MCSA

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

W00T! I passed 70-291 today so I'm an MCSA now. That mofo had thrown me for a loop. In class I knew all about the stuff when my teacher asked questions, but how they phrase questions on the tests are stupid. Or my personal favorite is when they don't give you the best practice answer, so you have to go down the list of what's the second best way to do something.

On a side note I know we have a lot of IT guys here so I'd like to ask what certifications are the most sought after in the business? What do you guys have? I lack real world practice of this stuff but I want my resume to look as good as it can so I can get a decent job and be able to move up the ladder in reasonable time. From what I can tell MS Exchange is heavily used and so is SQL. Lots of admin jobs seem to want some script writing and/or Linux/Unix knowledge too. Is Linux+ something worth having? What about Network+, and Security+?

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

Congrats X!! Great job!

I'm not so much of an IT guy as I am a developer (with a manager's hat from time to time). It seems that with the new 2007 version of both Exchange and MS Sql, the demand is pretty good for certified pros. At some point, you'll need to start gaining more on the job experience and hop between a few jobs to increase your salary. It's a shame to say it, but most companies will not increase a persons pay that quickly. It's not until you leave and they hire someone else that they increase the pay for that position. Loyalty doesn't seem to be rewarded anymore. The good news is that you just moved ahead of a lot of people by finishing that test!

[LA_MERC_johncst]

congrats

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

Congrats mano! N+ would be good...and Cisco certs...if I had the money, that's what I would do

[LA_MERC_Captain_Obvious]

Congrats. MCSA is a big deal.

Exchange, SQL, Symantec products (Backup Exec, Anti-Virus) are all widely used by numerous companies.

For Networking, Cisco is by far the most popular in the industry. Try going for a CCNA cert.

Another thing that is big in corporate world and only growing bigger is the adoption of VoIP. Cisco is one of the biggest solutions provider for VoIP too.

Biggest thing you can do though is concentrate on getting real world experience with various types of large projects. It packs a hell of a punch in a interview if you can say that you've helped configure and implement a SAN for a large hospitol, or setup a domain tree for a large bank with multiple locations.

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

I'm working on the job front now. I have a job setup with Comcast as tech support for internet and cable. My biggest fear is I'll forget so much about the administration part of computers and networking if I stay there to long. I have interviews with 2 companies that do IT for small to medium size businesses and I think I'll learn a lot more with them rather than Comcast.

I'm going to finish my MCSE, then get the Exchange cert. After that it will probably depend on what my job is but I'm thinking of going for CCNA because it pays well and I see lots of jobs asking for it. Basically I just see the most amount of jobs out on the job boards and figure that is what I should get under my belt.

Linux+ worth looking into? Or should I just throw Linux on a box and play with it on my own?

[LA_MERC_M@lACHi]

I'm working on the job front now. I have a job setup with Comcast as tech support for internet and cable. My biggest fear is I'll forget so much about the administration part of computers and networking if I stay there to long. I have interviews with 2 companies that do IT for small to medium size businesses and I think I'll learn a lot more with them rather than Comcast.

I'm going to finish my MCSE, then get the Exchange cert. After that it will probably depend on what my job is but I'm thinking of going for CCNA because it pays well and I see lots of jobs asking for it. Basically I just see the most amount of jobs out on the job boards and figure that is what I should get under my belt.

Linux+ worth looking into? Or should I just throw Linux on a box and play with it on my own?

That looks like a good plan. I would definitely look at the IT providers or some kind of systems integrator for small/medium size businesses. It will provide you with a heap of experience with working on all kinds of business systems. I did it for 18 months and learned more then than I have ever learned in the corporate atmosphere.

I would tinker with Linux on your own for now. Ubunto is a very good Linux OS to learn on. The key is with Linux, don't get used to to the GUI. Go command line. That is where *nix will reward you the most.

[LA_MERC_Dragonlady[s]]

MCSA????

M= Men's
C= Concerns w/
S= Sex
A= Association

[LA_MERC_eX1|eS' ch1|d]

Really my only concern is whether women can handle me. But that a different topic DL. ;)

[LA_MERC_M@lACHi]

LOL! @ DragonLady.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Ubuntu is a good Linux distro's for newbies to get a system up and running easily, but you will learn next to nothing about Linux - especially stuff you would need to know if you wound up working in a company with Linux servers...

I would suggest either CentOS or openSUSE...

Red Hat Enterprise Linux costs money (lots of money) but it's still open souce, and all CentOS does is compile the source code, remove RH branding, and provide free updates...good deal all around, and it's a great way to learn the RHEL way of doing things...

Fedora is another option, as it's Red Hat's own "free" option, but in my opinion it's WAY too cutting edge...it's like running an Alpha version of an OS - I've NEVER had Fedora be stable for me...

