Oracle Solaris vs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

For running Oracle databases, Solaris can't be beat. Leveraging Zones allows for virtualization out of the box. In addition, using zones with clustering can make migrating from Solaris 10 to 11 very easy. Finally, in an enterprise environment that requires 24/7 up-time and meeting SLA's, Solaris is a viable and robust choice.

Incentivized

SLES is a good fit for running supported enterprise applications like SAP, HANA, oracle,.. We use it to run all our SAP workloads, and so far everything has worked great. All libraries are right in the repository, all documentation is correct and the support answers really fast in case you have problems.

Incentivized

• Live update for patching in conjunction with the package management functions. This ability to rollback is very convenient.
• dTrace
• Built in compliance testing.

Incentivized

• Seems Custom made for SAP workloads
• Longest standing collaboration between platform and apps
• SuSE for SAP works seamless on-prem, on SAP Cloud, Azure, AWS & GCP
• Support for oldest SP of SuSE so our customers can run their business without fear

• Takes time to learn.
• Integration into Microsoft's Active Directory.

• The support window for service packs after a new SP is released is too short.
• Community engagement is low.
• There are times when supported packages fall too far behind and create compatibility issues with applications. The Open Build Service usually provides a way around this, though.

Incentivized

You need to take the time to learn it. It is a massive product.

For the breadth of services, features and overall performance, I believe Suse Linux is a great choice for any enterprise. It still has to grow a bit in areas like online help forums and documents, but we are pretty much satisfied with our choice.

Incentivized

The support teams are well trained and responsive. Patches are rolled out regularly and are easy to deploy and backout.

It's great for basic support issues. But it's less suited for anything that is either obscure or uncommon, and it is very hard to escalate, unless you've built a relationship with your vendor/salesperson.

Incentivized

Third party training was fast but mostly unnecessary as we were already Unix trained and Linux familiar

Stress testing and timing is key. You need test systems that mirror the live environments. User testing must be reflected in peak loads.

Oracle Solaris is Scalable, have a good patching capability and secure by default. You want to have something that's up and running and stable, something that's not going to crash. But if we do have an issue, we can get somebody for technical support who can help us work through the problems.

Incentivized

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server works well with the SUSE Manager, it really simplifies everything. We also do have SUSE 4 SAP, and the SUSE Manager is able to manage them all, even other (up to date) Linux distributions. Patching has never been that easy and the SALT integration is also working without any problems.

We have successfully deployed on physical servers, VMs and in cloud all over the globe from templates of our own design

• Possibility to migrate old servers protecting previous inversions
• reduces implementation times and accelerates time to obtain value in the market.

Incentivized

• It allows a very small team to manage a large number of servers, due to its automation and manageability.
• SAP supports it very well, making it straightforward to manage. There are also "recipes" for Oracle which has all of the requisites to install an Oracle DB; which helps with deployment immensely.
• It lets us run large SAP instances in SLES on Power, helping us with support, manageability, and performance.
• Support costs are high, but required for SLES for SAP.

Incentivized