For some, the addition of a linux server into the infrastructure is simple, load the OS, get an IP, and connect it to the network. For others, a whole new world of challenges exists when attempting to incorporate the Linux operating system into a pre-existing environment that has traditionally been of the big iron variety. Challenges that exist are many. These issues challenge the heating/cooling strategies of a modern data center, require the buy-in and assurance of business and technical management with respect to support, reliability, cost savings, cost avoidance and of course return on investment. There are also the purely technical issues that face the systems engineers, systems administrators, operations personnel and the programmers. This presentation will point out some of the major issues that face the pre-existing enterprise when considering the introduction of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux distribution, discuss the benefits of displacing big iron types of systems such as Email and Oracle database infrastructure with special consideration given to the reduction of cost and gains in performance. It will Illustrate some typical issues that face engineering, administrative, and technical staff when adapting these types of solutions on commodity hardware. It will also discuss issues faced with respect to support cases and can give a realistic accounting of why Red Hat is the best suited model for this type of support.