Do I need the Oracle kernel, or can I run it on RHEL? 100% Oracle build, but you can use the RHCK ( Red Hat Compatiable Kernel) or the newer and faster Oracle UEK Kernel. Your choice. Do I need a subscription to get the OLVM Repos? Nope! 100% free to use. Oracle just sells support if you want it. Oracle has a nasty reputation for giving most of a product away for free, telling you that you need to pay for one critical piece, and then trying to charge you for the last five years (+ interest), whether or not you were actually using it. The Linux Team is differnet, they have been giving it away since 2006 ( I believe). Of course things could change, but can it be worse than Broadcomm or IBM? Worse case, you start with OLVM and if Oracle changes, you just maintain it like oVirt.. It's the same tech, no funky proprietary add-ons.