i am currently working on my CASP cert, but shortly after i will start RHCE.

I know Red hat would be better than CentOS solely because its the original product for the cert, but my thing is i have CentOS already setup and I know everyone says its basically the same without support.

Is there a big enough difference support aside that would justify changing from CentOS to RH?

If i switched it would be self-support anyway, and the cost is nothing compared to the book or test, so thats not an issue.

However, I would only want to change if there is an incentive to.

No, CentOS is RHEL with badging removed

but if you are going to take the redhat testing
then buy the redhat service contract
there is a $49 USD self support
if you are so cheep you can not pay $299 for the standard support contract

There isn't a good reason to, if your only goal is a certification. That said, WHY are you wanting an RHCE?? This forum is littered with posts about getting certificates. And, only speaking for myself, I don't hold them in very high regard at all. Not discouraging you (or anyone) from learning anything, but as an employer, I look at experience far more than any degrees/certifications.

Folks who have hands-on experience with things tend to 'know' more. Even if they don't know a particular problems solution, they know how to troubleshoot it, where to look for errors, etc. A lot of people with 'certifications' I've met don't have that same depth. I've actually had someone with an RHCE, RHCSA, and a few other 'certs' not know how to add a user to an ldap server, or where likely locations for syslog files was. Really.

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i am trying to transition into IT and i know experience is king, however how do you get experience if you need it to get a job?

I used to do physical work, but because of an injury I switched about 3 years ago. i currently work for verizon fios as tech support, which is not IT. Or maybe like the McDonald's of IT lol.


Getting certs along with the current job i feel that is the only way i can prove to an employer that I not only know things, but i am able to learn.

I have my A+, Net+, Sec+ and CCNA. i feel like a system admin cert would round off my resume, and i prefer Linux as its more challenging than windows. and I've always had a love/hate for this OS, so that cert would for myself be like a self validation as well.

By learning and doing. If you learn how to configure DNS, sendmail and/or postfix, DHCP, and other things on your home network, that translates to experience. Once your learn how DRDB works, for example, the only difference between doing it at your house between two systems and in a office between two SERVERS, is different hardware (for the most part). Same goes for other services. Learning how to diagnose and troubleshoot is king.
Like I said, I personally give certifications little value. That's not to say it's not a good thing to do, but DO NOT think that getting a certification will get you a job, or even a foot in the door. Your experiences and knowledge do that far more.

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