RHCSA vs. RHCE

I've been a Linux SA for 2 years and have been using Linux since I loaded it off recycled AOL floppies back in like 1995. That said, the bulk of my SA experience was in a Windows/AD environment before my current position. I've built Hadoop clusters and dozens and dozens of VMs, I've applied security standards and gone through auditing. But I've never taken a Linux exam. My work wants me to go for a Red Hat course, and I'm excited but I'm having trouble deciding between being cautious and just taking the RHCSA course & exam (because I've never done a Red Hat exam before and have no feel for them) or going for the combined RHCSA/RHCE course (RH255). Would appreciate if someone who had a similar experience level before the courses (any of them) and took the courses/exam(s) could weigh in.

I'll also be studying from the recommended books in the weeks leading up to the course. I guess my big concern is, I know my way around these things but there are a lot of situations that I might not have encountered - my knowledge is grounded solely in my experience right now. If I never had to use something or if a problem never occurred, I could easily not know about it at all.

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Comments

nel

are the exams at the end of the course? if not Why dont you do both courses, then study the books and take the exams once you feel prepared? Theres nothing wrong with that.

ChooseLife

I'd say that given your experience you should go for the combo course.
But the best thing for you is to have a look at the exam objectives for RHCSA and RHCE:
Red Hat | Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) Exam objectives (EX200)
Red Hat | Training | Exam objectives
and make the decision for yourself based on your level of comfort with these topics.

lordy

From what you have written you sound like a candidate for RHCSA.

The RHCSA is doable with 2 years of experience in the real world. The RHCE, in my opinion, is not. RHCSA is a fair exam that gives you enough time to read through man pages but RHCE is a beast that needs to be slayed with pure experience. It covers a lot more topic and goes much deeper than RHCSA. I could image that even with RHCSA you will find a few topics that you need to work on.

There is also a self-test on the Red Hat Website that will recommend a course. Have you tried that?

JayTheCracker

if the company is paying , take the combine one

jfield

lordy wrote: »

From what you have written you sound like a candidate for RHCSA.

The RHCSA is doable with 2 years of experience in the real world. The RHCE, in my opinion, is not. RHCSA is a fair exam that gives you enough time to read through man pages but RHCE is a beast that needs to be slayed with pure experience. It covers a lot more topic and goes much deeper than RHCSA. I could image that even with RHCSA you will find a few topics that you need to work on.

There is also a self-test on the Red Hat Website that will recommend a course. Have you tried that?

Yup, and it said the same thing - I just wanted something from others who had experienced it. I'm all set to do the RHCSA training. Thanks for the advice!

clarknova

Let us know how it goes, I'm interested in the Red Hat training + exam RH200 offering. I think I'd rather get it done in a week than a couple of hours every other night for a couple of months.

brownwrap

clarknova wrote: »

Let us know how it goes, I'm interested in the Red Hat training + exam RH200 offering. I think I'd rather get it done in a week than a couple of hours every other night for a couple of months.

I would not necessarily that a week of training would make you eligible to pass the test. I have taken Red Hat classes, years ago, and although they were good, I didn't feel I was qualified to take the test.

UnixGuy

I think I agree with lordy. Go with RHCSA for now.

Best thing is to start studying now, and see; How comfortable are you with LVM? how comfortable are you with Apache? What's your experience with Samba? How comfortable are you with user administration?

Good luck!