I haven’t updated the blog for a very long time as most of you have noticed but it does not mean that I have been away from Linux and Open Source, on the contrary I have been at the heart of Linux with two months of intensive training. The good news is that I am now the first RHCSS (Red Hat Certified Security Specialist) and RHCDS (Red Hat Certified Data Centre Specialist) in Mauritius/African Region. The Red Hat Central now shows that I have completed all the five required Expertise exams required to earn both Certifications.

Amit Caleechurn

The Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS) is a security certification that proves advanced skills in using Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SELinux, and Red Hat Directory Server to meet the security requirements of today’s enterprise environment. Current RHCEs will obtain RHCSS certification upon successfully passing all three Expertise Exams:

• EX333 Red Hat Enterprise Security: Network Services
• EX423 Enterprise Directory Services and Authentication
• EX429 SELinux Policy Administration

A Red Hat Certified Data Centre Specialist (RHCDS) has the skills and knowledge necessary to build reliable, available, scalable, and manageable solutions in mission-critical datacenter environments using fully-supported open source technologies from Red Hat. Current RHCEs will obtain RHCDS certification upon successfully passing all three Expertise Exams:

• EX401 Deployment, Virtualization, and Systems Management
• EX436 Clustering and Storage Management
• EX423 Directory Services and Authentication OR EX318 Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

I am just one exam short of earning the RHCA Certification (Red Hat Certified Architect). Red Hat Enterprise System Monitoring and Performance Tuning (RH442) is designed to teach senior Linux system administrators the methodology of performance tuning and capacity planning for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This course discusses system architecture with an emphasis on understanding the implications of system architecture on system performance, methods for testing the effects of performance adjustments, open source benchmarking utilities, methods for analyzing system and networking performance, and tuning configurations for specific application loads. This is definitely the hardest exam in the lot so I have to be well prepared before attempting this exam.

I have found some very good books which lays the foundation for system tuning:

Linux Performance Tuning: Free e-book from IBM

The Linux Kernel Development: By Robert Love

All good things come together so I was also invited to speak to BCA and MCA student at Marian College in Kuttikkanam (kerala, India). I had two separate sessions with BCA and then MCA students about Linux and Open Source. The first session was an introduction to Open Source and Linux while the second part entirely focussed on the Fedora Project. One of the interesting but sad point that came up during the interactive session with the students was about supported languages in Linux. Fedora supports 11 Indian languages but Malaylam is not yet supported even if it is the primary language in a state of more than 30 Millions people. Having Linux localized would really benefit a lot of people so this is one the projects that the students would like to work on. They have been provided with the link and contact details of the Translation team so let’s hope this initiative moves forward.

So what’ coming next in my next posts. I will be writing about the RHCSS/RHCDS which may be helpful for people attempting the certification but do not expect discussion specific to the exams as I am bound by the non-disclosure agreement.  I have also received a copy of LPI Certification in a Nutshell so you can expect to have my review of the book as I have already passed this exam in the new format, so let’s see how good the book is in the latest edition. Last but not least Fedora 14 has been released and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 will soon follow, so stay tuned..