Linux certification in Singapore?

[royong]

Well, this is a fairly generic question that I receive, so I thought what better way than to answer this here.

There are quite a number of Linux certifications in the local market - here's a small list

- Comptia Linux+ (Linux+)
- Linux Professional Institute Level 1 (LPIC1)
- Linux Professional Institute Level 2 (LPIC2)
- Novell Certified Linux Professional (NCLP)
- Novell Certified Linux Engineer (NCLE)
- Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT)
- Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
- Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS)
- Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)

That's probably what is offered in the local context as far as Linux certifications and Linux training is concerned.

Well, if you notice, there are quite a number of certifications that you can obtain, having done quite a few of them, Linux+ NCLP RHCE - I would probably break it down into the following categories

Distribution Neutral - Linux+ LPIC1 LPIC2
Distribution Based - NCLP NCLE RHCT RHCE RHCSS RHCA

So, if you need to make you choice, I think the best will be to base it if you want a Distribution Neutral or Distribution Based certification. The main differences lie in the fact that in both teach you the raw Linux skill sets, the latter will concentrate more on the issues and features that are available in their respective distributions i.e. the Red Hat courses will naturally highlight the respective solutions from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux range of solutions.

Being trained in Novell and Red Hat solutions and to a certain extent a neutralist in the use of different Linux distributions, I would probably agree that the learning curve for Linux is a little steep simply because there are so many choices to make. I guess the easiest route that I would recommend would be to place in priority the following

- Are you an advocate for vendor neutral training?

- Bearing in mind that vendor based training is more "saleable" in the job market, will you be looking towards using the Linux certification to get you that next job?

I guess you get my point. Distribution neutral certifications are a great way to learn Linux and they tend to be slightly cheaper in course fees and examinations. Distribution based certifications are more "saleable" in the job market and hence it reflects the higher course and examinations fees.

I guess thats enough of the debate, I should really get to the point. Where are these courses held?

Linux+
:: New Horizons (http://www.newhorizons.com.sg/)

LPIC1
:: New Horizons (http://www.newhorizons.com.sg/)

LPIC2
:: New Horizons (http://www.newhorizons.com.sg/)

NCLP
:: Avantus Training (http://www.avantustraining.com/Novell/default.htm)

NCLE
:: Avantus Training (http://www.avantustraining.com/Novell/default.htm)

RHCT
:: Red Hat Asia Pacific (http://apac.redhat.com/training/)

RHCE
:: Red Hat Asia Pacific (http://apac.redhat.com/training/)

RHCSS
:: Red Hat Asia Pacific (http://apac.redhat.com/training/)

RHCA
:: Red Hat Asia Pacific (http://apac.redhat.com/training/)

[royong]

UPDATE

New Certification Available

As extracted from the website
https://www.redhat.com/certification/rhcds/

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Red Hat Certified Datacenter Specialist (RHCDS)
Overview

An 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
* EX423 Directory Services and Authentication
* EX436 Clustering and Storage Management

These courses build on system administration skills covered in the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) program, which is a prerequisite.

All upper-level courses are all peer level, meaning each can be taken by someone with RHCE or equivalent skills. Any order is fine.

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Visit http://apac.redhat.com/training/ for more details