The RHCA (Red Hat Certified Architect) certification is Red Hat's pinnacle credential, aimed at senior Linux system administrators IT professionals whose focus is system administration and related functions.
The RHCA may only be taken by those with an existing, current, RHCE credential and requires a total of five 'Expertise level' exams to be successfully completed:
- EX333 - Red Hat Enterprise Security: Network Services Expertise Exam
- EX401 - Red Hat Enterprise Deployment, Virtualization, and Systems Management Expertise Exam
- EX423 - Red Hat Enterprise Directory Services and Authentication Expertise Exam
- EX436 - Red Hat Enterprise Clustering and Storage Management Expertise Exam
- EX442 - Red Hat Enterprise System Monitoring and Performance Tuning Expertise Exam
As with all other Red Hat exams, the candidates are tested in a 'real world' lab environment and the total exam time of all 5 exams combined totals over 24 hours.
There is a large degree of 'cross-over' with the exams required for the RHCA and with other certifications offered by Red Hat, namely the RHCDS and the RHCSS. Candidates aiming for the RHCA might want to consider taking the exams in an order that helps to achieve these other credentials first. Irrespective, a candidate can elect to take the exams in any order they see fit with EX401 recommended by Red Hat as a good starting point.
Results are not given at the conclusion of each exam, but rather candidates will be e-mailed their results. This normally happens within 10 US business days. Unsuccessful candidates may retake the exam as many times as they wish but will need to pay the applicable exam fee again.
Because the RHCA is lab-based, exams can only be taken at authorized Red Hat facilities (consult the Red Hat website for information on facilities in your area) and only during specific times.
Red Hat offers a training course coupled to each of the various RHCA exams. While these courses are not compulsory they do cover in-depth the material required to successfully pass the RHCA exams. Nevertheless, candidates may simply choose to self-study and take each exam when ready.
The lifespan of a RHCA is tied to the candidate’s RHCE – i.e. it is considered ‘current’ for as long as a candidate’s RHCE is current (through two releases). Once their RHCE lapses, so too does the RHCA. If a candidate renews their RHCE, then the RHCA is considered ‘renewed’ automatically.
