CNE program changes!!

If you've got a CNE 6 you've been stalling on, or a Master CNE in the works, better finish 'em up quick. Novell is retiring those tracks. Pop over to their website for the detals.

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Danman32

The CNE 6 is NOT retiring, but the NW 6 tests and courses:
3000 Upgrading to NetWare 6 050-676 or 050-876
3001 Foundations of Novell Networking 050-677 or 050-877
3004 Novell Network Management: NetWare 6 050-681 or 050-881
3005 Advanced Novell Network Management: NetWare 6 050-682 or 050-882

are being retired. The NW 6.5 courses and tests will still go on.
What I am still checking on is if the 6.0 and 6.5 tests can be mixed and matched for the CNE6. I would imagine you could continue with the 6.5 courses/tests to get certified if you have been following the 6.0 tests. However, you might have difficulty if you took training on NW 6.0, then were forced to take the NW 6.5 exam.

petedude

Danman32 wrote:

What I am still checking on is if the 6.0 and 6.5 tests can be mixed and matched for the CNE6. I would imagine you could continue with the 6.5 courses/tests to get certified if you have been following the 6.0 tests. However, you might have difficulty if you took training on NW 6.0, then were forced to take the NW 6.5 exam.

I've been wondering about that too. . . There are lots of study materials available for 6.0 exams, but nearly nothing for 6.5.

Danman32

Nearly nothing for 6.5? That's hard to believe, considering 6.5 has been out for several years. Note though some material might title NW 6 as a class, but use NW 6.5 in the detail, which is what the cert seems to be doing.

petedude

Danman32 wrote:

Nearly nothing for 6.5? That's hard to believe, considering 6.5 has been out for several years. Note though some material might title NW 6 as a class, but use NW 6.5 in the detail, which is what the cert seems to be doing.

Let me clarify a little.

I haven't been scouting the basic CNA/CNE material for 6.5 as I've been focusing on the upgrade path for myself.

I do think you'd be surprised, though, at the dearth of material for the upgrade exams for 6.5. Let me tell you what I've found:

-- You can take a course from a Novell partner or some other outfit for the 688 for $2000+.
-- Novell has a self-study kit for $396 for the 688
-- Brainstorm has a self-study kit for $325 for the 688
-- The Novell Press CNE Upgrade to NetWare 6 book listed covers NW6.0.
-- Exam Cram offers a book for the CNA exam for 686, nothing for 688. (Good book.)
-- Exam Force offers a self-test program (ExamCram book includes a demo)
-- Preplogic offers an audio trainer for 686, nothing for 688
-- Transcender has nothing for either of these exams.
-- There's a NetWare 6.5 CBT CD that's been popping up on eBay. It looks like it's probably some promo CD handed out at Brainshare or sent to Novell partners, but it looks like it will cover the bulk of the 688 objectives.
-- One outfit, I forget who (I do have a link stashed away) has a tutorial CD on Virtual Office.

I'm usually a cheap so-and-so when it comes to studying for exams. I'll buy used (the Clarke book was $1 plus shipping used through Amazon) or even prior version exam books to study where I can afford to do so. Right now I'm not inclined to shell out $400-plus to study for this exam.

Given all this, for right now I'm printing out the Novell docs corresponding to the 688 exam objectives, and reading them. I did something similar for Pervasive's SQL Tech exam and was able to pass in about a month. It's arduous work and a lot of pages, but it's free. Fun stuff: DirXML has a different name now-- Identity Manager. I found a used book on DirXML cheap and I may use that in addition to the printed docs. That Virtual Office tutorial almost sounds tempting.

If my approach works for the 688, I might be tempted to write a book.

If not. . . yeah, I might break down and buy one of those self-study kits.

I sometimes get to thinking Novell only created the 688/course for their larger customers who were migrating en masse to 6.5 and could afford to send their employees to training class.

It's actually easier to get reasonably priced materials for the Master CNE track items than it is for the 688!