Today I registered for the RH302 Red Hat Certified Engineer exam. 3+ years of working with Red Hat products I am ready to prove my skills and add a little spice to my resume.
Why RHCE?
It will be a challenge. When looking over the prep guide for this exam, RH302 covers a wide range of services, troubleshooting, and to top it off, its all hands on. I think this is a great way to demonstrate one’s ability to preform the tasks that a certification claims to cover.
I have taken multiple choice exams in the past ( Comptia’s A+, and Network+), while a bit of a challenge, I did not feel capable of completing the objectives in the real world. The reason for this, I was able to cram for those exams and pass. In preparing for those exams, I did not touch much hardware or preform any of the tasks covered by the exams.
Not the same with the RHCE. So far in my preparation I have set up a staging server at home and configured things like SELinux, Apache, Bind, Squid, and IPtables. Using the excellent documentation provided by Red Hat and a few O’Reilly books I was able to install, configure, and understand the usage of those applications. Having to do this stuff on a live system changes the way I prepare this time around.
In short cramming won’t cut it.
Plan of attack
My first plan was to sign up for the “official” Red Hat training course, but I feel that $2000.00 for 4 days of training was not for me. What to do with the money saved? Well, it went to Dell, Red Hat and Amazon.
Even with all that is available on-line I like a book on my desk. Right now I am reading “Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed” by Tammy Fox. This great book covers a lot of information with examples in an easy to read format, I highly recommend it. I also ordered the “RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide“, by Michael Jang, updated for RHEL 5. The last edition which covered RHEL 3, though outdated, the step-by-step examples and explanations are priceless.
Next a Dell Optiplex 320 dedicated as a server running RHEL5 AS (Educator Discount). For a client I am using an existing Macbook Pro. I am one of the rare people that has removed OS X completely and installed RHEL5 Workstation instead (I will save that for another post).
Putting it all together, lots of documentation ($140), a test lab ($449), and I was able to register for the exam ($749) with money left over. Sitting for the exam mid August gives me a couple of months to take my current experience, fill in the gaps, and become a RHCE.
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June 28, 2007 at 12:35 pm
marc
hi bro, good luck on your exam. im going to take rhce this july as well (tentative). My company is pushing me to take it this july even though theyre not giving me enough buffer to prepare for it. Ive taken rhce for rhel4 back then and flunked (i was rushing things back then, didnt review for X. The mouse troubleshooting caught me.) so I know what rhce is like and its really not a walk in the park. I know what to expect from rhce exam and i just dont think i can pass it given a shitload of tasks at work and 20 days (exam is July 21). Oh well,
goodluck to both of us. Keep on posting your review notes! thanks.
June 28, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Kelsey Hightower
One thing I did do was sign up to take the RHCT in July. I will use this as a stepping stone and RHCE preview.
I just received my updated RHCE study guide. I have gone through 3 chapters so far, and I think it is a great way to study. Lots of hands on exercises. I will be able to test my study methods July 20th. I will keep you posted
July 27, 2007 at 9:15 am
total_loss
I took RH133 & rhct in May of 05 so I also know what to expect as marc said. I also flunked and I paid the $2,200 myself, no one helped me. However, that didn’t matter, I still got a contract Linux admin job that paid VERY well, although I just lost it for business reasons. So, for me it paid off. If you can do it on your own, thats great. But don’t sell the RedHat classes short. It was definitely worth the money, at least to me. And they teach you everything you need to know to pass. My problem was, I second guessed myself on an answer, thinking it couldn’t be that easy, and ended up wasting time. Time is the one thing you don’t have in the RHCT/RHCE exams.
I am now debating on taking it again for RHEL5. If I do, at least I have an idea of what to expect. Good luck with this site, I’ll keep an eye on what’s on it.
July 28, 2007 at 12:08 am
Kelsey Hightower
Thanks for the post. I did have a chance to talk to some people that have taken the class, some agree with you and say it was a good experience. Some say they wish they had more time, and more labs.
I think to get the most out of the classes would be to take the class a couple of weeks before the exam. That way you can study the things you are not sure about, and get the most from the training materials that they give you.
September 9, 2007 at 1:28 am
marc
kesley’s right. I rescheduled my exam this december, and enrolled on a november class. I also bought Jang’s book and am going through it now. I can skip the class in november if I feel confident enough after going through Jang’s book.
SO have you taken the exam already?
September 9, 2007 at 2:18 am
Kelsey Hightower
I have taken the RHCT with success, I am taking my RHCE Oct 5th. Also, Jang’s book will be a big help for your test and real life.