Net.digest summarizes helpful technical discussions on the HP 3000 Internet newsgroup and mailing list. Advice here is offered on a best-effort, Good Samaritan basis. Test these concepts for yourself before applying them to your HP 3000s.

Edited by John Burke

HP World? Make that MPE World!

August saw HP World ’99 take the stage. It marked the 60th anniversary of Hewlett-Packard and the 25th anniversary of Interex. At the center of the stage was the HP 3000. OK, maybe that is a bit of an overstatement, but certainly HP World 99 marked a sort of re-birth in interest and good will for the venerable HP 3000. Everywhere, the HP 3000 and HP’s newest mantra, “e-services,” were being mentioned in the same sentence. And by top executives at HP. What a difference from just a couple years ago when many of us were seriously questioning whether the HP 3000 would still be viable in the Year 2000. There are even two Web locations devoted to the HP 3000 that were introduced at HP World, one a new set of pages sponsored by Interex (www.interex.org/tech/3000/) and the other 3kworld.com, built principally by Client Systems. And let’s not forget the SolutionStore3000 site (www.solutionstore3000.com) that was introduced two months ago, and operated by The 3000 NewsWire. Things are most definitely looking up.

Even though HP World took a big bite out of the Internet traffic, or maybe because of it, August was a very active posting month on 3000-L. Among the sidebar threads: top level domain names and their meaning, the Interex Special Bylaws ballot, the MPE Forum, the periodic “another one bites the dust” group commiseration about a migrating customer, the naming of HP’s spin-off “NewCo”, “Apps-on-Tap”, and cross-platform development (or, “Will Java end up like Pascal?”). Also, the 5.0 earthquake that struck the San Francisco area during HP World ‘99 generated the question: Which would you rather deal with, earthquakes, tornados or hurricanes (remember Andrew in New Orleans)? Finally, congratulations to the 3000-L group for cracking the Top 100 Club list for seti@home.

Even with all these diversions there were still nearly 1,000 postings meriting consideration for net.digest.

A clarification to a comment I made last month about Mark Bixby’s hiring by HP: it could be read as a sleight to Mark Klein, which was certainly not my intention. Without Mark Klein’s initial porting of and continued attention to the Gnu C++ compiler and utilities on the HP 3000, there would be no Apache/iX, syslog/iX, sendmail/iX, bind/iX, etc. from Mark Bixby, and no Samba/iX from Lars Appel. And the HP 3000 would still be trying to hang on for dear life, rather than being a player in the new e-commerce arena.

Certification? We don’t need no stinkin’ certification!

At least not this particular certification test, in my opinion. HP World ’99 marked the launch of the MPE/iX Systems Administration Certification test, one of several certifications sponsored by HP and administered by Sylvan Learning Centers. Or, as the flyer inserted in the conference materials somewhat breathlessly proclaimed: “Announcing HP Certified Certification Testing for IT Professionals at HP World ‘99.”

Actually, it was pre-announced on 3000-L several weeks before the conference, complete with a link to a Web site containing a “practice test” of 20 questions (education.hp.com/hpcert.htm). The actual test contains 40 questions, 20 of which are supposedly on MPE/iX Fundamentals, with the other 20 questions on MPE/iX System Management. You have an hour to complete the test and a grade of 70 is considered passing.

Discussion on 3000-L centered on two topics: the quality of the questions and the worth of the certification.

The sample questions were roundly panned, both for accuracy and relevancy. Stan Sieler and Steve Cooper combined to give the practice test a failing grade (only 13 of the 20 questions were considered even OK). Four questions were just plain wrong — they had no correct answer. Other questions, even if deemed OK, were about obscure or obsolete material.

That said, if you are considering taking the test, look up Stan’s and Doug Werth’s postings in the archives on the Web and go over them carefully while reviewing the test questions. Why? Because contrary to what one individual speculated (or hoped?) the sample questions can show up on the actual exam. How do I know? I took the test at HP World. [Yes, I passed. Otherwise, I probably would not be writing about it but would instead be sulking quietly. More on why I took the test below.] Several sample questions, or close variants, showed up on the test I took. Including several of the hopelessly incorrect questions.

