Red Hat Certificate of Expertise in Performance Tuning Exam (EX442)

This exam tests candidates' ability to use standard system tools to analyze the performance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux® and applications running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and to use standard system tools and mechanisms to modify the behavior of the system and applications for the purpose of improving system performance.

Red Hat recommends that candidates earn Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) or Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) before attempting this exam but neither is required.

Note: Global Knowledge and Red Hat do not guarantee that anyone who takes one or all of the courses in the Red Hat certification program will pass a Red Hat exam. On-the-job experience, in combination with high-quality training, is the best way to build skills and prepare for a Red Hat exam. The exam itself is a hands-on learning experience, and many of those who do not pass on the first try come away with knowledge of what they need to work on to pass the exam on a re-take.

• Use utilities such as vmstat, iostat, mpstat, sar, gnome-system-monitor, top, powertop, and others to analyze and report system and application behavior
• Configure systems to provide performance metrics using utilities such as RRDtool
• Use the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) mechanism to implement restrictions on critical system resources
• Use /proc/sys, sysctl and /sys to examine and modify and set kernel run-time parameters
• Use utilities such as dmesg, dmidecode, x86info, and sosreport to profile system hardware configurations
• Analyze system and application behavior using tools such as ps, strace, top and Valgrind
• Configure systems to run SystemTap scripts
• Alter process priorities of both new and existing processes
• Configure systems to support alternate page sizes for applications that use large amounts of memory
• Given multiple versions of applications that perform the same or similar tasks, choose which version of the application to run on a system based on its observed performance characteristics
• Configure disk subsystems for optimal performance using mechanisms such as swap partition placement, I/O scheduling algorithm selection, file system layout and others
• Configure kernel behavior by altering module parameters
• Calculate network buffer sizes based on known quantities such as bandwidth and round-trip time and set system buffer sizes based on those calculations
• Select and configure tuned profiles.
• Manage system resource usage using control groups
• As with all Red Hat performance-based exams, configurations must persist after reboot without intervention

• Be a Red Hat Certified System Administrator or have comparable work experience and skills (Red Hat Certified Engineer would be even better)
• Have taken the Red Hat Enterprise Performance Tuning (RH442) course or have extensive work experience in performance tuning
• Review the Red Hat Certificate of Expertise in Performance Tuning exam (EX442) objectives

All candidates are strongly advised to take RH442 Red Hat Enterprise Performance Tuning in advance of attempting this exam and are further advised to gain practical experience with the skills covered in that class prior to attempting the exam.

• Experienced Linux system administrators responsible for maximizing resource utilization through performance tuning
• An RHCE interested in earning Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA)