Customer Reviews

RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide (Exam RH302), Third Edition

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an experienced system administrator (AIX, DG-UX, Linux, HP-UX - HP Certified) I have found this book to be very useful. It is not a beginners how to book, but lists a lot of very useful information for day to day work as well as for exam preparation.

True, the included CD is aimed at Windows PCs, but it's very easy to access the PDF files on a Linux system as well without using the Windows programs.

I would recommend this book to anyone studying for RHCE.

Having taken the exam and passed in December 2004, this release of the book is a little dated since the format of the exam changed, but the content of the book is still very relevant.

The exam no longer includes multiple choice questions, but is now entirely performance based. There is an updated version of the book which I did not buy, having already had this one for some time. It is not aimed at people who want to be taught everything, but at people with initiative and willing to go out and practice and learn by themselves. The content is still good and is well worth the price to prepare for the exam, or to work through before going on an RH300 (bootcamp) or other RedHat class.

For 2003, the orangeroom.org folks decided to host a Red Hat Linux Certification class, and we had to chose a book as our reference text. After thoroughly researching all of the current and available texts (both off-line and on-line), we came to the decision that this text from Osborne Certification Press was the best available at the time.

Indeed, our decision has paid off well! This text provides excellent and up-to-date information about getting your Red Hat certification. The author provides many helpful tips along the way, but does not waste your time with superfluous info. Each chapter ends with Chapter Summaries and Self-Test sections -- which are great reviews of the material covered. So far, we have all been very pleased with the pacing of the material and the manner in which it is presented. Overall, an excellent book!

There was a CD-ROM included with the book which includes the entire book in Acrobat format and an "Osborne MasterExam" test. The electronic text works great, however, I cannot seem to get the "MasterExam" to install and run on Windows 2000. This would be the only downside to the book, but it is a technical glitch related to the included CD-ROM (and not a reflection of the content covered in the book). Again, I could have a faulty CD-ROM or just not be installing it correctly, but such is life.

I think one could do very well on an RHCE exam using this book as preparation -- even if the MasterExam doesn't work!! For a current look at Red Hat 8.0 and the certification requirements, give this book a try!

The information in the book is accurate and reasonably well written, but it no longer reflects the topics stressed in the RHCE exam. The long chapter on rebuilding the kernel and the modules is no longer needed. I wasted way too much time learning this material that is no longer on the test. Also, critical services like POP, IMAP, automount and sendmail do not recieve enough coverage.

This book appears to still be the best single source for RHCE review, but be aware that is is not nearly enough to get you through the test. It should be considered one resource among many that you will need.

I have RHCE and "yes" I bought this book but "no" it didn't help me. Why you ask? Because RedHat has changed their exam in Dec 2003. Please visit RedHat website to find out what they changed and how the exam will be given. Because of the NDA I'll be able to tell you that this exam is 100% performance based and it means that there are not going to be any multiple choise MSCE* kinds of questions. Everything will be based on your EXPERIENCE. Do yourself a favor, buy any kind of RedHat bible and brake your servers / networks so many times as humanly possible, then you'll be ready to take the exam. This book is good as any other Linux Bible books.

This book helped fill in the blanks in my knowledge. It's the only book that I've found that clearly explains how to compile a kernel. It provides a nice intro to basic iptables firewalls. The practice labs and sample exams are making me more confident that I can actually pass the RHCE exam. It has helped me understand the different ways to use installation disks as rescue disks.

But it's also a practical book, which I'll keep after the exam. It's helped me install Samba properly. It's helped me learn about CUPS. I even learned how to set up kickstart over a network for a bunch of computers at work!

I really like the flow of how the information in this book is presented. The book not only walks through the material but also keeps an eye toward the test itself adding ideas and tips for saving time when taking the test.

The information presented is clear and understandable...however...the test questions he has are some of the worst I have ever heard. They are vague and contradictory. The information presented is clear and understandable, however, the test questions he has are some of the worst I have ever seen. They are both vague and contradictory. He tries to trick you with some questions but all he does is confuse you as to why he worded the question that way given the answer.

Outside of the bad questions, the book is excellent for use as a study guide or for reference! I suggest you purchase this book if you are planning on taking the RHCE or even if you are not. It is a great guide for Linux users and administrators. Find another book for practice tests and questions, but get this one to study with.

This book is great for the beginner to expert! I've been using RedHat for years and I picked it up just as a reference to fill in a few of the gaps I have at this point, and also to help me stay updated with the latest developments in the RedHat world. I would say that hands down it helped me effectively prepare for my RHCE exam.

My review is long overdue, But I felt this is needed since I'm now RHCE and people are asking me what I used to pass it. I just read this book plus used two old computers and viola...I passed. Just make sure you practice the sample exams at the end. Or better yet, get somebody to break your installation using the intruction from the book and you go fix it. The only reason I give it a 4 star is because it referred to RH 8 and the exam was version 9 which just came out when I took it. I'm sure the latest version would be a lot better. I still use this book from time to time as a reference.

This book is proving to be useful not only as a means of preparing for the examination, but it also serves well as a useful reference.
Additionally, while it does assume that the reader has some knowledge, it is not inaccessible to the less experienced.