Virtualization

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

Server and desktop virtualization

Virtualization should be easy, fast, open, and cost-effective

Virtualization can vastly improve efficiency, free up resources, and cut costs. But you can't afford to sacrifice performance, security, and existing investments. And as you plan for the cloud, it's important to build common services that use your virtualization investment and the cloud, while avoiding vendor dependency. So what if you could virtualize both your servers and desktops, manage them from 1 simple interface, and prepare for the cloud on your terms—without compromise? See how.

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Benefits

Record-setting performance and scalability

  • Performs as well as or better than bare metal[1]

  • Support for up to 160 logical CPUs and up to 4TB of memory per virtual machine (VM)

  • Record-setting SPECvirt_sc2010 benchmark results, including highest overall performance and highest number of well-performing VMs on a single server[1]

  • Up to 95% to 140% performance gains for real-world enterprise workloads like SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Exchange[1]

  • Robust Microsoft Exchange performance and high I/O throughput in Oracle database workloads

  • Consolidation ratios of 850+ VMs with enterprise workloads running on a single server[2]

See how other workloads perform on Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization:

Oracle | AMQP | Java™ | Microsoft Exchange | IBM DB2 | LAMP | Microsoft IIS

Award-Winning

Sky News, a Red Hat customer, was awarded both Best Virtualization and Server Consolidation project and Best of Show in the 2014 Best of VMworld Europe awards for their project that includes Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and Red Hat Satellite.

Product details

Centralize identity information in a network-based registry

Complete virtualization management

Only Red Hat® Enterprise Virtualization offers complete enterprise virtualization management for servers and desktops on the same infrastructure. Built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux®, it delivers reliable business agility and continuity for critical Linux and Microsoft Windows workloads at the scale you need. And because it's part of Red Hat Cloud Infrastructure, you can prepare for the cloud for a lot less than proprietary virtualization solutions.

Download the datasheet and our features guide

Datacenter complexity is overwhelming. But Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and Red Hat CloudForms provide 1 easy-to-use management environment for your entire virtualization infrastructure—including provisioning, deployment, and analysis. Manage tens, hundreds, or thousands of physical and virtual servers as easily as 1, and more accurately forecast hardware resources.

Learn more in our Red Hat Cloud Infrastructure datasheet

Take control of your technology—and future

Get more flexibility and choice than closed, proprietary solutions. Based on open standards, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization works with Linux and Windows environments, and enterprise applications like Oracle, SAP, and SAS—freeing you from vendor lock-in. Plus, our extensive IHV and ISV ecosystem has thousands of hardware configurations and complementary apps to choose from.

Military–grade security is built right in

With Red Hat, security doesn't cost extra. sVirt and SELinux provide kernel-level protection against hypervisor and guest exploits. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and earlier versions, including the KVM hypervisor, are Common Criteria EAL 4+ certified. And all security features are easy to use, administer, and manage, helping you:

  • Protect multiple tenants.
  • Fix critical vulnerabilities fast—most within 1 day.
  • Protect data at rest or moving across the network.
  • Reduce exposure with strict permissions.
  • Simplify auditing with the complete separation of guests.
  • Protect against malicious software attacks with cryptography.

Learn more about KVM security comparison and our KVM based-security

Get ready for the cloud

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is a component of Red Hat Cloud Infrastructure, which lets you build and manage private cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization provides common underlying services and management technologies for traditional virtualization workloads while providing an on-ramp to high-level cloud functionality based on OpenStack®.

By virtualizing with Red Hat, you're laying the foundation for a seamless path to your private and open hybrid cloud implementations.

Learn about cloud infrastructure for the real world

Virtualize your desktops

Only Red Hat lets you virtualize desktops on the same infrastructure as servers at no added cost, giving you:

  • A seamless user experience. The powerful SPICE remote protocol delivers a user experience that's nearly indistinguishable from that of a local PC workstation.
  • Security. By moving desktop environments off disparately located desktop PCs into a centrally controlled datacenter, you safeguard company data and comply with strict government regulations.
  • Centralized management from 1 vendor. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager is a feature-rich desktop virtualization management system with advanced capabilities for physical host servers and virtual desktops, VM guests, and everything in between.

Learn how SPICE delivers a seamless desktop experience

What could you do with 75% savings?

Many IT organizations pay a premium for platforms that perform similar to x86 systems. And that legacy UNIX platform you maintain? It's costing more than it would to replace it with a new x86 server and Red Hat software.

