Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2003 13:08:43 -0700 From: "Mooneer Salem" <mooneer@translator.cx> To: "'Paul Robinson'" <paul@iconoplex.co.uk> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: RE: BSD certification. Message-ID: <000a01c352e8$8d152790$1300a8c0@D6T8V231> In-Reply-To: <20030709091918.GU40220@iconoplex.co.uk>
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Hello, I meant to reply to this message, but I haven't had the time until now. :) Anyways, while reviewing for the LPI certification exams (there's a lot of obscure stuff that isn't used often in server administration, it seems) I thought of "the ultimate (insert OS here)" certification exam. In the United States, high school students have the option of taking Advanced Placement exams (http://www.collegeboard.com/ap/). Most colleges and universities award college credit for successfully challenging these exams. Each exam is about 3-4 hours long, and usually consists of a multiple choice section followed by a free response question (basically questions requiring answers in paragraph or essay form). They're offered only once a year, in May. This kind of concept could be adapted for any kind of FreeBSD certification exam. There would be a multiple choice section (it'd be about 1/3rd of the total exam score) and a lab section. The multiple choice section would be just like any other certification exam. It'd cover basic systems administration essentials, FreeBSD commands, etc. After taking the multiple choice section of the exam, the test takers would go to another room with rows of computers on the desks. Before the actual exam takes place, the exam creators would take a hard drive, install FreeBSD on it, and then basically manufacture a problem that would require a sysadmin to fix it (such as a trashed boot sector or Apache). Preferably the problem would normally take about an hour to two hours to solve. Each test taker would have access to a FreeBSD CD and the Internet (for Google). Network and routing information would be provided on a whiteboard in the front of the room in case the computers are not set up properly for networking. Once each test taker fixes their computer entirely, they would access a Web page on the server in front of the room (where the gateway specified above would be). The server would record the fact that they completed the lab portion of the test and run some automatic checks (are the services that need to be up, up? Is Apache configured properly by showing this particular page? etc.). Once the checks are complete, this information would be saved and the test taker's computer would be remotely shut down. The multiple choice portion of the exam would be graded automatically. Every test taker would know their results on this portion after the test is complete. Grading for the lab portion of the exam would be as follows: 50%: completion of automatic checks by lab server (the test taker would know their score on this portion immediately as well) 50%: manual inspection of server Every computer used in the test room is manually inspected after the test takers leave. It's checked to make sure things like the proper number of users is created, they have secure passwords, and other things that can't be completed through an automatic check. Points would be added/deducted based on how well the server was set up or "fixed". Altogether, the lab portion of the exam would be worth 2/3rds of the total exam score. Based on the performance of previous exam sessions, score thresholds would be set. The possible grades you could get on this exam could be something like this: 5: Exceptional mastery of systems administration 4: Above-average mastery 3: Acceptable mastery 1-2: Below acceptable (this would be equivalent to getting an F in a class) Because thresholds would be different every exam session, this means that if the highest scoring test takers only got a 60%, they could still get a 5. This would cover cases where the test makers decided to introduce a situation not commonly faced by sysadmins (like a new worm or security vulnerability). This concept could also be extended to add add-on certification for things like networking and security administration, although these probably wouldn't be done at the same time as the main examination. Because of the expense of equipping exam centers with computers that the examiners can install FreeBSD on without getting in trouble (I don't think the VUE centers that I know of would allow that), it'd probably only be possible to do it once a year. Perhaps the exam could be given every year during BSDcon? In fact, the multiple choice portion of the exam could be made into a separate exam, with full certification not being attained until the lab session is passed (this would allow the multiple choice portion to be administered online rather than in person). Does anyone see any kind of fault with such a system? How could such a system be improved? BTW: Paul, maybe we can chat via private email more about your ideas for certification, if you'd like. :) Thanks, -- Mooneer Salem "The 8-ball won't tell me if I'll pass the final!" lifeafterking.org: Life after HS -----Original Message----- From: owner-freebsd-chat@freebsd.org [mailto:owner-freebsd-chat@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Paul Robinson Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 2:19 AM To: William Fletcher Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: BSD certification. On Wed, Jul 09, 2003 at 10:32:24AM +0200, William Fletcher wrote: > I was just wondering what would be a good certification for a person > who doesn't have any. Preferably something with a little bit of challenge. > And, preferably FreeBSD specific. Two years ago when I was working for the 3-employers-ago company, I came up with the idea of a decent BSD-specific qualification program. It got built out on paper to include Apache, Sendmail, etc. configuation and management. The idea was to make it more useful (and valuable) than any of the rather cruddy (IMHO) Solaris or Redhat certs. Delivery and even examination would be on-line, with the curriculum available to training centres who would want to "value-add" and provide classroom training. In principle however, you would be able to get stuck in from anywhere in the world for a relatively low cost. Even though it would be cheap, it would be intentionally of a high standard (read: quite hard to do) to keep it's "value" up there above the rest. I did quite a bit of work on it before realising the market was too small. That market has grown since though, and it's something that I might look at again next year - I'm happy to look into going into parternship with somebody else who wants to do some work on it right now. Bizzarely, I'm now working for a department inside a UK University developing a brand new e-learning delivery platform, so some of the experience here might rub off and I might end up building it anyway. The biggest problem is that ideally a formal accreditation model needs to be drawn up, it should take note of CPD activites already completed, ideally we should be looking to see an application of learning, etc. and that's all in the realms of academia. If there are any academics who want to get involved in something like this, just get in touch. I feel a tad out of my depth, even though I'm now immersed in the whole environment. Note: tutorials at conferences and reading o'reilly books is NOT the same as working through a formal accredited certification. They will address skill gaps, but they are address specific problem domains rather than providing you with the information to address new problem domains on your own. > Otherwise, any other interesting courses? Like Terry pointed out, the tutorials at BSD con might be your best bet this year as long as you see them for what they are. > I'd like to get my cissp, before I turn 25. CCNA is a good one to get if you want to work in the ISP/carrier market, even if you don't want to touch the network, just the servers. It's interesting too, I think. I'm planning to do CCNA exams later this year just when I get a little more spare time. > Sorry I didn't check the mailing lists\google. Somebody in the office > suggested I try get my boss to send me on a FreeBSD course. Since > he wants to do redhat certification if he can. Some people really rate the redhat stuff. I don't. I don't rate the Sun/solaris stuff either. And don't get me started on MSCE. Anyway, anybody interested in working on a FBSD certification programme? -- Paul Robinson _______________________________________________ freebsd-chat@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-chat To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-chat-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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