The short answer to this question is Yes! It is worth it. There are so many tech certifications today. Sometimes it is hard to understand which certifications are necessary and which would enhance your profile and skill set. Coupled with the high price of training and exam costs, it can be difficult to know how to get the most return on your investment. Vendors such as Nutanix, EC-Council, Amazon Web Services and RedHat all offer great training programs and certification paths, as well. Achieving the same would be another thing. As RedHat is so much in demand, you would be required to clear the exams, to achieve this certification and it isn’t going to be an easy task, unless you have good and reliable training courses, such as offered at the SPOTO Club.

Red Hat Certification Background

Red Hat certifications have grown significantly over the years. More companies and government entities are adopting Red Hat as a viable operating system in their architecture. With the advance of cloud computing, cloud storage, and virtualization, Red Hat certs have expanded to keep up with the demand of the market. The two main certifications Red Hat offers are the Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCA) and the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE). According to Red Hat’s website, the RHCA can perform the following tasks:

• Understanding and utilizing essential tools for handling files, directories, command-line environments, and documentation
• Operating running systems, including booting into different run levels, identifying processes, starting and stopping virtual machines, and controlling services
• Configuring local storage using partitions and logical volumes
• Creating and configuring files systems and file system attributes, such as permissions, encryption, access control lists, and network file systems
• Deploying, maintaining and configuring systems, including software installation, update, and core services.
• Managing users and groups, including the use of a centralized directory for authentication
• Managing security, including basic firewall and SELinux configuration

Although it seems like a lot to take in for an entry-level certification with Red Hat, with proper training and experience, you can pick it up.

Red Hat Training

Even though there is training available for the Red Hat certification, it is not required to sit for the exam. RHCA training can help you prepare for the exam, as it touches on all of the exam blueprint items. Just as well, if you are a seasoned Red Hat administrator already, it might not be worth your money and time to take time away from work to attend training. Red Hat offers two different types of training depending on your background and experience. For Windows system administrator you will want to take both Red Hat System Administration I (RH124) and Red Hat System Administration II (RH134) courses. For Linux administrators, you will want to take the RHCSA Rapid Track Course (RH199). These courses range in cost from $3,145 to $3,700 depending on how you take the training – classroom, remote classroom or live online.

Is It For Me?

If you are a Red Hat administrator already but have not validated your skills with certification, then go for it. You may already be proficient with Red Hat and gaining one or several of their certifications will be a good return on your investment. You may even be able to get your company to pay for the exam. If you have been focused on Windows administration, or if you are a VMware administrator, there is some grey area here. You will have to decide if this will amplify your current skill set and/or make you more marketable.

So, if you wish to have this certification, you could acquire with the help of the training courses offered at the SPOTO Club.