DB2 Certification

[hrishy]

Hi DB2-DBA's

i am newbiw DB@ DBA trying to brak into this arena.wanted to get a
shot at certification and came across certification test on
www.ibm.com/developerworks..however very quickly i realized that the
certification tests at the develoer website are far too simple.Can
somebody point me to a better resource that is much tougher and
simulates and drives me to the difficulty level of the actual exam.

regards
Hrishy

[Mark A]

"hrishy" <hr*****@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4e**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi DB2-DBA's

i am newbiw DB@ DBA trying to brak into this arena.wanted to get a
shot at certification and came across certification test on
www.ibm.com/developerworks..however very quickly i realized that the
certification tests at the develoer website are far too simple.Can
somebody point me to a better resource that is much tougher and
simulates and drives me to the difficulty level of the actual exam.

regards
Hrishy

I am not sure about the site your specified, but the sample tests at this
web site are very representative of the actual exams:
http://certify.torolab.ibm.com/ice/displayPage/en

[hrishy]

Hi Mark

Thanks for your response.I had been to this page

http://certify.torolab.ibm.com/ice/displayPage/en

But however i realised that the questions on this page are not
realistic at all they are far to easy from the actual examination
point of view i beleive.Although i havent taken the actual exam nor i
have ever worked with Db2 but somehow my intution tells me the exams
are sitters.I was just looking for some solid material on
Db2.Currently being located in india i am unable to get hoild of DB2
Certification Book By George Balkarez have herad great laurels about
this book for cracking the exam.So i was just wundering if some DB2
certified DBA's can help me with some pointers to thier sites or notes
about the kind of questions to expect.

regards
Hrishy

[Mark A]

"hrishy" <hr*****@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4e**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi Mark

Thanks for your response.I had been to this page

http://certify.torolab.ibm.com/ice/displayPage/en

But however i realised that the questions on this page are not
realistic at all they are far to easy from the actual examination
point of view i beleive.Although i havent taken the actual exam nor i
have ever worked with Db2 but somehow my intution tells me the exams
are sitters.I was just looking for some solid material on
Db2.Currently being located in india i am unable to get hoild of DB2
Certification Book By George Balkarez have herad great laurels about
this book for cracking the exam.So i was just wundering if some DB2
certified DBA's can help me with some pointers to thier sites or notes
about the kind of questions to expect.

regards
Hrishy

I have taken and passed the following exams for version 7 early this year:

512 DB2 UDB V7.1 Family Fundamentals
513 DB2 UDB V7.1 for UNIX, Windows, and OS/2 Database Administration
516 DB2 UDB V7.1 for OS/390 Database Administration

I took the sample exams at the web site mentioned quite a few times in
preparation. I can assure you that the sample exams are VERY SIMILAR to the
real exams in terms of the questions. Some of the questions in the sample
exam are used in the real exam (or at least very similar questions).
Obviously the real exams are longer. The real exam questions may sometimes
have more choices (5 or 6) to choose from than the sample exam, but not
always.

If you are looking at Exam 700 - DB2 UDB V8.1 Family Fundamentals (which is
similar to 512 exam that I passed), then you should be aware that this is a
fairly easy exam for anyone knowledgeable in SQL. Having some knowledge of
IBM DB2 products is helpful, but not necessary to pass the exam.

The DBA exams are quit a bit harder. If you think they are easy, that's
great for you and you should have no problem passing.

[Mark A]

"Mark A" <[e-mail]> wrote in message

The DBA exams are quit a bit harder. If you think they are easy, that's
great for you and you should have no problem passing.

Oops. should read:

The DBA exams are quite a bit harder

[MCPHEAL]

>Although i havent taken the actual exam nor i

have ever worked with Db2 but somehow my intution tells me the exams
are sitters.

Agree with your scepticism re certification. Wallpaper !

[Blair Adamache]

I don't think the exams can prove you're a good DBA or DB2 developer.
However, almost any good DB2 DBA or developer should be able to pass the
exams without too much effort. Further, studying for the exams exposes
you to all parts of the product. This can help you learn about more
things that DB2 can do, which is useful knowledge when designing a
database or a program that accesses the database. There are other ways
to gain this knowledge, but studying for an exam is a good motivator.