Right now I Dual Boot XP and openSUSE - Novell bought SuSE linux out a few years back and Novel SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (Server) or SLED (SLES) for short is probably the best, most complete Linux environment out there, and it's quickly surpassing the once Giant Red Hat.

openSUSE is their free product, and unlike Fedora, I have found openSUSE to be a VERY complete, polished and stable distro. It can be as easy (all GUI - their YAST config tools are the best in all of Linux) or you can jump into the CLi to get things done (it's nearly impossible to do ANYTHING of value @ CLi in 'buntu - you can't even log in as root w/o doing some serious hacks).

Another option to openSUSE is that you can actually download SLED from Novell's site - you'll get 30 days of free updates, and the system will keep running after that, just w/o any future updates....I would go w/ openSUSE though, especially if you start doing anything other than tinkering w/ it (such as wanting to play MP3's) there are lots of 3rd party repos for openSUSE that are'nt available for SLED, such as Packman and Guru that have some great packages in them.

Debian is another option - basically Debian is Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu, Knoppix, DSL, Freespire, Mint, Pioneer, Mepis, and countless other Disto's daddy so to speak. You WILL learn VOLUMES about Linux using Debian, and I ran Debian as my only OS for a while up until recently when I really needed a Windows Box at home again, and when setting up the dual boot, I decided to go w/ Suse. If you do Debian, don't do "Stable" - it's old - at least run testing - I always ran "Unstable" or Sid. (Debian releases are named after Toy Story charecters - current stable is "etch", current testing is "lenny" old stable is "sarge" and before that was "woody" and "potato" - you get the picture, well in Toy Store Sid was the kid that broke all of the toys, so Debian's "unstable" branch will always be called "sid".

Wow that wound up being long... :)

I also have a copy of RHEL 5 Server I can upload the ISO's "somewhere" for you if you want - you just can't update it - I don't have a subscription...might be okay for loading in VMWare Server and playing around w/ a bit.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Oh - and BTW - if you do install Linux - make sure whatever distro you choose, you install both KDE and GNOME - you WILL prefer one over another, and they are both very standard - you could encounter either one in a Linux shop, so you would need to know how to get around both...

[LA_MERC_M@lACHi]

Ubuntu is a good Linux distro's for newbies to get a system up and running easily, but you will learn next to nothing about Linux - especially stuff you would need to know if you wound up working in a company with Linux servers...

I beg to differ but everyones mileage varies greatly in the world of Linux.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Oh don't get me wrong Henry - I'm not saying Ubuntu is a "bad" distro...it's just that they have deviated enough from how a standard Linux distro is setup and really have done all the right things in all the right places to make it a GREAT distro for the desktop, that they've limited some of the stuff that will really teach you the guts of the OS - I mean - you can't even change runlevel because they don't use a standard init system - there is no /etc/inittab file.

If someone wanted to just "learn linux" or mess around w/ it on the desktop - it would prolly be my first choice, but from an "enterprise" standpoint, not at all - except for a desktop implementation.

Anyway - I think either my post came across wrong, or I misunderstood what eX was wanting to do w/ Linux. Ubuntu will get a lot of folks started, but if you hit up the Debian/Suse/CentOS/Gentoo (insert distro here) forums, you find lots of folks that started messing w/ Ubuntu out of curiosity to see what Linux was all about and then "Distro-hopped" to see other things and see how different distro's do things.

That's the cool thing about Linux - it's never set in stone, and there are HUNDREDS of distro's out there to explore. I keep a check on Distrowatch.com, and I'm always setting up new distro's in Vmware to play w/ and I keep 30GB unpartitioned on my HDD in case I like one well enough to install and see how it runs on a "real" computer vs. a virtual.

Didn't mean to come across wrong if i did...just something I get really into (and passionate about) sometimes, and I always go overboard :) Keeps me sane, and sober :D Although, Linux can give you a hangover if you sit up too late at night playing w/ it as I do sometimes! hehe.

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Hey eX - should have posted this for you sooner -

go here http://www.vmware.com/download/server/

You can download Vmware Server for free (you just have to register for a free serial)

Or go here http://www.vmware.com/download/player/ and you can get the Vmware player - only difference is VMware Server lets you create machines, and Vmware player only lets you boot pre-made machines...

Then you can go to

http://bagside.com/bagvapp/index.html

This guy does a good job of creating Linux virtuals - he gets the VMware tools installed (sometimes not easy) and you can play around, break it, fix it, and if you can break it, just keep a back up of the image you haven't fooled around w/.

A fairly decent machine with 1GB of ram can donate 512 to the virtual and it will run really well...


Some more pre-made vmware appliances are here http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/ (even links to some of bagsides) and you can find almost any linux distro, bsd distro or even solaris avaliable to download and try.

[Rollout]

Way to go "X"!!!!!!!!!

You Da' Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are ALL proud of of you buddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!