Certs Archives - CHRIS STARK

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (2019) | Exam Experience

July 22, 2019January 26, 2020 Chris Stark Leave a comment

I wanted to share the resources I used throughout my studies in pursuit of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam. I hope this may be useful to you.

When it comes to studying try and find what works for you, I typically drop my notes into Evernote. Though this time I tried an online mind mapping service called Coggle and it helped massively with mapping out the different services AWS offers. I’m not one to write things on paper because my handwriting is shocking and I cannot even read it back. Though for some that works and that’s cool.

You can find my Coggle mind map here its a mess and literally a dump of what was going on in my head, but it worked for me. It may provide some use or at least point you in the direction of how to create a mind map. I’m sure the next map I do will look more presentable! A good book I would highly recommend for further reading on Mind Maps is ‘Buzan’s Study Skills: Mind Maps, Memory Techniques, Speed Reading and More! (Mind Set)‘ big shout out to Faye Ellis at A Cloud Guru for this recommendation.

Book

AWS Certified Solutions Arc hitect Associate All-in-One Exam Guide (Exam SAA-C01) – This is the only book I used when studying supplemented with the training courses below. I quite like the All-in-one Exam guides as I find them easier to read.

2V0-622D – VMware Certified Professional 6.5 – Data Center Virtualization Delta Exam | Exam Experience

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 Chris Stark 1 Comment

Wow, it has been a while since I last blogged! What better way to get back into the swing of things than with a pass on the VMware 2V0-622D exam.

My VCP6-DCV was coming round for renewal and as usual, a mad rush to recertify. Days just before the exam was scheduled, this happened: ‘VMware Certification: Recertification Is Changing and What It Means to You’ Essentially, allowing you to recertify when is convenient for you. With most of the hard work already put in, it made sense to press ahead with taking the exam. The question now remains, do I renew in the future… watch this space!

For those that are not aware, the 2V0-622D is the delta exam, this delta exam focuses more on the upgraded content between VCP6 and VCP6.5.

Here are my tips for passing the 2V0-622D exam:

MCSA Server/SQL 2012 electives changes

September 20, 2014September 20, 2014 Chris Stark 3 Comments

Microsoft has made some changes to the MCSA for Server 2012 and SQL 2012 by introducing electives. This I feel is good idea as it allows you to pick an exam that may be more relative to your job role. So in my case I will be taken the following mandatory exams:

70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server
70-411: Administering Windows Server 2012

and then I can decide to do 70-409: Server Virtualization with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center.

Taken from http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/btl/b/weblog/archive/2014/09/15/electives-for-windows-server-2012-amp-sql-server-2012-mcsa-certifications-now-available.aspx

For MCSA: Windows Server 2012 > Exams 410 and 411 are required. You can choose one of the following exams to fulfill the requirements for the third exam in the path:

Exam 346: Managing Office 365 Identities and Requirements

Exam 409: Server Virtualization with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center

Exam 412: Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services

Exam 462: Administering Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Databases

For MCSA: SQL Server 2012 > Exams 461 and 462 are required. You can choose one of the following exams to fulfill the requirements for the third exam in the path

Exam 411: Administering Windows Server 2012

Exam 412: Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services

Exam 463: Implementing a Data Warehouse with Microsoft SQL Server 2012

Exam 483: Programming in C#

Passed – Cisco CCENT (ICND 1)

June 15, 2012February 8, 2013 Chris Stark Leave a comment

On Tuesday 12th June this week I took the Cisco ICND 1 and managed to pass luckily. I was studying this on and off for a year! One thing I was mostly worried about was hearing other people’s stores about running out of time. I found I had 50 minutes left (this may be because of the intense studying I did) – I also have some Cisco experience.

I used the following materials:

Books:

Videos:

Trainsignal – There is additional content which allows you to copy the material to an Apple/Android device – The videos are reduced in quality – but makes studying on the go, listening in the car etc much easier. Every bit of studying helps!
CBT Nuggets

Labs:

Cisco Material:

Forums:

Extras: