Learning Novell

Hello,

I am interested in persuing my Novell certifications.

I have previously used Novell when I was in college (over 7 years ago).

I was wondering, what is the best way to get lots of knowledge with Novell, and what are the best books to get my CNA.

Thanks,
Jamie

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Turgon

jamie.english wrote: »

Hello,

I am interested in persuing my Novell certifications.

I have previously used Novell when I was in college (over 7 years ago).

I was wondering, what is the best way to get lots of knowledge with Novell, and what are the best books to get my CNA.

Thanks,
Jamie

Your best bet is to buy the self study kits off the Novell site. Not only do they teach well they are a guaranteed pass in the tests if you study the material they offer. Historically cheaper offerings to get through the tests really didn't do you much good. I know, years back I couldn't afford the self study kits and used the Clarke books available in book stores and amazon. I spent a *lot* of time reading these books but they really fell short for the exams and for specific Netware training. I am a CNE myself and by this route it really was tough going! Mr Clarke made a small fortune with his off the pace and off the wall materials. CNE's were climbing late 1990's but this was often down to ****, and access to these self study kits or the 'white books' that were provided in the Novell taught classes. Self study kits or classroom white books offered more or less the questions that came up in the actual tests themselves.

You can download a Netware eval. Do so and install at home and use the self study kits!

HTH

Xcluziv

Do alot of companies use Novell presently? I was wondering about this field for a minute

Turgon

Xcluziv wrote: »

Do alot of companies use Novell presently? I was wondering about this field for a minute

Yes. Government, educational establishments, many corporations use Novell. Groupwise is still used quite a lot. It's worth picking up CNA at least just in case you encounter it. It also provides another perspective when studying MS certs. For those shops using Novell a hybrid environment is probably in existence with NDS providing file and print and security and MS used for applications. Worthwhile knowing Netware to assist in those migration/integration projects.

varelg

Following Turgon's explanations about Novell's line of certs and self-study kits I headed to Novell's website that explains their certification process. Although prices of their self-study kits are kind of salty (almost $400 per set and certifications that I am looking into- Linux Admin- require taking two sets- 3101 and 3102), price of the test itself is bearable at $125.
An important part is missing however. The description of what is contained in the self-study kit. Is it a book, two books, books and DVD, any specialized software added, that is sadly not described there. If any of you guys that pursued Novell certs had purchased such kits in the past maybe you can describe them for us.
I am preparing for the LPIC 101 exam, but since the authority that provides test questions and awards certifications doesn't publish their own guide I am almost forced to compile study material on my own and that is not an easy task. Having study material organized in a consistent way (the site even offers assesment tests that are not trivial at all so you can reliably measure your proficiency) is of great help during preparation for a cert test.
At least for my area of interest, sitting a test from Novell is definitely worth considering. Thanks for the great info Turgon

Turgon

varelg wrote: »

Following Turgon's explanations about Novell's line of certs and self-study kits I headed to Novell's website that explains their certification process. Although prices of their self-study kits are kind of salty (almost $400 per set and certifications that I am looking into- Linux Admin- require taking two sets- 3101 and 3102), price of the test itself is bearable at $125.
An important part is missing however. The description of what is contained in the self-study kit. Is it a book, two books, books and DVD, any specialized software added, that is sadly not described there. If any of you guys that pursued Novell certs had purchased such kits in the past maybe you can describe them for us.
I am preparing for the LPIC 101 exam, but since the authority that provides test questions and awards certifications doesn't publish their own guide I am almost forced to compile study material on my own and that is not an easy task. Having study material organized in a consistent way (the site even offers assesment tests that are not trivial at all so you can reliably measure your proficiency) is of great help during preparation for a cert test.
At least for my area of interest, sitting a test from Novell is definitely worth considering. Thanks for the great info Turgon

I would drop Novell an email about that. Having never used the self study kits myself I can't advise you. But it's all there for the price. As for the exams, the material in the kits is identical as that in the classes where you were given a 'white book'. The exercises in the self study kits or the white books cover all you need to know to pass the tests. This is how many people got through CNA/CNE, often by simply borrowing or obtaining a copy of the course book. That and **** of course. Sadly CNE was one of the first qualifications to be dumped. Other than the kit you could try Novell approved books on amazon and what have you. But they are very hit and miss for the exams Im afraid. I spent a lot of time with Clarke's book for Netware 5 and it didn't prepare me well for the exams at all. The exam cram for Netware 5 Advanced Administration by Melanie Hoag was ok. The bordermanager book by Pan was fine. The upgrade to Netware 6 book by Clarke was a little better than his useless doorstop CNE 5 book. My advice, the self study kit. Better off than hit or miss cheaper books. Probably an evaluation of Netware 6 thrown in with the self study kit as well. Ask about that when you contact Novell. Failing that you can download an eval. A Novell lab at home is essential. You really want lots of hands on with Netware. The Novell forums are good too. You should get lots of help there from the Novell hippies

Kasor

We are moving to SLES or SLED.... There is certification for http://www.novell.com/training/certinfo/cle/

varelg

Turgon wrote: »

I would drop Novell an email about that...
My advice, the self study kit. Better off than hit or miss cheaper books. Probably an evaluation of Netware 6 thrown in with the self study kit as well. Ask about that when you contact Novell. Failing that you can download an eval. A Novell lab at home is essential. You really want lots of hands on with Netware. The Novell forums are good too. You should get lots of help there from the Novell hippies

All I am getting in response to my email regarding self study kit description is regular summary of update patches:D.
I will follow your advice on NetWare and the self study kit, definitely. Thank you Turgon.

Turgon

varelg wrote: »

All I am getting in response to my email regarding self study kit description is regular summary of update patches:D.
I will follow your advice on NetWare and the self study kit, definitely. Thank you Turgon.

Just get the kit. You can't go wrong with those in terms of the exams and hands on exercises. At least what I heard. Good luck with Netware and the SuSE platform. Nice to see someone avoiding the herd mentality, it can only help you.

petedude

There's an exam cram book out there for the CNA 6.5. I'd recommend it plus studying with the author's website.

Hopefully, I can come back and post more info later.

Defiler

Good information in this thread. Thanks.

varelg

Defiler wrote: »

Good information in this thread. Thanks.

Just wondering, what made you consider Novell?

Kasor

I don't think anyone is doing Novell. I haven't see any Novell Netware for long time.

scaredoftests

Alas, neither have I. But what a great system it was to administer. <sigh>

shochan

Looks like it is still around though - https://www.microfocus.com/novell/?utm_medium=301&utm_source=novell.com

chopsticks

I didn't know Novell Netware still exist? It's been long time since I last used it.

blargoe

I wouldn't be surprised if the company I left in mid 2006 is still using it. A symptom of the reasons why I left that company.

UncleB

It may be worth getting up to speed on supporting token ring networks - maybe there is a market for this too LOL.

Seriously though, it is a nich market so there are going to be few roles for it and bound to be a lot of compatability issues so it is likely to be a royal pain in the bottom.

I would suggest trying to learn something with a wider customer base to give you more change of getting hired.

Kasor

I think the only good Novell product remain on the market is GroupWise. I will take Groupwise over Outlook anytime. I remembered running GW on BES and I only have to reboot the svr one a week, while the exchange server is daily in the early morning...lol

mbarrett

Kasor wrote: »

I think the only good Novell product remain on the market is GroupWise. I will take Groupwise over Outlook anytime.

A lot of public-sector shops maintained their GroupWise installations for years after NetWare fell out of style.