8/8/2001 -- Sun Microsystems confirmed to CertCities yesterday that it plans to launch three job-role-based storage certifications by the end of the year.

Sun has yet to officially announce the certs, but the company has posted information on its Web site regarding a beta exam for one new title, the Sun Certified Storage Architect.

The first title in the series is called the Sun Certified Data Management Engineer. The exam for this certification recently completed beta testing and will go live in early September, said Diane Hudlin, Sun's director of test development.

The second title, the Sun Certified Storage Architect (mentioned above), will begin the beta process Aug. 31 at Prometric centers worldwide. Those who pass the free beta will be certified in the new title. According to the Sun Web site, this exam will test the candidates' knowledge in the following areas:

• Storage Area Networking (SAN) Fundamentals
• Business problems solved by SAN
• SAN topologies
• SAN hardware and software components
• Designing and troubleshooting SAN solutions

The live version of this exam is scheduled to launch in November.

The third title, the Sun Certified Backup and Recovery Engineer, will beta sometime this fall, with launch expected in late 2001/early 2002..

For each certification, candidates will be required to pass one exam, featuring both standard and scenario-based questions. The Architect certification is not product-specific; however, for the other two titles, candidates will have a choice of products on which to certify, Hudlin explained.

Sun's Worldwide Director of Certification Robert Pedigo told CertCities that Sun's move into storage certifications was a result of customer demand. "We've had massive and overwhelming requests for certifications [in this area]," he said. "I believe that for certification of its type, this will be the best program in the industry in terms of testing the ability to perform the tasks specific to these job roles."

For more information on the Architect beta, including registration instructions, click here. CertCities will bring you more on these certifications as new details are made available. -B.N.