Red Hat Linux Certification Program: Trend or Necessity?

Red Hat Linux was established in the year 1993 and became a leader in Enterprise Linux. It all began with offering a better way to build software, openness, transparency and collaboration and soon shifted the balance of power in the entire industry. Now, they serve various global enterprises with technological services made available by open source model. The services offered by Red Hat includes, management services and consultations, 24x7 support, Red Hat’s network, Red Hat’s training programs and certifications that function across the globe and several other technical solutions that assist various enterprises. However, the Red Hat Certification Program has gained tremendous appreciation for every sector. All the leading companies prefer appointing candidates that are Red Hat Linux Certified because they have an edge over the others. Following are the Red Hat Certification Programs that they offer:Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)RHCSA is an entry-level certification program that focuses on actual competencies at system administration. It includes installation and configuration of Red Hat Linux system as well as attaching it to a live network or running network services. To attain the RHCSA certification, every student must pass EX200. It is a half-day hands-on lab exam. The least passing score for the exam is 210 out of 300 possible points i.e. the student has to secure a minimum of 70% to clear this exam. There is no prerequisite for the examination, but Red Hat recommends that the student must prepare for the exam by taking courses in Red Hat System Administration.Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)RHCE is a mid to advanced level which further builds on the topics covered in RHCSA like security and installation of common enterprise networking services. To appear for this exam, the student must have passed the RHCSA EX200 and in addition EX300 which is a 2 hour hands-on-lab examination. Red Hat advices that one must have some real world experience while appearing for this exam.Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS)RHCSS is an advanced-level certification that fabricates the security skills covered by the RHCE certification, and improves it with deeper capabilities in directory services, security enhanced Linux policy management, network services security and authentication. To complete the RHCSS certification, the student must pass the following three exams, EX333, a six hour exam on Network Services, EX423, a 4 hour exam on Enterprise Directory Services and Authentication and EX429, a three and a half hour exam on Security-Enhanced Linux. RHCE is the only prerequisite for taking any of these exams.Red Hat Certification Datacenter Specialist (RHCDS)This is an advanced level examination that enhances the system administration skills that was covered in RHCE certification supported by solutions in mission-critical datacenter environments using Red Hat technologies. To complete the RHCDS certification, every student must clear the following three examinations, EX401, a four hour exam on Enterprise Deployment, EX436, another 4 hour exam on Clustering and Storage and either EX318 described above or EX423, a three hour exam on Virtualization. Again, RHCE is prerequisite for this certification.Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)RHCA is considered to be the most complete certificate in the entire Red Hat Certification Program as it focuses completely on the enterprise level. To obtain this certification, the student is expected to have cleared the following five exams, EX333, EX401, EX318, EX 442 and EX436, which have been described above. To only prerequisite for RHCA certification is to have cleared RHCE.Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA)The focus of RHCVA certification is on Virtualization administration. To achieve this certification, the student must clear EX318 as described above, while there is no prerequisite of clearing RHCE for this certificate.JBoss Certified Application Administrator (JBCAA)JBCAA certification focuses on managing the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform. To complete this certification the student must pass EX336, a four hour hands-on lab examination, while there is no prerequisite for the exam.The Red Hat Certification Program has been evolving since January 1999 and has trained nearly 75, 000 candidates spanning 162 countries. The program distinguishes itself by being performance based where the candidates are made to perform tasks on a live system instead of just selecting answers to multiple choice questions. The candidates are extremely well trained and excel in their respective fields. They have an amazing knowledge about everything they have to work with and master the skill of trouble shooting! GoCertify considers this program to be the most prominent ‘Linux Certification Programs’.All of this definitely calls for making this certification program a trend in the IT industry. However, personally, I feel more than a trend; this certification program has become a necessity to excel over the others in the industry!