MCPHEAL wrote:

Although i havent taken the actual exam nor i
have ever worked with Db2 but somehow my intution tells me the exams
are sitters.

Agree with your scepticism re certification. Wallpaper !

[Mark A]

"MCPHEAL" <mc*****@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20***************************@mb-m15.aol.com...

Although i havent taken the actual exam nor i
have ever worked with Db2 but somehow my intution tells me the exams
are sitters.

Agree with your scepticism re certification. Wallpaper !

I think you misunderstood. The comment. "sitters" means (I think ) that the
exams are difficult. Aside from the DB2 Fundamentals exam (which was mostly
SQL), I found the DBA exams to be quite difficult. However the score
required to pass is not very high.

You definitely need to be familiar with DB2 DDL and DB2 command syntax, and
too much reliance on the Control Center will make it tougher to pass the
exam.

Of course when it comes to a good "design DBA," I have never seen any exam
that can test that.

[MCPHEAL]

>I think you misunderstood. The comment. "sitters" means (I think ) that the

exams are difficult.
In football (soccer for those in the US) parlance - a sitter is an easy chance
for a goal.
However the score
required to pass is not very high.

Like I said - Wallpaper - or to borrow another footy analogy - Scotland good on
paper sh**e on grass.

There's no substitute for practical experience.

[Mark A]

"MCPHEAL" <mc*****@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20***************************@mb-m02.aol.com...

I think you misunderstood. The comment. "sitters" means (I think ) that theexams are difficult.
In football (soccer for those in the US) parlance - a sitter is an easy

chance for a goal.

However the score
required to pass is not very high.
Like I said - Wallpaper - or to borrow another footy analogy - Scotland

good on paper sh**e on grass.

There's no substitute for practical experience.

OK, my mistake about sitter. But the exam questions are quite difficult for
the DBA exam. If you don't think so, try the sample exam yourself.

That being said, it of course does not mean that it is a perfect test of a
DBA's ability. No test for any profession can perfectly measure one's
ability to do their job. But the DBA tests are not "sitters" and are
designed to "weed out" people who only know SQL DML and some simple DDL.

Try it.

[hrishy]

Hi All

I should have been more clera :-).By sitters i was referring to those
easy questions on the IBMS website on certify.toralab or whatever
...Those exams are damn to easy i cleraed those exams without even
touching DB2 .Just read the roger snaders book.What i feel is that Db2
admin exam at prometric testing center would be much more difficult
..its shame that IBM has put up such easy questions on its website when
folks like me would clear the easy exam on IBMS website we would
naturally flunk the "REAL" exam..possibly discouraging many potential
test takers.I feel the quality of the exams should be revised on IBMS
website

regards
Hrishy

[Mark A]

"hrishy" <hr*****@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4e**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi All

I should have been more clera :-).By sitters i was referring to those
easy questions on the IBMS website on certify.toralab or whatever
..Those exams are damn to easy i cleraed those exams without even
touching DB2 .Just read the roger snaders book.What i feel is that Db2
admin exam at prometric testing center would be much more difficult
.its shame that IBM has put up such easy questions on its website when
folks like me would clear the easy exam on IBMS website we would
naturally flunk the "REAL" exam..possibly discouraging many potential
test takers.I feel the quality of the exams should be revised on IBMS
website

regards
Hrishy

Please pay attention.

1. Go to http://certify.torolab.ibm.com/ice/displayPage/en

2. Click on tests (left side of screen)

3. Login, or register if a new user

4. Go to test Exam 701 - DB2 UDB V8.1 for Linux, UNIX and Windows Database
Administration. Test 700 is very easy,.but is not the DBA test (although it
is a prerequisite for certification as a DBA).

5. Take the sample test. The questions are very similar to the real test.
The questions are hard, but you don't need a high score to pass (probably
because so many experienced DB2 DBA's failed the test).

The fact that one can study a book, not touch DB2, and pass the exam does
not mean that the test is easy. Lots of lawyers, CPA's, etc pass very tough
exams without ever having worked in their profession.

The questions in the sample tests at this website are very similar (and some
are almost identical) to the real questions. If this bores you, take the
Advanced DBA exam.

BTW, please report your score back to us on this newsgroup.

Also, I don't know what you are referring to when you say IBMS.

[Mark A]

> Please pay attention.

