As mentioned in a previous blog post, I managed to pass the VCP5-DV exam (second attempt) and thought I would give a list of the resources I used.
Its worth noting before becoming VCP5-DV certified you need to attend a course, see here for my review on the course I did via the 360gsp college.
The most important place to start studying is checking out the VMware VCP5-DV Exam Blue Print. Be expected to know everything on the blueprint. You get 85 questions with a time limit of 90 minutes for the exam.
When looking at articles/documentation I tend to clip them to Evernote and tag them so I can reference them later. I use Google Chrome with an Evernote plugin to achieve this.
VMware Documentation:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-pubs.html
http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp
Books:
Scott Lowe – Mastering VMware vSphere 5
VMware vSphere 5 Clustering Technical Deepdive by Duncan Epping and Frank Denneman
Videos:
TrainSignal – VMware vSphere 5 Training
YouTube has some good videos.
Blogs:
http://www.vmfocus.com/
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/
http://www.techhead.co.uk/
http://blog.scottlowe.org/
http://frankdenneman.nl/
http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.co.uk/
http://blog.mwpreston.net/
Forums:
The VMware forums are worth contributing to whilst studying and afterwards.
AutoLab:
Whilst I didn’t use the AutoLab, it seems like a great resource. The AutoLab pre-configures a vSphere5 environment.
Practice Questions:
Once you have completed the VMware course, VMware have a mock exam via the VMware learn portal.
http://www.simonlong.co.uk/blog/
http://blog.mwpreston.net/vcp-5/practice-quiz/
Flashcards:
I would recommend AnkiDroid as a flashcard app for Android, you can download a VCP5 pack which includes maximums and some practise questions, you can also create your own flashcards. Very useful on the go. I have been using this method of flashcards since my ICND1 stuides. There are other flashcard packs for CCNA etc.
And finally…
Google google google! I found googling topics/errors/etc brought me to loads of VMware blogs, reading articles after articles helped with learning and also the real word stuff.
Most of the people that have blogs are on twitter, I would highly recommend getting into Twitter and following bloggers, its a great way to keep an eye on whats happening quickly. I use Tweetdeck and have multiple lists and columns for bloggers – it’s just a fantastic way to easily filter out the noise on twitter.
You can follow me on twitter @ChrisLStark
So whats next for me? Well, I was studying towards the Cisco ICND2 for the CCNA before I saw the excellent offer by 360gsp college so snapped that up. I shall now continue with my Cisco ICND2 studies and when I have time get more familiar with the vSphere 5 PowerCLI.