If you decide to take the test, 60 minutes is ample time. I finished in less than 30 minutes, but spent an extra 10 minutes or so reviewing all 40 questions. I spent an extra few minutes on a couple of questions trying to figure out which wrong answer the test preparer thought was correct.

The test both started out and finished up on a sour note. The first question contained a grammatical error that made for an awkward read. The last question contained a typo that technically made all the answers incorrect. And the presumed “correct” answer implied more functionality then exists. (The wording of the question combined with the only possible “correct” answer suggested that LISTFILE @.@.@;TEMP would display ALL temporary files on the system! Wrong!)

One question on my test asked for the definition of a relational database. Another question asked for the definition of a hierarchical database. What either has to do with MPE/iX System Administration is open to question; though I suppose on general principles I would expect anyone working with the HP 3000 to have a general idea what a relational database is. But to have 5 percent of the test deal with database definitions seems silly to me. What about TurboIMAGE, the predominant database on the HP 3000? It is neither relational nor hierarchical. In fact it is a subset of the network database model, so asking a question about the definition of a hierarchical database is just plain stupid.

Bottom line. This is a bad test. Stay away from it until it is improved or unless you feel you have to, or are required to, take it.

So why did I take the test in the first place? Well, they were having a half price sale at HP World.

Actually, the real reason I took the test was because I was afraid I could not afford to ignore it. Unless you are a well-known guru, and there are only a handful of them, someday someone will ask you why you are not “certified.” It thus becomes easier to take, and presumably eventually pass, the certification test than to explain why you did not take it. This is the same reason I prepared for and took the all day, five-part CDP exam 20 years ago. (I think this has mostly fallen by the wayside now, but the gray-hairs will remember it and will remember that 20 years ago there was even a lot of talk about licensing programmers in the same way that pharmacists or engineers, for example, are licensed.)

The MPE/iX System Administration Certification Test falls into the category of “be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.” The only reason the test is being offered is because customers/users asked for it. However, I will admit to only wanting an operator certification test. Ironically, all this comes at a time when certifications in the IT industry are coming under increasing criticism for being of little practical use. I’ve recently interviewed several paper MCSEs for an NT Administrator position. I would take someone with even one year of real experience over a paper MCSE any day. Many of the certifications are becoming almost meaningless and will never have true value unless some sort of experience is also required. Except of course to the lazy Human Resources departments and lazy non-technical hiring managers. But enough from me, here is what several other people on the Internet had to say about certification:

“All too many certifications are taking this route. In the one area where I have some knowledge (Cisco), even its lower certifications are being questioned by some in the know. At least the CCIE remains a badge of honor, consisting of a written test, and a hands-on lab within a year of passing the written where you are given assignments and watched by engineers; the second day they introduce “bugs” and you have to troubleshoot. Failure rate on the lab is about 80 percent, and there are less than 4,000 CCIEs on the planet. The earlier certifications are turning more into ‘trick questions you’ll learn in the class’ and starting to look like selling points for the classes than practical experience; at an MPE level it would be like counting :SHOWOUT SP incorrect when :LISTSPF was expected (and newer).

“As was noted somewhere along the way, certifications are starting to just mean you can pass a test, much like having a degree just means that you ‘can be taught.’ We could push to mass-produce MPE certified folks, but the standards would necessarily drop. If there is more than one level, at least you can get an idea of people that can spell MPE, people that can install MPE, and people that are possibly clueless. There are big differences, but nevertheless it is some metric that could be of value when interviewing.” — Jeff Kell

“I want to know that I can ask a system administrator to develop a backup strategy to back up the entire system on Sunday and on each weekday, everything that has changed since Sunday. I don’t care whether or not you call it incremental, partial, or cumulative, (the definition of which has been blurred over the years by misuse) I just want to know if you can develop the backup strategy, and understand how to recover from it.” — Doug Werth

