Truth be told, typically the managers that seriously require certifications are people that aren't very technical themselves. They assume that people who have passed the test can save the day when things go wrong. They don't understand that, just as you said, the instructors of these classes lead you in the direction of getting a passing grade, and focus very little on understanding the ins and outs of the systems. It's in the best interest of the instructors to get you to pass the test, so that's what they do...
IMHO, these certifications don't really account for too much legitimate knowledge. After working for 3 or so years, my company hired another tech guy with his MCSE. I have no certifications, and they guy would constantly ask me questions about NT because I'd spent my time in the trenches, and knew the systems.
My advice to you is to try your best to get a job. If you have to, go ahead and get a certification, but understand what you're getting. It's worth may lie in your employability, and not in your skills... Once you have your job, bask in an environment where you legitimately gain new and useful skills and knowledge.
I use a Cybex Switchview 4-port KVM and it works perfectly. I run 3 Novell servers and 1 Linux server (including X Windows). I haven't had any reliability problems. You could probably get one for less than $200. I think that the part number is 10040.
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Truth be told, typically the managers that seriously require certifications are people that aren't very technical themselves. They assume that people who have passed the test can save the day when things go wrong. They don't understand that, just as you said, the instructors of these classes lead you in the direction of getting a passing grade, and focus very little on understanding the ins and outs of the systems. It's in the best interest of the instructors to get you to pass the test, so that's what they do...
IMHO, these certifications don't really account for too much legitimate knowledge. After working for 3 or so years, my company hired another tech guy with his MCSE. I have no certifications, and they guy would constantly ask me questions about NT because I'd spent my time in the trenches, and knew the systems.
My advice to you is to try your best to get a job. If you have to, go ahead and get a certification, but understand what you're getting. It's worth may lie in your employability, and not in your skills... Once you have your job, bask in an environment where you legitimately gain new and useful skills and knowledge.
I use a Cybex Switchview 4-port KVM and it works perfectly. I run 3 Novell servers and 1 Linux server (including X Windows). I haven't had any reliability problems. You could probably get one for less than $200. I think that the part number is 10040.