Introduction

Welcome to Solaris 8 System Administrator Exam Cram. This book will help you get ready to take—and pass—the two exams required to obtain the Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 8 certification. In this Introduction, I talk about Sun's certification program in general and how the Exam Cram series can help you prepare for the Solaris 8 certification exams.

Exam Cram books help you understand and appreciate the subjects and materials you need to pass Solaris certification exams. The books are aimed strictly at test preparation and review. They do not teach you everything you need to know about a topic. Instead, I present and dissect the questions and problems you're likely to encounter on a test.

Nevertheless, to completely prepare yourself for any Solaris test, I recommend that you begin by taking the Self-Assessment immediately following this Introduction. This tool will help you evaluate your knowledge base against the requirements for a Solaris 8 System Administrator under both ideal and real circumstances.

Based on what you learn from that exercise, you might decide to begin your studies with some classroom training or by reading one of the many system administration guides available from Sun and third-party vendors. I also strongly recommend that you install, configure, and fool around with Solaris 8 and other software that you'll be tested on because nothing beats hands-on experience and familiarity when it comes to understanding the questions you're likely to encounter on a certification test. Book learning is essential, but hands-on experience is the best teacher of all!

The Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 8

The certification program currently includes two separate tests. A brief description of each test follows:

• Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 8 Operating Environment, Part 1 (Exam CX-310-011)— The first exam (Part 1) covers basic system administration. Knowledge tested includes installing the operating system, software package administration, patches, the boot process, system security and file permissions, account administration, disk and file system management, backup, and recovery.

• Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 8 Operating Environment, Part 2 (Exam CX-310-012)— The second exam (Part 2) covers advanced topics and several add-on software packages used to enhance system administration capabilities. Knowledge tested includes the Solaris 8 network environment and network clients; device administration; virtual disk management systems; Network File System (NFS), along with automounting and caching; naming services, such as DNS, NIS, and NIS+; and automated installation using JumpStart.

To become a Sun-certified system administrator, you must pass both exams, and you must pass the Part 1 exam before you can take the Part 2 exam. This order is preferred, anyway, because the knowledge tested builds from the first exam to the second.

It's not uncommon for the entire process to take a year or so, and many people find they must take a test more than once to pass. The primary goal of the Exam Cram series is to make it possible, given proper study and preparation, to pass both exams on the first try.

Because certification is associated with a particular version of the Solaris operating system, there is no requirement to ever recertify. However, when a Solaris version becomes obsolete, being certified on that version has little value. It would be in your best interest to work on the certification for the next version of Solaris.

In the past, Sun has used the certification requirements and test objectives from the previous version as a starting point for the next version. Therefore, once certified on a version of Solaris, you should be familiar with most of the test objectives for certification in the next Solaris version. I estimate that about 25% of the test objectives changed between Solaris 7 and Solaris 8.

The best place to keep tabs on Sun's certification program is the Sun Education Web site at http://suned.sun.com.

Taking a Certification Exam

Alas, testing is not free. You'll be charged $150 for each test you take, whether you pass or fail. In the United States and Canada, tests are administered by Prometric.

First, you must purchase an examination voucher from Sun Educational Services. In the United States, they can be contacted at 1-800-422-8020. Purchasing the voucher requires a credit card. The voucher can be used for up to one year from the date of purchase.

Next, contact Prometric to register for the exam. In the United States, the number is 1-800-795-3926. You can also use the Web site (http://www.2test.com).

To schedule an exam, call at least one day in advance. To cancel or reschedule an exam, you must call at least one day before the scheduled test time (or you could be charged the $150 fee). When calling Prometric, please have the following information ready:

• Your name, organization, mailing address, and social security number.

• The name of the exam you want to take.

• The number of the Sun voucher. (This information might not be needed because the Prometric staffer may already have it.)

An appointment confirmation is sent to you by mail if you register more than five days before an exam or sent by fax if less than five days before the exam. A Candidate Agreement letter, which you must sign to take the examination, is also provided.

On the day of the test, try to arrive at least 15 minutes before the scheduled time slot. You must supply two forms of identification, one of which must be a photo ID.

All exams are completely closed book. In fact, you will not be permitted to take anything with you into the testing area. I suggest you review the most critical information about the test you're taking just before the test. (Exam Cram books provide a brief reference—the Cram Sheet, located at the front of this book—that lists the essential information from the book in distilled form.) You will have some time to compose yourself, to mentally review this critical information, and even to take a sample orientation exam before you begin the real thing. I suggest you take the orientation test before taking your first exam; they're all more or less identical in layout, behavior, and controls, so you probably won't need to do this more than once.

When you complete a Solaris 8 certification exam, the testing software tells you whether you've passed or failed. Results are broken into several topical areas. Whether you pass or fail, I suggest you ask for—and keep—the detailed report that the test administrator prints for you. You can use the report to help you prepare for another go-round, if necessary, and even if you pass, the report shows areas you might need to review to keep your edge. If you need to retake an exam, you'll have to call Prometric, schedule a new test date, and pay another $150.

Tracking Certification Status

Sun maintains a database that indicates the exams you have passed and your corresponding test scores. This database is accessible at http://www.galton.com/~sun. After you pass both exams, you'll be certified as a System Administrator for Solaris 8. Official certification normally takes anywhere from four to six weeks (generally within 30 days), so don't expect to get your certificate overnight. Once certified, you will receive a package with a Welcome Kit containing the following items:

• A System Administrator for Solaris 8 certificate, suitable for framing

• A Sun Certified System Administrator lapel pin

Many people believe that the benefits of certification go well beyond the perks Sun offers to newly anointed members of this elite group. I am starting to see more job listings that request or require applicants to have a Solaris certification, and many people who complete the program can qualify for increases in pay and/or responsibility. As an official recognition of hard work and broad knowledge, Solaris certification is a badge of honor in many IT organizations.

