Hi guys,

I know this question has been probably asked before, but I would like to have a more recent answer to it.

What's my best choice for path: LPI, RHCT, or Ubuntu Certified Professional?

Seeing as Ubuntu is riding high on popularity right now, and probably will for some time, i'd say stick to the Ubuntu Certified Personel. But generally my advice is to use, learn, study and tame the Linux Distribution of your choice. A lot of knowledge is reuseable in other distributions.

You might want to think about why you need any kind of certification.... What is your overall objective?

I recommend talking to prospective employers to see what they are looking for.

I agree with pixellany, and will add to what he said. A certification on paper is meaningless, without depth of knowledge to back it up. Yes, you can study, take a test, and be RHCT, etc. But when I'm hiring, I don't give as much weight to a diploma or certificate, as I do to experience. I can't tell you how many folks I've interviewed (and know in my former employers company), who have certificates (sometimes SEVERAL), but are helpless when anything happens.

For what my opinion is worth, I'd focus on getting experience, rather than a certificate. Know what makes a system work...know how to troubleshoot problems, set up services, and repair a broken system. If you go in, and can demonstrate REAL knowledge during an interview, you'll get alot further than if you say "Uhhh...I don't know, but I've got a RHCT!"

IMHO, RHCT (or probably RHCE) is a good option, apart from what TBone has written.

You need a deep knowledge of the flavor you are interested in, BUT sometimes company shortlists a candidate on the basis of their certifications, in some companies it is mandatory to be certified.

The current RHCT/RHCE exam is completely hands-on practical (about 3 or 4 hrs I believe), so you shouldn't get that (theory only) problem these days.
As above, check what local companies are asking for. Its certainly true that a lot of places (at least HR depts) like to see certs, although if you get to the interview stage, experience becomes more important.

Those 3, are those mainly for linux system administration? Is is possible for me to learn most of linux system administration, even with only 2 computers? or I really need many computers to practice the networking stuff?

By the way, I am new to this stuff so my concept of linux system administration is about fixing servers with clients connected to it and also database management.

Regards,
archieval

do you know the virtualization stuff?, i mean using any free virtualization software for example

1. Vmware-Server or VMware-Esxi
2. XEN : available in RHEL 5.x, CENTOS 5.x and Fedora 8.
3. KVM (Available in RHEL 5.3, CENTOS 5.3, Fedora 9 - 11 .
4. VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems.

, so you can run multiple machines with different OS on a single physical host. I suggest you to use vmware-server as i am a big fan of it.

Yes, I am using virtualbox on windows xp. I run Kubuntu on that virtualbox. Is it possible, I have 1 computer running windows xp sp3, and 2 virtualboxes running Kubuntu and centOS, and I make the centOS as the server, and the xp and ubuntu are clients?

Regards,
archieval

Yes this is possible, you can make CentOS a server and xp and ubuntu as clients, but keep in mind that your virtual box starts after your XP (physical host) is started, which may not be good for some kind of servers running as a virtual machine and its physical host is a client of itself.
Tell me which kind of server you are planning to make on CentOS virtual box??

Honestly I am really new on this field, only server I know is an apache server? Not really familiar on what a server will do also. I just want to setup a network, and practice network administration examples on the web.

Regards,
archieval

YEs there are lots and lots of servers, as for your apache server, you can do the same with no problems i.e. making CentOS virtualbox hosting an apache server.

Thanks, guys, for the great feedback. I currently work as an storage expert, and most of the work is done using SLES 9 and 10, and Novell's OES.

I am not looking for the paper, although, it helps a little when people see the letters after your name (at the moment of reading resumes, at least). What I am looking mainly is a path that will help me become an expert on the nuts and bolts of day-to-day administration and troubleshooting. Or, as I put it, breath and sweat Linux.