Learning the Linux Essentials with RHCE

Even though Microsoft continues to dominate many areas of the computer industry, including the lucrative market for server software, products like Linux have been making steady inroads, and those who possess knowledge in this specialized area are expected to be in high demand in the coming years.

One way to take advantage of the expected Linux revolution is to gain the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification. This certification provides a real life testing scenario, just the student and the box and a need to get it up and running. This makes the RHCE certification one of the most respected in the industry, and one of the most challenging to earn.

The Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) exam is a performance based test which measures a student's competency on a live system. RHCE is intended to prove the student's ability to configure security and networking services on a live server running the Red hat operating system. Unlike other exams that rely on multiple choice answers, the FHCE program provides a certification which is based solely on performance.

There are two different RHCE program tracks - rapid and standard. The RH300 RHCE Rapid Track course is designed for those students who already have significant systems administration experience within a UNIX or Linux environment and who wish to become certified quickly.

The standard track, on the other hand, consists of three courses, RH033, RH133 and FH253, and this track is aimed at those students who need to review the key concepts of Linux or who are new to both Linux and UNIX.

A fourth course is also available, FH035 - Red Hat Linux Essentials for Windows Professionals. This course is an extended version of the RH033 course and is intended for students who have experience managing servers running the Windows operating systems.

The RH033 course targets the IT professional with no prior UNIX or Linux experience, and it covers the skills needed to prepare for course FH133, including essential shell and command line information.

The RH133 course prepares students for the responsibilities they will face as a Linux systems administrator at the level of technician. Students will learn about the skills required to manage Linux workstations and attach them to the corporate network. Subjects include the configuration of client side network services and more. The prerequisites for this course are Internetworking with TCP/IP and networking essentials, courses which are widely available from a variety of different vendors.

RH133 also includes the four hour RHCT exam no the fifth day of the course. RHCT certification will indicate that the students have passed a realistic performance based examination which is designed to test their ability in such areas as installing, configuring, attaching and supporting Red Hat Linux computers in an existing network environment.

The last part of the RHCE certification track is RH253, a course designed for those who wish to build upon their skills in the configuration and administration of a Red Hat Linux server running key enterprise network services and security features. The prerequisites for this course include RH133 or an equivalent set of skills.

Red Hat provides complete verification of their RHCE certification, including the version numbers, on the Red Hat Training page. This allows both employers and customers to gain insight into the certification and testing process.

For those in need of the training they need to support Linux Systems, a good source of information and training is CBT Planet. CBT Planet offers a full compliment of computer based training solutions, not only for Red Hat but for Microsoft MCSE, Oracle DBA, CompTIA A+, Cisco CCNA, IBM, Sun and others. Contact CBT Planet today to discuss all your training and certification needs.