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Oracle Linux an Oracle DBA Must Have OS Choice
March 08, 2018

Oracle Linux an Oracle DBA Must Have OS Choice

Bert Scalzo | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle Linux

I work across many different types of organizations. In some cases, Oracle Linux is being used for all database servers across the entire organization. In some cases, it is being selectively rolled out to replace legacy Unix systems. Plus in a few isolated cases, I've helped to replace Windows database servers with Oracle Linux. The common theme across all these different types of organizations is that they want the best Linux for running Oracle, which is pre-tuned and optimized as well as well supported by the database vendor. Oracle Linux wins hands down on these points.
  • memory management
  • kernel pre-tuned
  • excellent Oracle support
  • well documented solutions for issues on Oracle support site
  • better adoption by all cloud providers
  • better integration with webmin (a popular, free Linux admin tool)
  • Oracle provided plug-ins for popular monitoring tools like Zabbix
  • radically reduces dev and test server costs
  • when replacing old Unix or Windows servers the performance gain has exceed all expectations
  • easy Oracle install and tuning lowers database deployment costs
While I've deployed and optimized Oracle databases on several other major Linux distributions such as Redhat, CentOS and even Ubuntu server, none has been as easy in terms of being pre-packaged and ready for an Oracle database install. While most of the advantages can be replicated by manual efforts, there are nonetheless some key Oracle enhancements to the kernel and some command utilities that are only on Oracle Linux and which cannot be had on other vendors' Linux solution. Some of these such as memory management are critical to optimal database performance.
If you are going to deploy Oracle on an Intel or AMD based server then Oracle Linux is by far your best choice. The operating system is built and packaged from the ground up to be the single best and easiest OS for running an Oracle database. But while it may be a custom solution, it's probably 98% or more the same as Redhat and CentOS from an OS admin point of view - so easy to hire resources as any Linux admin can work with Oracle Linux with almost zero changes to their existing practices.