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Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)

Score6.1 out of 10

32 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)?

Red Hat Virtualization (formerly Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, broadly known as RHEV) is an enterprise level server and desktop virtualization solution. Red Hat Virtualization also contains the functionality of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktop in later editions of the platform.

Categories & Use Cases

Key Features

Learn about the best (and worst!) features Red Hat Virtualization (RHV) has to offer, as determined by TrustRadius' reviewers.
Based on 32 ratings of Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)'s features
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Top Performing Features

  • Hypervisor-level security

    Hypervisor-level security including antivirus and anti-malware

    Category average: 8.4

  • Virtual machine automated provisioning

    Automation of virtual machine provisioning through use of vm templates

    Category average: 7.8

  • Management console

    Management console for central administration of vm environment

    Category average: 8

Areas for Improvement

  • Live virtual machine backup

    Ability to backup vms without interrupting service

    Category average: 8

  • Live virtual machine migration

    Downtime minimization by migrating live vms between hosts and across clusters

    Category average: 8

Reviews

What users are saying about Red Hat Virtualization (RHV).
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RHEV is the best virtualization software

Incentivized
Naveen Sharma
Consultant in Information Technology at DCM Infotech Ltd (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are using RHEV for the virtualization of servers in our environment. Currently, we are using RHEV for nonproduction servers. The best part of RHEV is an open source product in virtualization technology, it is vendor-independent software and a lot more cost-effective and flexible than proprietary solutions. We are managing 100 plus Virtual machines with RHEV in our environment and using the hardware efficiently as well as saving the cost of our project.

Pros

  • RHEV allow us to install the Operating system image on virtual machines very quickly.
  • RHEV is an open-source tool, we can easily integrate the solution on any hardware and do a lot of customization.
  • RHEV is manageable through a Graphical User Interface, which makes it easy for the end-user to manage the RHEV.
  • Works well on Patching tasks.

Cons

  • Documentation of RHEV needs more improvement.
  • RHEV GUI needs a lot of improvements in some versions of RHEV, GUI will not work properly (shows incorrect details of VM ).
  • Need fast rollout of patch releases.
  • Need good linux Knowledge to manage the RHEVM.

Most Important Features

  • We easily scale the CPU and memory of the VM's using RHEV manager.
  • OpenStack integration with RHEV.
  • Integration of RHEV with Red Hat satellite.
  • cContainer support on RHEV.

Return on Investment

  • RHEV is an open-source tool, we can install on any hardware, it helps to save the cost of organization.
  • RHEV is easily customizable and integrated with any other Red Hat software.
  • RHEV increases the availability and management of Virtual machines, which saves the cost of organization in SLA.

Alternatives Considered

IBM PowerVM, vSphere and Oracle Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Other Software Used

vSphere, Oracle Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, IBM PowerVM

Best in Class Virtualization - Red Hat (RHV)

Incentivized
Vandana Yadav
Presales Executive in Information Technology at Corporate Infotech Pvt Ltd (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have many servers in our organization running Linux. We have hosted many virtual machines on the same, and many of the company applications are running on those VMs resulting in a cost-effective solution as well as time-saving as it reduces the need for hardware every time our company has IT needs.

Pros

  • Creating multiple VMs
  • Save costs as it is open source and comes as Linux kernel Module
  • Reduces need of multiple hardware everytime you need to scale up

Cons

  • Sometimes it can be complicated to handle
  • You need support tools for setting up, without it can be complex
  • Sometimes performance can drop down

Most Important Features

  • Open source
  • Fast performance
  • Comes free with Linux

Return on Investment

  • Cost efficient as it is open source and you don't have to pay extra, comes with Linux
  • Less manpower to manage multiple hardware
  • High performance also results in time saving

Other Software Used

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Red Hat Ceph Storage, Red Hat OpenShift

Infrastructure Architect

Incentivized
Verified User
Professional in Engineering (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Red Hat Virtualization is used to host virtual machines for our telecommunications applications.

Pros

  • 1- It easy to upload qcow2 images from the browser.
  • 2- It is easy to automate repetitive tasks with Ansible using RHVM API.
  • 3- It is easy to patch the hypervisors.

Cons

  • 1- RHVM API is pretty slow, especially after creating a VM it is not possible to retrieve the VM details (i.e VM's MAC Address) fast enough, where we need to place a pause in our Ansible Playbook, make the automation process slow.
  • 2- RHV is still using collected to monitor the hypervisors which is deviating from Red Hat policy for other RHEL based applications to use PCP to monitor, which is richer in features.
  • 3- It will be great if it is possible to patch the hypervisors using other tools such as satellite and not only via RHVM.
  • 4- In the past Red Hat used to present patches in the z release (i.e. 4.3.z), and features in the y release (i.e 4. y), but starting from 4.4 that is mixed together wherein the Z release you get both patches and features, that is not good because that requires a lot of time to test when we patch as it includes features as well.
  • 5- Engineering team has to be more reactive when new feature is requested.

Most Important Features

  • 1- Automating regular tasks using Ansible.
  • 2- Deploying VMs using templates.
  • 3- Special features for VMs as CPU pinning and NUMA.

Return on Investment

  • 1- The subscription fees is relatively low compared to other virtualization solutions.
  • 2- Automation of VMs' deployment is simple, that helped a lot in speeding up VM deployment however there is room to improve by making the API faster.
  • 3- Adding hypervisors in an automated way is simple that helped to scale out our environment.

Alternatives Considered

VMware ESXi

Other Software Used

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Red Hat OpenShift

Using RHV with KVM is fantastic.

Incentivized
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (10,001+ employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Due to its inclusion in RedHat, RHV is utilized as a one-stop solution for virtual environments. The installation expenses of such a system pose a significant challenge for businesses. We're utilizing RHV instead of VSphere since it's more cost-effective and easier to integrate with KVM.

Pros

  • RHV issues/bugs can be reported via Bugzilla to RH support. The service is great and typically responds soon.
  • Red Hat distribution integration is seamless as it is integrated into the kernel.
  • OpenStack support enables more customized VM templates and network configuration control.

Cons

  • If the aforementioned can't be done, additional open-source tool compatibility or support.

Most Important Features

  • Improved compatibility with KVM.

Return on Investment

  • Testing on oVirt before acquiring RedHat service contracts has a positive influence.

Alternatives Considered

oVirt

Other Software Used

CloudBees Jenkins Platform, IBM Data Center Outsourcing

You don't know Virtualization until you've tried RHEV!

Incentivized
Matthew J. FitzpatrickView profile
President/CEO in Information Technology at Travelers (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

  • Base licensing includes H/A and Live Migration features (you don't have to pay extra for them like VMware).
  • It's all completely managed through a WebUI - no fat client you have to install.
  • Very easy to use, manage, provision, and upgrade.

Cons

  • It's definitely come a long ways from what it used to be and is certainly a lot easier - the initial setup/configuration used to be quite difficult but really isn't anymore.
  • Better support and third-party integration for backup, snapshots, and restore of VMs like VEEAM for VMware - this is my only complaint. There are companies that offer solutions for RHEV however they're very limited and can be pricey.
  • I think some improvement can be made for deploying micro and cloud services through RHEV.

Return on Investment

  • It has had an extremely positive impact on my overall business and has allowed me to utilize and leverage it as an offering to my clients.
  • It's an extremely solid, robust, and reliable product built off of KVM Virtualization technology.
  • Less expensive solution than VMware and includes more features!

Other Software Used

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Adobe Acrobat DC, LibreOffice, Adobe Business Catalyst, Cisco ASA, IBM Notes, Cisco Catalyst, Suse Linux