SuperDave's recent A+ certification overview presented
the ups and downs of the entry level A+ certification. What about something for
those who have already tackled the MCSE or CNE certification? There are two
choices. You can go wide, and gain another unrelated cert, or you can go deep,
expanding on the knowledge and experience you've already acquired.
Few would disagree that Novell's Master CNE isn't drawing too much attention
these days. Novell has revamped the MCNE program to eliminate the different
technology tracks, instead allowing you to choose a la carte from a variety of
electives. Microsoft is retiring their MCSE+I certification, and while there
will soon be a
new Microsoft certification
to be sandwiched between MCSE and MCP, this still leaves an MCSE with no higher ground
to strive for.
A slightly different variant on the "go deep" theory is a hardware vendor
certification. Compaq, HP and IBM all have certification programs, however
Compaq's is by far the most challenging and complete.
Compaq Certifications
Compaq has recently lumped all of their certifications under the Compaq
Accredited Professional umbrella.
At the starting end of the pack is the Accredited Platform Specialist, which is
a Compaq-specific add-on to the A+ certification. The next step up is the
Accredited Platform Integrator (known in a former life as Associate ASE). There
are 11 different ASI tracks, adding Compaq specific topics to other
certifications from Compaq, Novell, Microsoft, and others. Typically, only a few
exams from other vendors are required, not a full blown MCSE or CNE.
The next step up is the Accredited Systems Engineer, or ASE, tracks. An ASE
track typically involves the same Compaq topics as a related ASI track, but with
a full MCSE or CNE level certification as a pre-requisite. Master ASE
tracks are next, typically requiring an ASE certification as a prerequisite, and
focusing in on nitty-gritty details, like Oracle performance and integration, or
Storage Area Networks.
For the most part from here in I'll only cover the most popular track, ASE
ProLiant/Windows 2000, unless I've got a specific bit to say about one of the
other tracks. (In case you're wondering, the ProLiant is just Pentium III/4
gear).
How to Prepare
So what next? Unfortunately, this isn't an A+, MCSE, or Cisco certification.
There simply isn't the quantity of study material available for the ASE.
McGraw-Hill tried publishing a study guide early last year, and the reviews of
it weren't too kind. Sybex and Coriolis are promising books for the current
track later this year.
The Sybex book weighs in at a hefty 944 pages, while
the Coriolis book skips the material for one of the three exams, rounding out at 400
pages. Even with the one section missing, unless Sybex has killed a lot of trees
for whitespace and pretty pictures, the Coriolis book seems small. (Note that
these books are only for the ProLiant/Win2k track. Everyone else is out of
luck).
What about free stuff? There are a few study notes and some really poorly
written braindumps available online. Your mileage will definitely vary. The only
one worth linking to is Cramsession.
While you're there, check out the discussion groups. Boson has also created a
CompaqStudy
Yahoo! Group, where the Boson Compaq authors will hang out and answer questions.
Those who spend some time on the Compaq website will find a variety of
whitepapers on the exam topics. It's obvious that the team responsible for the
official student materials has a great relationship with the people who crank
out the whitepapers.
There are also some excellent general resources available online. Use your
favorite search engine, punch in a few keywords (SRAM vs DRAM, for example), and
learn away. My favorite site has to be these guys, with a variety of articles on hardware
systems, and what make �em tick.
Other options include taking the official Compaq course for about $3,000 plus
travel to a city likely not so near you, or you can charge a little under a
grand to your plastic and walk away with a complete set of the official student
guides for the course of your choice here on the video and self paced
training website.
There is a variety of material other than just student guides available.
For those who love practice exams, the only ones available for Compaq
certifications are available from Boson Software, written by myself, Derrick and Jim.
Caveat Hacker!
The ASE program is not the same worldwide - you can't do part of your certification
in the UK, and finish the rest in US. There are in fact six regions in the
Compaq world. No, I don't know why they do this. I wish they'd stop. It just
doesn't make sense, and has lead to more than one scream of anguish on the CompaqStudy mailing list.
ASE Benefits
Now that it seems like ASE certification is too much grief, here's what that
certification gets you (other than a certificate):
Priority ASE-only hotline for phone support (Directly to people
who can actually answer your questions. No rookies asking silly questions)
CDs, including Software Support, QuickFind, SmartStart, NT and
Novell Resource PAQs
Preview kits, so you can see what the Compaq marketing
department is capable of. Seriously, it's nice to know about this stuff
before your client/boss does
Subscription to the TidBytes newsletter (not all warm fluff,
there's some good content)
Service Quick Reference Guide
ASE-only website, which has a link for priority ASE only support
email, ASE Techlink (whitepapers, logos and other resources), the ASE
merchandise store, and a purchase plan (valid only in the US, some very good
deals to be had!)
Discounts to Compaq events, invitations to ASE only technical
events
And of course, the knowledge of how to make Compaq ProLiant servers play
nicely with Windows 2000 in your network.
