2/27/2008 -- Lutz Ziob, the general manager of Microsoft Learning, answered some questions recently on the need for Windows Server 2008 training and certification. In the interview, Ziob compares IT professionals today (unsung heroes) to "the men and women who designed and built the physical infrastructure that fueled" much of this era's social and economic progress. Some the other quotes of note include:

"The more knowledge you have of our software, the better equipped you are to exploit its full capabilities."

"Since 2006, we've seen the number of Microsoft Certified Professionals grow by almost 30 percent."

"...in the coming months we will launch a new testing experience based on the Windows Server Hypervisor technology."

"We've been moving toward the practical, scenario-based testing model since 2005, but Virtualization will allow us to do some great new things. I think it will revolutionize the testing experience because the real world scenarios and tasks will basically become the test."

Check out the interview at Microsoft's site; it's well-worth a read.

Red Hat Certified Datacenter Specialist
The Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification has long been considered one of the best Linux certifications in the industry due to the rigor of its hands-on exam. In addition to some certificates of "expertise" that are available, Red Hat has now added the Red Hat Certified Datacenter Specialist (RHCDS).

To obtain this certification, you must pass three of the expertise exams:

• EX401 Deployment, Virtualization, and Systems Management
• EX423 Directory Services and Authentication
• EX436 Clustering and Storage Management

Each expertise exam is similar to the RHCE exam in that it's hands-on and will last between four and eight hours. The exams cost $749 if taken by themselves, or you can save $200 by taking them in conjunction with a class.

More information on the RHCDS certification can be found here.

Book of the Week: 'Linux Bible' 2008 Edition
Christopher Negus' Linux Bible is one of those rare books that you end up repurchasing each year because it's the best way to stay on top of the latest information on many distributions. The 2008 edition keeps up the tradition and includes both a DVD and CD with the most current distributions as of press time, including:

• BackTrack
• Coyote Linux
• Damn Small Linux
• Debian GNU/Linux
• Fedora
• Freespire
• Gentoo Linux
• INSERT
• Puppy Linux
• KNOPPIX
• Mandriva One
• openSUSE
• Slackware
• SLAX
• Ubuntu

In the interest of disclosure, I'm listed as a technical editor on the book, but all that means is that I ran through a number of chapters before the book went to print and made a few suggestions here and there. No one but Negus could've compiled such a complete reference that walks through 16 different Linux distributions without pulling their hair out.