I want to boost my resume up and grab some certificates that are hardware/networking related. Any thoughts as to which would be most useful? I'm going to avoid Cisco ones for the time being since they involve lengthy course work.

 

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In my opinion, virtualization certs like the VCP or CCA are hot right now. Why? Cause everyone is buzzing about cloud crap, and no one knows what the hell they are talking about. This is troublesome for CxOs and being able to say you are certified for virtualization goes a long way to reassuring them that they aren't about to go out of business for making the leap "into the cloud".

 

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Good to know. I'm going to look into that and see if its something I can learn.

 

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You gotta be pretty good with hardware and windows servers for starts. A good background in networking and storage is really helpful too. Some linux would be good as well. I suppose it is part of the reason why it is desirable...

 

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For starters: A+, N+, Sec +.
For the short-term future: MCITP: Enterprise Support Admin. with a focus on Exchange and Active Directory
For the long term, virtualization, because you can't just learn VMWare or Hyper-V by using a book. VMWare certification isnt even possible without a class, and it is DAMNED expensive.

I just wrapped up my CompTIA certifications recently and I'm studying for 70-640 (Server 2008) certification.

The Cisco CCNA/ICND course is very valuable in many areas.


Anyways, in my view, you should look at companies you are considering working at and find out what they view as important.

I've seen many people over the years go work their ass off for some certification that when they are interviewed, gets a "huh? whats that?" from the interviewer.

 

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I'm holding off on updating my Microsoft stuff since Windows 8 server will bring a whole new set of certs.

 

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Honestly, certs will only get a foot in the door most times (with a company you WANT to work for, if someone is hiring based only on certs you don't want to be there). The A+ N+ and Sec+ are the very bare minimum entry level certs for sure. That said, VM stuff is going a long way and gaining momentum.


From a standpoint that you can easily have VM's physically on different servers spread across the country (or world) allowing a pool of power to draw from on the same app or service, if you lose one server, or location you are still up, and only lost some processing power. The ability to patch VM's one by one and cause you no downtime, move VHD's from server to server fast to spin up new site all are becoming more commonplace and are important for the target of maximum uptime.


The lines are further blurring between server and network with the likes of iSCSI, FCoE, Windows 8 server and how it uses virtual switching on the NIC, as well as the advent of blade servers further invading the arena with specialized configurations on how the parts of these servers all interact and have networking built into them (HP, Cisco, IBM).

 

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Just a tip in the event you are interested in DOD Civilian or Contractor jobs. Certifications are mandated by the DOD. The specifics depend on the specific job. Typically, you will need both a security and an OS cert but there are some jobs that only require one of those. The position description for DOD civilian listings will specify what is required. As for contractor positions, if the listing does not specify make sure you ask during the interview. A lot of smaller DOD contractors have not figured out the requirements of the instruction mandating certs yet.

 

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This is interesting. Where would one find a listing of dod jobs? And do they offer remote jobs or contracts?

 

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