Developers profile programs to focus attention on the areas of the program that have the largest impact on performance. The types of data collected include what section of the program consumes the most processor time, and where memory is allocated. Profiling collects data from the actual program execution. Thus, the quality of the data collect is influenced by the actual tasks being performed by the program. The tasks performed during profiling should be representative of actual use; this ensures that problems arising from realistic use of the program are addressed during development.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux includes a number of different tools (Valgrind, OProfile, perf, and SystemTap) to collect profiling data. Each tool is suitable for performing specific types of profile runs, as described in the following sections.