The State of Enterprise Linux for networking

Latest release. RHEL 10 was released on May 25, 2025 and will be supported until 2035.

Standout features: RHEL 10 integrates the Lightspeed AI set of tools that aim to help improve overall system management and administration. The update also has post-quantum cryptography (PQC) support, optimized cloud integration and improved SELinux for security. RHEL also integrates the Podman container platform which is Red Hat’s competitive offering to the Docker containers used by other vendors. It’s also worth noting that Red Hat’s OpenShift is a leading Kubernetes cloud-native distribution and RHEL is often the primary base, providing optimizations and easier integration.

Key networking features:

• Encrypted DNS. Support for DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH)
• DPDK. Support for the Data Plane Development Kit (DKPK) enables Network Function Virtualization (NFV).
• Netavark. Podman Container Networking which is RHEL’s default for container uses the Netavark system instead of the Container Network Interface (CNI) that is common on other distributions.
• NetworkManager, RHEL 10 uses the open-source NetworkManager as its standard tool for network configuration.
• Real-Time. There is an available Real-Time kernel that is useful for telco and mission-critical industries for more deterministic processing times

Other RHEL-based Linux distributions

Of note, there are multiple distributions that are largely based on RHEL in the market today as well.

Among them are Oracle Linux which enables users to swap in an Oracle Unbreakable Linux kernel, which can offer potential advantages.

The Alma Linux and Rocky Linux distributions got their starts from Red Hat’s CentOS community version of RHEL. Oracle, Alma and Rocky Linux all adhere to the OpenELA (Open Enterprise Linux Association) specifications to align with RHEL for approximate feature compatibility.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)