What Is the Basic Red Hat Certification?
Red Hat Inc. provides open-source software solutions to more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies, including internet service providers, airlines, healthcare companies, and commercial banks. The company, which has been around for more than two decades, is renowned for its Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution. Red Hat offers a fully open technology stack that allows users to customize the software to meet their needs – users are not locked into the vendor's vision of the software or stack components. Red Hat's portfolio of products and services includes JBoss middleware, cross-platform virtualization, cloud computing (CloudForms and OpenStack), and much more.
Red Hat Certifications
Red Hat offers numerous professional certifications based on its software products, including those for operating systems, virtualization, storage, and cloud-based solutions. However, achieving these certifications is not an easy task. Proper preparation through good prep courses is essential, and I would recommend checking out the SPOTO Club’s Red Hat Certification Courses to ease your study efforts.
Red Hat Certification Program Overview
The Red Hat certification program targets system administrators, engineers, architects, enterprise developers, application administrators, and cloud and virtualization administrators who use RHEL in their IT infrastructures. The program aims to ensure candidates are proficient in RHEL by requiring them to pass performance-based certification exams. Unlike many certification exams that ask multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions, Red Hat requires you to perform real-world tasks using Red Hat technologies to pass its exams.
Flexibility in Red Hat Certification Exams
Red Hat traditionally offered certification exams only after completing a training course. Now, you can take a Red Hat exam on your schedule, outside of formal training if you prefer. Each exam session is performed on a secured system in a professionally proctored testing center. These centers are located in select cities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Red Hat Certified Professional Benefits
Once you earn a Red Hat certification, you become a Red Hat Certified Professional. This status gives you access to Red Hat Certification Central, which allows you to connect with potential employers, join the Red Hat community, create study groups, and collaborate on projects. Additionally, you can explore Red Hat's training options and easily schedule individual exam sessions. Discounts on recertification exams are also available through this platform.
Red Hat Administrator, Engineer, and Architect Certifications
The largest group of Red Hat certifications is geared toward system administrators, engineers, and architects. Some of the most popular and sought-after Red Hat certifications in this category include:
- Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA)
- Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
- Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)
The RHCA is considered Red Hat's most versatile credential. In 2018, Red Hat implemented several changes to the RHCA program, including offering two separate RHCA credentials:
- Red Hat Certified Architect in Enterprise Applications
- Red Hat Certified Architect in Infrastructure
Over the past year, Red Hat has retired many of its credentials, which can be seen in the list of "Retired Certifications" on the company’s All Certifications page. Candidates who have previously passed exams that are now retired may still be able to apply those retired certifications toward current certification tracks.
Recommendation
To obtain Red Hat certifications, it’s important to gain detailed knowledge of the topics covered. For this, I recommend joining the courses offered at the SPOTO Club.