Monthly Archives: September 2010

One more certification down

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Yes, I’m still alive. It’s been a busy several weeks. As I stated in my last post, on the 8th of this month I passed my CompTIA Linux+, a certification which pretty much kicked my butt.

Today I passed the CompTIA Network+ certification. Less than two weeks of studying, but I did it. I’ll have to give a lot of credit to the author of the Sybex Network+ book, it was far better than the Linux+ study guide. Of course, this was a lot of refresher, I had almost taken the Linux+ test years ago, along with the Microsoft Networking Essentials test. Then I realized I didn’t want to be a network engineer.

Wait, what? I hear ya, why take the Network+ certification if I don’t want to do networking. That’s simple. The “Introduction to Networking” class at school is a 5 credit hour class, and at $450 per credit hour that comes out to a big chuck of money. Why pay over $2K when I can get credit for the class by only spending $250? Well, technically with the price of the study book it’s more like $300. Pretty easy decision there.

So, what’s next? I’m looking at the CompTIA Security+ certification. Sure, I don’t want to do networking, but it would look nice on a resume. If I earn it before the end of the year, it too will be a lifetime certification like my A+ that I earned back in 2000 and the Network+ which I earned today.

After that, I would really like to focus on a few certifications that really apply to my area of work. I may pursue the Oracle MySQL, Oracle 10g Database and Zend PHP certifications. Though I’m not in any rush to get those. I just needed my Linux+ and Network+ before the classes started up.

A big thanks to my loving wife, who I have neglected quite a bit in the past several weeks while I locked myself in the bedroom to study. If she hadn’t allowed me to isolate myself, I would probably still be studying for the first Linux test. Love you babe!

Two New Certifications

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On Wednesday, I successfully passed the second CompTIA Linux+ test and earned both the Linux+ and LPIC-1 certifications. I wish I could say it was a breeze, but it really wasn’t. In fact, I failed the first test one time.

Failed? Yes, practically every certification test I have ever taken has been multiple choice, and that was exactly how I studied for this test. Heck, the practice questions on the CompTIA website are multiple choice and all of the questions in the Sybex study guide were as well. Why would I expect anything different?

Yes, there were multiple choice questions. However, I’d say around half of the questions were fill in the blank. The test asked for directory names, commands, options, and flags and even networking ports. It’s a lot to remember, and to be honest it was kind of stupid some of the things that they expected you to remember for the tests.

Sure, there are a ton of commands that a Linux administrator should know off the top of his head. But remembering the operations and flags is silly. That’s the reason for man pages and info. It’ll tell you everything you need to know and even give example usage in most situations.

Another thing I found silly with the test is that there wasn’t anything dealing with Apache. Most Linux servers are setup to as a web server, yet it wasn’t part of the test. MySQL was, which I could understand except for one thing… the test did not involve setting up or configuring a MySQL server, rather it contain basic SQL statements.

Granted, it has been several years since I have done anything serious with Linux. The Linux+ tests are designed to test the knowledge of those that already have experience administrating Linux systems. However, I am proof that with a bit of dedication, or at least determination, you can pass the test simply by “book study.”

The Sybex Linux+ study guide isn’t bad. However, the author does mention several times throughout the book that the test covers one command but he covers something different instead. Additionally, there are some things that he doesn’t cover until the “test 2 study section” that actually appears on the first test.

Why get the certifications? It was all about money to me. No, I won’t be making more money at work (wouldn’t that be nice, though). The certification costs $336 by itself, and the Sybex study guide runs about $50 on Amazon. So I ended up paying around $550 to get the certifications. At Fountainhead there is a introduction to Linux class, which costs more than $1,500 in tuition + books. The certification gives me credit for that class, and saves me about $1,000. Really, it was an easy choice. And gives me about a month without a class. In fact, if I can earn my Network+ certification, I will have received credit for and entire semester worth of classes. :)