Certifications (Cisco, etc)

halfadder

Golden Member
Dec 5, 2004
1,190
0
0
I am currently finishing my BS in Computer Science. Most of my classmates are getting programming related jobs but I just love working with the hardware. This past year I was able to get several scholarships and so I ended up spending less money than I had expected. So now I'm thinking about going for some certifications to add to my resume and also just out of curiosity. I have worked in and around the Internet, networking, and server world for the past 10 years but I don't know a think about certifications!

What is A+, is that the very basic "computer tech" certification? Are there multiple levels of A+? How expensive are the tests?

What is the path for Cisco training? I hear a lot about CCNA -> CCNP -> CCIE, is that the normal path? Where do CCDA, CCDP, CCIP, and CCSP fit in? What would I end up spending for the first "two notches" of Cisco certification? How much hardware would I need to buy? (This is probably a huge thread in itself, LOL)

I am also interested in some Unix / Server certifications, somewhere where I would have to get down and dirty with the filesystem and command line. Have any of you gone for Red Hat, Novell/Suse, or Solaris certification?
 

dphantom

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2005
4,763
327
126
You probably want to decide what your job focus is going to be. If you are lookign at a PC tech, then A+ might be the route. If you want to do network engineering, then CCNA works. Certifications are fine and I've got a few of them, but unless you know what you want to do, I would wait.