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is a lower-cost alternative to expensive proprietary solutions, leaving room in your budget for other initiatives. You can deploy more virtualized servers today and—with a quicker return on investment (ROI)—install your next virtualization project sooner.

Ways you can save:

  1. Save up to 50% to 75%[3] over proprietary alternatives
  2. Low-cost, high-value subscriptions include new releases at no extra charge.
  3. Lower operational costs can lead to upfront subscription costs being paid off in as little as 7 months[4].
  4. Consolidate and virtualize onto fewer systems to help reduce the number of IT staff needed.
  5. Faster time to deployment reduces TCO.

Download the competitive pricing guide

Download the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization TCO Calculator

We see a clear ROI from our use of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, not only for the hardware costs, but also from the manpower it takes from spinning up a cluster and getting VMs deployed and managed.

Micheal Waltz, Qualcomm

Service and Support

We don't just sell you technology. We stand by it.

Invest in your or your team's skills

Our training courses are hands-on and role-based. This means students stay at their keyboards for up to 80% of a course, boosting the retention of skills they'll use every day. We offer several convenient ways to train and save, with training facilities around the world. Visit our student center to learn more, or read some training successes.

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RH318/RH319)

Learn how to configure a Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization environment; install, manage, and troubleshoot virtual servers and desktops; and secure virtual environments via multilevel administrative roles.

Learn more about Red Hat Training

Have what it takes? Prove it.

Employers notice Red Hat certifications. They know that to become Red Hat Certified Professionals, candidates must complete real-world tasks using our technologies—not just answer questions about them. Build your career by getting certified. We offer multiple exam locations and ways to train.

Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA)

Deploy scalable, highly available storage on off-the-shelf hardware and in the cloud.

Learn more about Red Hat certification

Rely on the experts

Let Red Hat Consulting help you successfully deploy Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization. We offer flexible engagement models to help meet your IT goals. Have unallocated end-of-year budget? Consider using Consulting Units to secure resources you'll need in the upcoming year—without committing to a specific topic up front.

Cloud and virtualization engagement
Ensure your cloud platform is set up to support your long-term cloud computing goals.
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Accelerator Service
Accelerate the deployment of your Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization solution in your environment.
Learn more about Red Hat Consulting

Together, we can do more

Collaboration is a pillar of the open source community. And it's how Red Hat approaches support. Connect to Red Hat Support to access industry-leading technical resources available in our award-winning Red Hat Customer Portal anywhere, any time.

We're listening

In keeping with the open source way, we like to keep the lines of communication open. So whether you're a customer or just interested in learning more, connect with us. We're eager to answer questions.

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The amount of help and support we received from Red Hat gave us the confidence to move forward with our virtualization project — even though it was different from most other companies’ approaches.

JAMES MURPHY, TECHNOLOGY DELIVERY MANAGER, SKY NEWS Learn More

Related resources

Case studies

Casio
The greatest benefit provided by the combination of Red Hat Gluster Storage and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization was a dramatic reduction in storage costs, which had posed problems for many years.
Telefónica
One of the key benefits of Red Hat cloud solutions—which are based on Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Satellite, and Red Hat CloudForms—is that they work with virtualization solutions from different manufacturers, including the one currently installed and in production in the TGSol datacenter.
Cigna
Deploying Red Hat and Red Hat-supported open source projects, Cigna’s initial proof of concept was so successful that it immediately spread throughout the IT organization.
British Airways
British Airways increases scalability, reliability, flexibility and performance while building on its IT infrastructure using Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization.
See All Virtualization Case Studies

Hardware Certification

Confidently run Red Hat software on your hardware

Red Hat's Hardware Certification Program ensures compatibility between Red Hat software products and hardware from industry-leading partners. In addition to hardware tests that verify compatibility, the program requires an active support relationship between Red Hat and the hardware partner. This relationship is your assurance that Red Hat and the certified hardware partner will work together to address issues should the need arise.

Learn more

Try a fully supported 30-day trial of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

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Notes

  1. Comparison based on benchmark addressing performance evaluation of datacenter servers used in virtualized server consolidation at www.spec.org as of November 2013. SPEC® and the benchmark name SPECvirt® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation.
  2. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization performance: SPECvirt benchmark
  3. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization: Competitive pricing guide
  4. Understanding Linux Deployment Strategies: The Business Case for Standardizing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, IDC, April 2011.

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