Novell’s exam 50-651, “Certified Directory Engineer Practicum” is one of the core requirements for the Certified Directory Engineer (CDE) certification. This exam is designed for candidates who can “prove directory-related, problem-solving capabilities beyond question by passing tough written and hands-on laboratory evaluations.” There is no specific prerequisite for this exam but candidates should have extensive experience with NDS and eDirectory and have passed exams 50-661, Directory Server Technologies, and 50-648, Advanced NDS Tools and Diagnostics.

This exam is available at a limited number of authorized Novell testing centers.

The exam, which lasts 2 hours, utilizes remote access technology to connect the candidate to a live directory environment where he or she resolves directory issues. The exam is scored as follows: “You are evaluated automatically through automated health checks on each of the servers and will you receive a pass or fail exam result based on a complete NDS health check at the end of the exam.”

The topics covered by this exam include those covered by exams 50-661 and 50-648. However, rather than answering multiple choice questions, the candidate must do the following to fix a broken directory:

• Diagnose the situation and ...
• Take the necessary corrective action to resolve inconsistencies in the directory and ...
• Restore the environment to a healthy state