Red Hat Certified Datacenter Specialist — RHCDS

A Red Hat® Certified Datacenter Specialist (RHCDS) certification may be earned by a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE®) who has demonstrated the skills required to use a broader set of tools from the Red Hat portfolio to implement reliable, scalable, and manageable solutions. An RHCDS possesses skills in areas particularly important to mission-critical datacenter environments.

Prerequisites

To become certified as an RHCDS, an RHCE has to demonstrate skills that are particularly useful in datacenter environments, such as systems deployment, systems management, clustering, and storage management.

However, the RHCDS certification offers the flexibility to demonstrate additional skills in either directory services and authentication or in managing virtualized systems. Consequently, an RHCDS will have many, but not necessarily all, the following skills:

  • Installing and configuring a Red Hat Network Satellite server
  • Configuring users, groups, administrators, and activation keys on a Satellite
  • Creating base and child channels on a Satellite
  • Using Cobbler and Satellite to install, configure, and manage systems
  • Managing data using logical volumes and snapshots
  • Configuring high-availability clusters using physical or virtual systems
  • Configuring a GFS file system to meet performance, size, and quota objectives
  • Configuring iSCSI targets and initiators
  • Configuring a Kerberos realm
  • Configuring Red Hat Directory Server to provide a centralized directory with access control
  • Configuring Red Hat Enterprise Linux® clients to authenticate using various mechanisms including Kerberos, LDAP, and Microsoft Active Directory
  • Configuring and managing hypervisors and virtual hosts using Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Certification program requirements:

AUDIENCE

The RHCDS certification is designed for:

  • RHCEs who need to demonstrate that they have the skills required to implement reliable, scalable, and manageable solutions for an enterprise environment.

  • RHCEs who are on the path to being awarded Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) credentials.

BENEFITS

Benefits to earning a Red Hat certification:

  • Recognition in the industry

  • Increased customer confidence

  • Proof of knowledge and skills

  • Certification verification tool for employers

  • Use of the certification logo on business cards

  • Ability to access multiple Red Hat Certificated Professional online communities (like Facebook and LinkedIn)

  • Access to Red Hat Certification Central website

    • Download certification logo

    • Purchase Red Hat Certification gear

    • Red Hat Certified Professionals forum

    • Online profile listed under your certification number

    • Red Hat Certified Professional job search

  • Special offers on training and events

RECOMMENDED TRAINING

In preparation to earn an RHCDS certification, Red Hat recommends the following training courses:

[To achieve certification, students must pass these Exams]

Red Hat Enterprise Deployment and Systems Management Expertise Exam (EX401)
Performance-based expertise exam that tests the knowledge and skill regarding enterprise deployment and systems management.

Red Hat Enterprise Clustering and Storage Management Expertise Exam (EX436)
Performance-based expertise exam that tests the knowledge and skill regarding enterprise clustering and storage management.

(Alt. 1) Red Hat Enterprise Directory Services and Authentication Expertise Exam (EX423)
Performance-based expertise exam that tests the knowledge and skill regarding enterprise directory services and authentication.

(Alt. 2) Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHCVA) Exam (EX318)
Performance-based expertise exam that tests the knowledge and skill regarding implementation and management of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization.