3/8/2005 -- Red Hat recently unveiled the requirements for its upcoming Red Hat Certified Architect title, originally announced last year.

The certification brings Red Hat's tradition of testing hands-on skills to a new level by requiring candidates to pass a series of five lab exams in order to earn the title. The labs are:

• Security: Network Services (EX333)
• Deployment and Systems Management (EX401)
• Directory Services and Authentication (EX423)
• Storage Management (EX436)
• System Monitoring and Performance Tuning (EX442)

All candidates must be current Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCEs) before attempting any of these labs, which range from two to eight hours depending on the topic. Passing one or more exams earns RHCEs an "endorsement" in their chosen specialty (or specialties), but only by passing all five can a candidate become an RHCA.

"In deciding on the testing format for RHCA, it was neither practical nor beneficial to customers to force performance-based testing of all enterprise architect-level competencies into a brutal three-day or four-day high stakes all-or-nothing marathon," Red Hat said of the new multi-exam format on its Web site. "A person who did not pass just the storage management element on the first try would have to sit and pass the entire exam again. This would be an expensive and time consuming gamble, and would not be suited to customers who at this stage are focused on just a subset of the enterprise architect skill areas.

"Separate exams and endorsements allow people to gain recognition for their Architect-level skills as they acquire them, rather than trying to acquire and prove mastery of all at one sitting."

The labs will begin to debut in "Spring 2005," the company said. Optional four-day training classes are currently available.

The exams will cost $749 each ($549 when purchased with training). Those taking exams as part of an official training course will be allowed one free retake within 90 days.

To be considered a current RHCE, the title must have been earned on Red Hat Linux 8.0 or 9, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3.0 or 4.0. To encourage upgrading, the company is offering half-price RHCE exams to all RHCEs certified in versions prior to Enterprise 4.0, as well as discounted training.

For more information about the upcoming RHCA labs, go here. For more information about the RHCE discount upgrade offer, go here. -Becky Nagel