Certified Certification, anyone?

The A+ and Network+ certifications are always worth it for anyone going into Network Administration. They are more money than any individual Microsoft (MCP) or Cisco cert, but they give an employer the impression that you have *some* experience and are willing to educate yourself. Net+* covers all kinds of things that you'll need and it's a shame that it isn't pushed more to the people just starting out and looking for ways into the industry.

A+ is a basic certification that explains that you are (or could be if you practiced what you answered) competent in systems setup/repair. If you had trouble with it due to electrocuting yourself with an open power supply, you don't deserve the cert. Study guides are plentiful, and they'll cover enough to pass the exam while being useful for those that really need to learn the trade as well. They'll all warn against opening a PSU or monitor.

MCSE/MCSA, these ones vary. I'd say they are absolutely worth taking if your employer will pay for them. The exams can be pretty rough if you aren't 'cheating', as they cover some obscure stuff and put *way* too much emphasis on doing things MS's way. If you look into the exams you'll see that the difference between what an MCSA knows, and what an MCSE knows is very small. I chose to get the MCSA with the option of upgrading to the MCSE later if I wanted to, but I've not seen a reason to do so yet. With the introduction of Windows 2000 the MCSE was bumped up to requiring 7 exams from the 6 for NT.

I've never really looked at doing the Cisco exams yet. I'll gladly go that route in future, but from experience with Cisco routers, you'll know most of what you need to from Network+ and a designing (MS) network exam book/course to be able to work on their stuff. That is, after learning about their OS, and which one is on the device(s) you are working with. This certification is massively over valued, as few people will need to know all the ins and outs of Cisco's stuff in order to setup a perfectly (!?) designed network. But it being massively over valued makes it quite a nice thing to have until more employers realize that they are looking for skills in their employees that they will never, ever require of them.

*TonyDaTiger, I WISH token ring technology wasn't dropped the way it was. SO many advantages for a closed network.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

http://www.novell.com/training/certinfo/allcerts.html

I don't know anyone that has taken their Linux certs, so I can't speak on those. But the CNA/CNE Netware ones used to carry a lot of weight in the industry. These days since Netware isn't as popular (A bloody shame..), it's likely not worth taking anymore.

If I were to ever take a Linux certification it'd likely be Novel's. Being a recognized company, and Suse/Netware being products that I liked better than say Red Hat.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by TonyDaTigger

LOL. But one cable getting kicked out will bring down your entire networK?

I can't say for sure, but I thought the later generation MAUs would detect these issues, broadcast a notification that the 'stuck' token was dead, and reissue one. Not sure though. I just love the idea of not having to be concerned about packet collision ever. But that's just a personal thing, it likely wouldn't have any real world advantage these days, but I'd sure love to play with one.

I wouldn't take an Apple cert. unless it was paid for by an employer. I'd love to do it, but I can't imagine it being a worthwhile cert. to have ahead of time. It's just such a limited market, and any place hiring an Apple tech. will expect them to know their stuff, but not expect them to be certified. It'd just be unrealistic.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.