CertCities.com News
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Jan. 9, 2008: Vol. 9, Issue 1
Editor: Becky Nagel (bnagel 1105media.com)
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SPONSORED THIS WEEK BY:
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- New Paper: IP Address Management Built Right
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In this issue:
1) DULANEY ON CERTS
- Microsoft's 2008 Certification Shuffle
- Oracle Linux Certification in Beta
- Promissor and Vue Now One
- Good Reads: Predictions from Days Gone By
- Book of the Week: 'CISSP Certification All-in-One Exam
Guide'
2) ZUBAIR'S TIP O' THE WEEK: CHANGING DEFAULT GROUP POLICY
REFRESH
INTERVAL FOR WINDOWS XP CLIENTS
3) FROM THE FORUMS: REQUIREMENTS FOR WRITING CCDA, BOSON
SIMULATOR
QUESTION, MORE
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1) DULANEY ON CERTS
By Emmett Dulaney
MICROSOFT'S 2008 CERTIFICATION SHUFFLE
When it comes to the new certifications from Microsoft, I
feel as
confused as Ricky Ricardo does after Lucy pulls another one
of
her shenanigans.
In the beginning, the two main administrator-level
certifications
from Microsoft were the Microsoft Certified Professional
(MCP) and
the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). While a
number of
tracks and derivatives have popped up to confuse the issue,
for the
past decade or so MCP generally meant that you had a
specialty in
one area (i.e., passed a single exam), while MCSE meant you
were
more well-rounded (i.e., passed several more exams beyond
your MCP).
With the release of the Windows Server 2008 exams, Microsoft
is
severing the old certifications and opting for two new ones:
Microsoft
Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Microsoft
Certified IT
Professional (MCITP). You first take the MCTS exam(s) of
your choice
(sounds a lot like the MCP) and then move toward MCITP
(sounds a lot
like the MCSE). Note that a brand-new third level, the
Microsoft
Certified Architect (MCA), is being added that doesn't match
with
anything currently offered.
While Microsoft has discussed this "new
generation" of certifications
(http://tinyurl.com/ko87k
), it's failed to mention why, specifically,
it has removed "engineer" from the wording of the
top-level
certification. Some people, such as Redmondmag.com columnist
Greg
Shields, have suggested the change is the result of several
countries
protecting the title of "engineer." As Shields
writes in his recent
"Windows Insider" column: "One can be called
an engineer only after
they've passed the Order of Engineers' Professional
Engineer's Examination."
http://redmondmag.com/columns/article.asp?editorialsi
d=2432
I don't buy it.
Microsoft wasn't the first company to come up with an IT
certification.
At the time it entered the market, Novell was already there
with its
Certified NetWare Engineer entry, which was getting a lot of
flak for
not meeting the requirements of a true "engineer."
That company has
since changed the name of the title to Certified Novell
Engineer --
allowing the certification to apply to other products
besides
NetWare -- and has added Certified Linux Engineer (CLE) and
Novell
Certified Engineer (NCE), to boot. I guess Novell didn't
learn the
lesson that Microsoft did.
Surprisingly, though, the top Red Hat certification is that
of
engineer. To show your expertise with PHP, you become a Zend
Certified Engineer (ZCE). And what's the top level for
integration
and administration certifications from HP? Engineer.
And so it goes. "Engineer" is a word that carries
a specific
connotation that I'm not sure "professional" does.
In fact, wasn't
"professional" the very word Microsoft used for
over 10 years to
denote a beginner who passed a single exam?
Before it can make sense to me, Microsoft still has some
'splainin'
to do.
ORACLE LINUX CERTIFICATION IN BETA
One of the strongest Linux certifications to debut in a
while isn't
from a Linux vendor. To become certified as an Oracle
Enterprise
Linux Administrator Certified Associate (a mouthful, if ever
there
was one), you must first hold an entry-level Linux
certification
(LPI, Linux+, Novell, Red Hat or Ubuntu) and then pass exam
1Z0-403.
This exam, available at Prometric testing centers, is in
beta until
Jan. 20. While in beta, it consists of 175 to 200 questions
and
costs $50.
What makes the exam strong are the topics that it focuses
on:
- boot process and SysV init
- client networking
- filesystem administration
- installing enterprise Linux
- Linux kernel compilation
- LVM and RADI
- PC hardware and Linux
- post-install system configuration
- security concepts
- task automation and process accounting
- the X Window System
- troubleshooting
- user/group administration and NFS
The Oracle Enterprise Linux Administrator Certified
Associate
certification will be required before you can obtain the
Oracle
Enterprise Linux Administrator Certified Professional
certification
(which is still in the works).
More information about Oracle's Linux certification
offerings can be
found here:
http://tinyurl.com/2fyqnx
PROMISSOR AND VUE NOW ONE
Two years after purchasing Promissor, a leader in the
licensing exam
field, Pearson has finished merging the company into Vue.
This
expands the offerings available through the testing channel;
the
redesigned Web site now lists a plethora of options ranging
from
driving tests to state-regulated certifications, with IT,
academic
and everything else tossed in.
More information about the new Promissor/Vue can be found on
their
homepage at http://www.vue.com/.
GOOD READS: PREDICTIONS FROM DAYS GONE BY
Around this time, there usually is no shortage of
"predictions" for
the coming year. If you do a Google search, odds are you'll
easily
find dozens of technology-related articles guessing at
what's to
come in 2008.
