As of June 30, 2024, Red Hat Ends Support for RHEL 6: Why Upgrade Matters

Businesses relying on RHEL 6 face serious risks, including security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and operational inefficiencies. Legacy systems expose organizations to cyber threats and costly downtime up to 12 hours per month on average.

But there’s good news. Migrating to RHEL 8 or 9 provides enhanced security, performance, and compatibility, offering scalability to support growth while reducing operational costs and unplanned downtime. Over 50% of organizations are already planning or actively migrating to these platforms, ensuring their systems remain secure and future-ready.

The time to act is now. With VTG’s expertise, we can help you smoothly transition, ensuring your systems are secure, efficient, and ready for the future. Don't let outdated infrastructure hold you back.

Understanding the Risks of Staying on RHEL 6

  • Security Vulnerabilities: Modern threats demand advanced security features like SELinux configurations, system-wide cryptographic policies, and kernel hardening. These features in RHEL 8 and 9 safeguard against cyberattacks and ensure compliance with today’s standards.
  • Performance Degradation: Legacy systems lack the optimized resource management and enhanced hardware support found in RHEL 8 and 9. Upgrading delivers faster performance, reduced downtime, and better workload scalability.
  • Compliance Issues: Non-compliance can lead to hefty penalties. Integrated tools like Ansible automate workflows, streamline system management, and reduce manual intervention to enhance productivity and accuracy.
  • Operational Challenges: Migrating to RHEL 8 or 9 eliminates compatibility issues, enabling seamless integration with modern technologies like cloud-native applications and advanced container platforms.
     
VTG The Benefits of Upgrading

The Benefits of Migrating to RHEL 8 or 9

By addressing the risks above, RHEL 8 and 9 provide tangible benefits, making them essential for modern IT environments:

  • Enhanced Security: RHEL 8 and 9 deliver robust security with advanced SELinux configurations, system-wide cryptographic policies, and kernel hardening, safeguarding against modern threats. These enhancements strengthen system resilience, making them indispensable for today’s IT environments.
  • Improved Performance: With improved container support, advanced file systems, and optimized resource management, RHEL 8 and 9 ensure faster system performance, enhanced scalability, and seamless hardware compatibility. These upgrades enable better workload optimization and system efficiency.
  • Increased Productivity: Integrated automation tools like Ansible streamline workflows, reduce manual intervention, and enhance operational efficiency. By simplifying system management and ensuring seamless upgrades, Ansible minimizes human error and boosts team productivity.
  • Future-Proofing Your Infrastructure: Upgrading to RHEL 8 or 9 keeps your systems secure, modern, and adaptable to future technology trends. By resolving compatibility issues with newer hardware, software, and services, these versions prepare your infrastructure for growth and innovation, supporting advancements like cloud-native applications.

Red Hat Migration Solutions Tailored to Your Needs

At VTG, we recognize that every organization’s migration journey is unique. Whether you’re upgrading within the Red Hat ecosystem or considering alternative distributions, we tailor solutions to meet your specific needs:

  • Custom Migration Plans: Every migration starts with a detailed assessment of your infrastructure. VTG ensures compatibility, stability, and minimal disruption during the transition.
  • Support for Diverse Workloads: We specialize in migrating workloads ranging from traditional databases to modern containerized applications.
  • End-to-End Assistance: From pre-migration planning to post-migration optimization, VTG ensures a smooth and secure transition.
  • Options for Alternative Distributions: If RHEL doesn’t align with your strategy, we help you migrate to equally robust Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora.

Why Choose VTG for Your Migration Journey?

To bridge the gap between risks and benefits, VTG ensures your transition is seamless and secure.

  • Tailored Migration Strategy: We start with a comprehensive infrastructure assessment to identify custom configurations, dependencies, and challenges. Our migration plans focus on minimizing risks while ensuring system stability and performance during the upgrade.
  • Seamless Compatibility Testing: VTG rigorously tests application compatibility with RHEL 8/9, ensuring optimized performance post-migration. This step avoids performance degradation and guarantees smooth system operation.
  • Automation-Driven Migration: Leveraging tools like Ansible, VTG accelerates the migration process, reduces manual errors, and minimizes downtime. This automation approach ensures faster deployments aligned with best practices.
  • Enhanced Security and Compliance: RHEL 8/9’s robust security features, including kernel hardening and cryptographic policies, are seamlessly implemented during migration to meet compliance standards and protect against modern threats.
  • Post-Migration Optimization and Ongoing Support: VTG’s continuous monitoring and optimization ensure your new RHEL environment remains secure, scalable, and high-performing, integrating with future technologies like cloud-native applications.
  • Alternative Linux Distributions: VTG also supports migrations to other Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora, based on your business needs. These distributions offer robust community support and scalability.
  • Cloud-Native Solutions and DevOps Alignment: For businesses considering cloud adoption, VTG crafts migration strategies to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. We also utilize Docker and Kubernetes for containerization and orchestration, creating portable, scalable environments.
  • Future-Proof Migration with Proven Expertise: VTG ensures secure, cost-effective RHEL 8/9 migrations with minimal downtime, optimized performance, and scalable solutions that reduce costs and prepare your infrastructure for emerging technologies.

From Problem to Solution: A Migration Story

To bridge the gap between risks and benefits, VTG ensures your transition is seamless and secure.

Imagine a global insurance leader facing operational challenges due to an outdated RHEL 6 environment across a complex landscape of applications, servers, and databases hosted on VMware ESXi. Compliance risks and rising downtime were becoming critical issues.

VTG partnered with them to design and implement a seamless migration to RHEL 8/9. Leveraging our Ansible automation expertise, we developed and tested custom scripts to streamline the upgrade process, ensuring minimal disruption. By collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, we identified dependencies, automated migration tasks, and provided end-to-end support.

Post-migration, our customer achieved a 38% reduction in downtime, a 27% boost in operational efficiency, and seamless compliance with industry standards. Our robust automation and comprehensive documentation empowered them with a scalable, future-ready infrastructure, delivering immediate ROI and positioning them to adapt swiftly to evolving business needs.

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Posted in Blogs, IT Infrastructure Transformation