1. Go to http://certify.torolab.ibm.com/ice/displayPage/en

2. Click on tests (left side of screen)

3. Login, or register if a new user

4. Go to test Exam 701 - DB2 UDB V8.1 for Linux, UNIX and Windows Database
Administration. Test 700 is very easy,.but is not the DBA test (although it is a prerequisite for certification as a DBA).

5. Take the sample test. The questions are very similar to the real test.
The questions are hard, but you don't need a high score to pass (probably
because so many experienced DB2 DBA's failed the test).

The fact that one can study a book, not touch DB2, and pass the exam does
not mean that the test is easy. Lots of lawyers, CPA's, etc pass very tough exams without ever having worked in their profession.

The questions in the sample tests at this website are very similar (and some are almost identical) to the real questions. If this bores you, take the
Advanced DBA exam.

BTW, please report your score back to us on this newsgroup.

Also, I don't know what you are referring to when you say IBMS.

Forgot to mention one thing. The real test has a lot more questions and
there is much less time for each question compared to the sample test.

[Serial # 19781010]

I just got back from IBM's Data Management Conference. They were
offering free tests by prometric. I am relatively new to databases
and did not have much DB2 experience. I took test 512 and 516 on the
first day of the conference and past the 512 and failed the 516. I
attempted the 516 later in the week and missed passing by 1 question.
These test are part of the DB2 v7 track. The 512 is DB2 UDB family
test and is needed for the DBA certification on v7 the 516 is DBA for
OS/390. I also went ahead and took the 700 test and past it. These
are relatively easy and you do not need any hands on work to pass but
it doesn't hurt. I would suggest taking the sample test offered
through IBM. IBM also has some free CBT's for the linux,windows, OS/2
route just do some digging on the IBM web site. I was going to rake
the 516 before I left but they only let you take a test twice. I wish
now that I would have went back and attempted the 702 I think I would
have past and it would have been free. Now I have to pay for it.

Brian
On 23 Oct 2003 21:46:55 -0700, hr*****@yahoo.co.uk (hrishy) wrote:

Hi All

I should have been more clera :-).By sitters i was referring to those
easy questions on the IBMS website on certify.toralab or whatever
..Those exams are damn to easy i cleraed those exams without even
touching DB2 .Just read the roger snaders book.What i feel is that Db2
admin exam at prometric testing center would be much more difficult
.its shame that IBM has put up such easy questions on its website when
folks like me would clear the easy exam on IBMS website we would
naturally flunk the "REAL" exam..possibly discouraging many potential
test takers.I feel the quality of the exams should be revised on IBMS
website

regards
Hrishy

[Mark A]

"Serial # 19781010" <bf****@houston.rr.com> wrote in message ...

I just got back from IBM's Data Management Conference. They were
offering free tests by prometric. I am relatively new to databases
and did not have much DB2 experience. I took test 512 and 516 on the
first day of the conference and past the 512 and failed the 516. I
attempted the 516 later in the week and missed passing by 1 question.
These test are part of the DB2 v7 track. The 512 is DB2 UDB family
test and is needed for the DBA certification on v7 the 516 is DBA for
OS/390. I also went ahead and took the 700 test and past it. These
are relatively easy and you do not need any hands on work to pass but
it doesn't hurt. I would suggest taking the sample test offered
through IBM. IBM also has some free CBT's for the linux,windows, OS/2
route just do some digging on the IBM web site. I was going to rake
the 516 before I left but they only let you take a test twice. I wish
now that I would have went back and attempted the 702 I think I would
have past and it would have been free. Now I have to pay for it.

Brian

The past tense of pass is passed.

You experience is just what I have described earlier, the DB2 Family
Fundamentals test is fairly easy for version 7 (512) or version 8 (700).
Passing it means that one is certified as a DB2 User.

The DB2 DBA tests are more difficult. That includes 516 (DB2 UDB V7.1 for
OS/390 Database Administration) or 513 (DB2 UDB V7.1 for UNIX, Linux,
Windows and OS/2 Database Administration) or 704 (DB2 UDB V8.1 for Linux,
UNIX and Windows Advanced Database Administration).

I don't know what test 702 is since it is not listed in the index of tests
on the IBM site:
http://www-1.ibm.com/certify/tests/index.shtml