But just for kicks (and some reading enjoyment), it's worth
it to
look back on previous years and see how (in)accurate those
predictions have been. Here are some of the better
predictions
from recent years:
- "2007 Web Predictions" from ReadWriteWeb:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/2007_web_predi
ctions.php
- "Predictions, 2006: A Focus on the Technology
Sector" from Deloitte
Touche Tohmatsu (PDF)
http://tinyurl.com/yvc2ba
- "Top 10 IT Predictions for 2005" from Nucleus
Research
h
ttp://www.cioupdate.com/trends/article.php/3458651
- "Top 10 Technology Predictions for 2004" from
ESJ.com
http://www.esj.com/news/article.aspx?EditorialsID=797
BOOK OF THE WEEK: 'CISSP CERTIFICATION ALL-IN-ONE EXAM
GUIDE'
Computer security and growth area trends seem to be
inextricably
linked these days, with Certified Information Systems
Security
Professional (CISSP) being one of the leaders in the
certification domain.
The latest version of this tome by Shon Harris
(http://tinyurl.com/2gjsoa) weighs in at just under 5 pounds and is
well-worth your time. Even if you have no intention of
pursuing the
CISSP, you'll learn enough real-world security information
to easily
justify the cost of adding this digest to your bookshelf.
To comment, go to:
http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.
asp?EditorialsID=266
Emmett Dulaney is the author of several books on Linux,
Unix, and
certification, including the Security+ Study Guide, Third
Edition. He
can be reached at edulaneyinsightbb.com.
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2) ZUBAIR'S TIP O' THE WEEK: CHANGING DEFAULT GROUP POLICY
REFRESH
INTERVAL FOR WINDOWS XP CLIENTS
QUESTION:
How can I change the default Group Policy refresh interval
for our
Windows XP clients from 90 minutes to 120 minutes, and the
random
offset value from to 45 minutes?
ANSWER:
By default, the user portion of Group Policy is refreshed
every 90
minutes, with a random offset of 0 to 30 minutes. You can
configure
Group Policy restrictions to change this value. If this
setting is
disabled or not configured, the default values are used.
It's best
not to modify these values, unless you completely understand
the ramifications.
Here's the procedure:
1. Open the Group Policy Object.
2. Go to User Configuration, Administrative Templates,
System, group
Policies.
3. In the right-hand pane, double-click Group Policy
refresh interval
for users.
4. Change the value from 90 to 120 minutes, and the random
offset
value from 30 to 45 minutes.
There are two important things to keep in mind. First, this
setting
can be applied to Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows
Server 2003
computers. Second, don't specify a value of 0 minutes, or
else the
computer will try to update the policy settings every 7
seconds.
The procedure described above shows you how to update the
user portion
of the Group Policy. For the computer portion, you can
modify the
similar setting at Computer ConfigurationAdministrative
TemplatesSystemGroup Policy.
To comment, go to:
http://certcities.com/editorial/columns/story.
asp?EditorialsID=267
-- Zubair Alexander, MCSE, MCT, MCSA and Microsoft MVP, is
the owner
of SeattlePro Enterprises, an IT training and consulting
business.
His experience covers a wide range: trainer, consultant,
systems
administrator, security architect, network engineer, author,
technical editor, college instructor and public speaker.
Zubair holds
more than 18 technical certifications and bachelor of
science
degrees in aeronautics and astronautics engineering,
mathematics
and computer information systems. His Web site,
www.techgalaxy.net,
is dedicated to technical resources for IT professionals.
Zubair may
be reached at alexandertechgalaxy.net.
------------------------------------------------------------
----
3) FROM THE FORUMS: REQUIREMENTS FOR WRITING CCDA, BOSON
SIMULATOR
QUESTION, MORE
The following posts were made to our forums recently by IT
professionals like yourself. To post your own comments,
please
register with the forums.
To respond to one of these posts or find out more, go to the
link under each post. To read our other posts and start a
thread of your own, go to http://certcities.com/f
orums/
-----------------------------------
*Boson Simulator* (CCNA/CCNP Forum)
ejizel writes:
"I'm interested in getting the newest Boson simulator
(I know that the
real thing is better but I don't have the space and I wanted
to get my
feet wet with a simulator first). What's the difference
between the
version for CCENT, CCNA and CCNP? I have the Cisco Press
book for
CCENT and the 5th ed. Sybex for CCNA and I plan on taking
the
CCENT first."
Read the entire post and responses (11 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5786
-----------------------------------
*Requirements for Writing CCDA* (CCDA/CCDP Forum)
Cisco Kid writes:
"Did my CCNA a year ago, looking to do the CCDA exam,
and I'm curious
to know if the BCMSN exam is a recommended exam before
moving onto the
CCDA. I know it's not a requirement but Cisco says it's a
recommended
level of knowledge for taking the exam. However, people who
have
completed the exam don't mention anything about the Building
Cisco
Multilayer Switched Networks exam. Any ideas?"
Read the entire post and responses (10 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5800
-----------------------------------
*3620 Router with Comcast Cable Problem* (Cisco -- Real
World Forum)
JavaWannabe writes:
"I want to use my 3620 router as the main
router/firewall for my
gateway device to the Internet via Comcast cable. I had been
using
Linksys to do this. Everything was fine. I just want to
control
traffic to a greater degree with the Cisco IOS. My problem
is getting
it to work! (Duh.) I've tried using NAT overloading but to
no success.
Can anyone help me?"
Read the entire post and responses (12 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5776
-----------------------------------
*Connect Local 'Net Printer Through RD* (Microsoft -- Real
World Forum)
Pooka writes:
"I was at a friend's workplace and she couldn't print.
So I checked
and the printer wasn't shared so I shared it and she can
print on her
local network -- great. The problem is she uses remote
desktop and
would like to print from there.
I check the connect local devices on the remote desktop
options, but
it didn't see it. Is this because it's on her LAN and not
locally
connected to her computer? If so, what is the workaround for
this?
Keep in mind I have no permissions on the network other than
her user
account so I can't do admin work on it."
Read the entire post and responses (2 so far) at:
http://certcities.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?tid=5801
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