Red Hat offers certifications on virtualization, storage, cloud and the company’s open source-based operating systems. This certification article will give you a basic overview of Red Hat with the popular RHCE and RHCSA certifications, which will help your career path in the field of information technology.
Red Hat, Inc. provides open source software solutions to more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies, including Internet Service Providers, airlines, healthcare companies and commercial banks. The company has been around for over 20 years and is well known for its Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution.
Red Hat provides a fully open technology stack, which you can alter to suit your needs — you’re not locked into the vendor’s vision of the software. Red Hat’s portfolio of products and services also include JBoss middleware, cross-platform virtualization, cloud computing (Cloud Forms and OpenStack) and much more.
Red Hat offers a number of professional certifications based on its software products including operating systems, virtualization, storage and cloud-based solutions.
Red Hat Certification Program Overview
The Red Hat certification program is aimed at system administrators, engineers, architects, enterprise developers and application administrators, as well as cloud and virtualization administrators, who use RHEL in the IT infrastructure. The program aims to ensure candidates are proficient in RHEL by requiring performance-based certification exams. Whereas many certification exams ask multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank questions about specific technologies, Red Hat requires you to perform and complete real-world tasks using Red Hat technologies in order to pass its exams.
Red Hat traditionally offered certification exams only upon completion of a specific training course. Now you can take a series of Red Hat exam courses from ABCO Technology. The exam session is performed on a secured system in a professionally proctored testing center, which is administered by Pearson Vue. ABCO Technology is one of those testing centers. Other centers are located in select cities throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
Once you earn a Red Hat certification, you become a Red Hat Certified Professional. This gives you access to Red Hat Certification Central, which allows you to connect with potential employers, join the Red Hat community, create study groups and collaborate on projects. In addition, you can explore Red Hat’s training options and easily schedule individual exam sessions. Discounts on recertification exams are offered as well.
Red Hat Administrator, Engineer And Architect Certs
The largest group of Red Hat certifications is geared toward system administrators, engineers and architects. Some of the most popular and sought-after Red Hat certifications reside in this category, such as the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA). Other certs include Red Hat Certified JBoss Administrator (RHCJA) and Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA).
In addition, this category includes a variety of Red Hat Certificate of Expertise credentials in Hybrid Cloud Management, Camel Development, Configuration Management, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Diagnostics and Troubleshooting, Performance Tuning and more.
RHCSA: Red Hat Certified System Administrator
The RHCSA certification is designed for experienced Red Hat administrators and is required by some organizations to meet U.S. Department of Defense Directive 8140. It’s also a prerequisite credential for the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).
Red Hat recommends three training classes to prepare for the RHCSA certification. The Windows admin classes are Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) and Red Hat System Administration II (RH134). Candidates may also take a Linux/UNIX admin class — RHCSA Rapid Track Course RH199 — to prepare for the RHCSA exam.
To obtain RHCSA certification, candidates must pass the 2.5-hour RHCSA Exam (EX200).
RHCE: Red Hat Certified Engineer
The RHCE certification is geared toward experienced senior system administrators, and fulfills requirements of U.S. Department of Defense Directive 8140.
To obtain the RHCE certification, you must first become RHCSA certified. The recommended training for the RHCE certification is based on your skill level. Windows admins with minimal Linux experience should take the Red Hat System Administration I and II (RH124 and RH134) courses, along with the Red Hat System Administration III (RH254) course to prepare for the exam.
Linux or UNIX admins with one to three years of experience should take both the RHCSA Rapid Track Course (RH199) and the Red Hat System Administration III (RH254) courses to prepare for the exam. RHCEs looking to recertify, or candidates who’d like the opportunity to engage in a lab-based review before taking the RHCE exam, should take the RHCE Certification lab (RH299).
The certification lab is a four day, instructor-led opportunity to work through all of the labs from the Red Hat System Administration I, II and III courses, along with the Rapid Track course.
To complete the RHCE certification, you must pass the 3.5 hour RHCE Exam (EX300), which is currently based on Linux 7.
RHCA: Red Hat Certified Architect
The RHCA certification is the pinnacle cert in the Red Hat Certification program. To qualify for the RHCA, candidates must possess a current RHCE or Red Hat Certified JBoss Developer (RHCJD) credential. Depending on the concentration chosen, five or six exams are required to obtain RHCA certification. Currently, the RHCA is available in five concentrations: Datacenter, Application Platform, DevOps, Cloud and Application Development. Additional prerequisites for the RHCA vary by concentration but generally include a combination of exams, other certifications or certificates of expertise in various Red Hat disciplines.
If you are a serious network administrator who wants to bring your information technology career to a new level, it’s time to contact ABCO Technology to ask about our Red Hat certification programs. Call our campus between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. You can reach us by phone at: (310) 216-3067.
ABCO Technology is located at 11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304.
Email all questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all students who qualify.
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