“In a former lifetime I was an educator. I always gave tests. The test was an indicator of how well the student understood the material. If enough students did poorly it indicated that the material was not presented effectively. I understood this as a test giver but forgot it as a test taker. I took the trial test. I was appalled at how poorly I did. Then I noticed that I got the same ones wrong that Stan pointed out. I may still be appallingly ignorant, but at least I now know why.” — Joseph Rosenblatt

“I must add that it was not only Stan that got some wrong. Many of us at Allegro got the same ones wrong or at least disagreed with the ‘correct’ answer.” — Barry Durand

“What does certification really mean? It means that some education has taken place and that the participant has completed the required tests. For the most part these credentials are only a method of screening applicants for a job either full-time, part-time or as a consultant. This is true for all professional workers, lawyers, plumbers, medical industry and even computers. If we do not like the test being given, then let us as a group work on improving the test and increasing the level by which we accept certification as employers and workers.

“For the trial tests I was thinking, there are far more things to decide to determine whether a person is a capable system manager. And yet the testing is administered by a testing organization with no clue as to the real correctness of the answer. It would be hard to have someone explain a backup strategy in a multiple answer test. Given the structure of the test it needs to be computer-graded. We need, as a body of professionals, to create a test to accurately test an individual’s capability.

“I learned long ago at a user’s conference as we sat around and complained about HP support, that the people on the other side of the wall are not making decisions to purposely make things hard for us. They are doing the best they can with what they know. We need to help them increase their knowledge so that they can more appropriately serve us. I would hope that the questions raised with the certification test have been in the attitude of helping the test authors improve them.

“I would hope that it would take more that 10 questions to certify a network engineer, and so I would hope that we could come up with appropriately worded questions to test a person’s ability. Perhaps this takes the form of a questionnaire that we send applicants for a position to help in the screening process as to who to hire. With the wonderful power of communication and sharing that we have with the Internet, it would seem a waste not to use it to improve these things.” — Larry Simonsen

“First, let me tell you that I have been taking the HP 3000 certification test since its inception (both sales and technical). I also have taken the HP 9000 pre-sales technical test and HP OpenView Consultant and System certifications for HP-UX and Windows NT. And I have only one thing to say. They suck!

“I will admit that the practice test and the Web-based tests are loaded with errors. However, I actually watched a colleague take the HP 9000 test four times. He answered at least two questions (that were repeated on each test) differently each time and he got them wrong on every test.

“I took the HP OpenView test several times. It is a pretty tough test and can take over three hours. I finally passed it by purposely answering several questions wrong.

“The original HP 3000 technical test was tough and contained some obscure references, but it actually had some information that I used, so I thought it was okay. The last test I took looked like it had been dumbed down to accommodate the VARs who only sell the HP 3000 because they have to. I have never failed an HP 3000 certification.

“The Sales Certification Tests are a joke. Originally, most of the answers could be found in the text of the test or a cheat sheet that Sylvan gave with the test. Now the test is so simple and the right answer is so obvious I was able to have a new salesman in my office take the test, with no computer experience, and pass with a pretty impressive score. (Okay, I trained him a little).

“So what are the tests for? That is a good question. Since every resale relationship now requires a test to prove I’m worthy enough to sell their product, I assume HP wants to make sure that I’m at least willing to go through this hoop once a year. I’ll tell you what it doesn’t test. It doesn’t test for expertise or competence or even if you care enough about the HP 3000 to sell it. (It’s amazing how many questions are more appropriate to the HP 9000 than the HP 3000).

“Anyway, for any of you who want to take the test: Do it if you have to, but don’t be afraid. The practice tests are harder than the actual one. If you want to prove how good you are at the HP 3000, be happy with what you really know and skip the test. Since I have all these certifications, I can legally put that information on my business card. However, I never have. I think they are pretentious, and I’m embarrassed for the entire industry for creating an environment that gives a perception of technical competence without anything to back it up. I prefer to prove my abilities with each and every customer each and every day.” — Mel Rees