How to Prepare for an Exam

At a minimum, preparing for Solaris 8 exams requires that you obtain and study the following materials:

• The Solaris 8 documentation in printed form, on CD-ROM as delivered with Solaris 8 (AnswerBook2), or on the Web at http://docs.sun.com.

• The exam test objectives and sample questions on the Sun certification page (http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/solaris/sysadmin.html).

  Also see the Test Objectives section of Chapter 1. A table is included that provides a chapter–to–test objective cross-reference.

• This Exam Cram book. It's the first and last thing you should read before taking the exam.

In addition, you'll probably find the following materials useful in your quest for Solaris 8 system administration expertise:

• Hands-on experience— Obtain a copy of Solaris 8 from Sun Microsystems. As you work through the book, try the commands and explore the details. Experience is the best way to learn and remember the details you'll need to know to pass the exams. The Solaris 8 operating system can be downloaded for free or obtained on CD-ROM for the cost of media and shipping from http://www.sun.com.

• Classroom training— Sun offers classroom and computer-based training that you will find useful to help you prepare for the exam. A word of warning, however: These classes are fairly expensive (in the range of $440 per day of training). However, they do offer a condensed form of learning to help you “brush up” on your Solaris knowledge. The tests are closely tied to the classroom training Sun provides, so I would suggest taking the classes to get the Solaris-specific (and classroom-specific) terminology under your belt.

• Other publications— You'll find direct references to other publications and resources in this book, and there's no shortage of materials available about Solaris; however, many are not written specifically for Solaris 8. For that reason, I have not referenced many of these publications. To help you sift through some of the available publications, I end each chapter with a “Need To Know More?” section offering pointers to more complete and exhaustive resources covering the chapter's subject matter. This section tells you where to look for more details.

These required and recommended materials represent an unparalleled collection of sources and resources for Solaris 8 System Administrator topics and software. In the following section, I explain how this book works and give you some good reasons this book should also be on your required and recommended materials list.

About This Book

Each topical Exam Cram chapter follows a regular structure, along with graphical cues about especially important or useful material. Here's the structure of a typical chapter:

• Opening hotlists— Each chapter begins with lists of the terms, tools, and techniques you must learn and understand before you can be fully conversant with the chapter's subject matter. I follow the hotlists with one or two introductory paragraphs to set the stage for the rest of the chapter.

• Topical coverage— After the opening hotlists, each chapter covers a series of topics related to the chapter's subject. Throughout these sections, I highlight material most likely to appear on a test by using a special Exam Alert layout, like this:

  This is what an Exam Alert looks like. Normally, an Exam Alert stresses concepts, terms, software, or activities that will most likely appear in one or more certification test questions. For that reason, any information found offset in Exam Alert format is worthy of extra attentiveness on your part. Indeed, most of the facts in The Cram Sheet appear as Exam Alerts within the text.

  
  

  Even if material isn't flagged as an Exam Alert, all the contents of this book are associated to something test-related. This book is tightly focused for quick test preparation, so you'll find that what appears in the meat of each chapter is critical knowledge.

  I have also supplied tips that will help you build a better foundation of system administration knowledge. Although the information might not be on the exam, it is highly relevant and will help you become a better test-taker.

  This is how tips are formatted. Keep your eyes open for them, and you'll become a test guru in no time!

  
  

  Notes are also included to provide additional information not covered on the exams.

  This is how notes are formatted. They offer practical or historical information that might be of interest, but is not covered on the exams.

  
  

• Practice questions— This section presents a series of mock test questions and explanations of both correct and incorrect answers.

• Details and resources— Every chapter ends with a “Need to Know More?” section providing direct pointers to Sun and third-party resources that offer more details on the chapter's subject matter. In addition, this section tries to rate the quality and thoroughness of each topic's coverage. If you find a resource you like in this collection, use it, but don't feel compelled to use all these resources. On the other hand, I recommend only resources I use on a regular basis, so none of my recommendations will be a waste of your time or money.

The bulk of the book follows this chapter structure slavishly, but I would like to point out a few other elements. Chapters 11 and 22 include sample tests that provide a good review of the material presented throughout the book to ensure that you're ready for the exam. Chapters 12 and 23 provide answer keys to the sample tests. Finally, look for the Cram Sheet, which appears at the beginning of this Exam Cram book. It is a valuable tool that represents a condensed collection of facts, figures, and tips that I think you should memorize before taking the test. Because you can dump this information out of your head onto a piece of paper before answering any exam questions, you can master this information by brute force—you need to remember it only long enough to write it down when you walk into the test room. You might even want to look at it in the car or in the lobby of the testing center just before you walk in to take the test.

How to Use This Book

If you're preparing for a first-time test, I've structured the topics in this book to build on one another. Therefore, some topics in later chapters make more sense after you've read earlier chapters. That's why I suggest you read this book from front to back for your initial test preparation.

If you need to brush up on a topic or you have to bone up for a second try, use the index or table of contents to go straight to the topics and questions you need to study. Beyond the tests, I think you'll find this book useful as a tightly focused reference to some of the most important aspects of topics associated with being a Solaris 8 system administrator.

Given all the book's elements and its specialized focus, I've tried to create a tool you can use to prepare for—and pass—both of the Solaris 8 System Administrator examinations. Please share your feedback on the book with me, especially if you have ideas about how I can improve it for future test-takers. I'll consider everything you say carefully, and I try to respond to all suggestions. You can reach me via e-mail at solaris@unixcert.net, or you can send your questions or comments to feedback@quepublishing.com. Please remember to include the title of the book in your message.

Thanks, and enjoy the book!