solutions, such as 
Red Hat.

I would recommend this solution to others. We have to provide solutions that work for our clients.

 rate SUSE Linux Enterprise an eight out of ten.

SUSE Linux Enterprise is easy to configure for those who are not hardcore command-line driven.

If you want to do something simple like changing an IP number, you have to be quite aware of all the configuration files where you will change that. It's not like Windows, where you just click another IP address and reboot the server. Since this is Linux, you need to know the hierarchy of the corporate files that hold that IP number, and you have to know what you're doing.

I have been using SUSE Linux Enterprise for many years.

We don't have any complaints about SUSE Linux Enterprise's stability because it's really, really stable. I cannot even recall any major incidents regarding the solution's stability.

I worked for technical support myself for Micro Focus as a contractor. I know the technical support, and things have changed now with the OpenText acquisition. The 24-hour support is quite good in Salt Lake City, Houston, and Europe. However, there have been some recent changes in the support because of OpenText's recent acquisition of Micro Focus. The EMEA support staff here in the Netherlands are quite capable. I rate SUSE Linux Enterprise's technical support a seven or eight out of ten.

Positive

Doing a new setup for the solution based on the open enterprise server takes a few hours. Most of the time is spent waiting for every packet to come in.

Overall, I rate SUSE Linux Enterprise a seven or eight out of ten.