Tag: VMware

VMware VCP5-DV Resources

Chris Stark Leave a comment

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.

London VMUG Thursday 24th January 2013

Chris Stark Leave a comment

To start off with I passed the VMware VCP5-DV exam on Tuesday 22nd January 2013 (second attempt) so going to this event with other VCPs felt rather good. 🙂

This was my first VMware user group (VMUG) that I have attended. Some of the meetings I took part in (http://www.vmug.com/e/in/eid=695):

  • Nutanix Presentation – Alan Campbell and Rob Tribe, Nutanix
  • Your Journey to the Post-PC Era – Brian Gammage, VMware
  • EUC Panel with VDI Gurus – Brian Gammage, VMware
  • 10Zig Presentation – Thin Client Technology at Its Peak – James Broughton, 10Zig
  • Update – What’s Here and What’s Coming Soon – Spencer Pitts, VMware EUC
  • VMware Certification Update – Gregg Robertson
  • Social beers at The Pavilion End,

It was great meeting people I talk to and follow on twitter, putting a face to a name. I would highly recommend going to one if you can, the social networking, bouncing ideas off each other and asking the pro’s on their thoughts/recommendations is worth the experience. I even got a t-shirt for being a newbie! cool!

In the near future I will be doing a quick summary of the resources I used whilst studying for the VMware VCP5-DV exam.

Review: 360gsp College – VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V5.0] course

Chris Stark 8 Comments

This post is way overdue.

This is a quick review of the VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V5.0] course I attended via 360gsp college.

I attended this course over 4 weekends Saturday – Sunday (8 days) The last couple of days were covering some material that has been cut out of the training material but is on the exam such as host profiles and storage profiles.

The instructor Dai is a fantastic teacher and knows the subject inside out. Any questions we had were answered in confidence.

I was surprised by the level of knowledge of fellow students on the course,  ranging from CCIE to Project Managers, I was not expecting this and this made the course more enjoyable talking to fellow IT professionals.

The facilities and course material were superb, this being my first IT course and self funded I wasn’t disappointed. There is on site parking, although its best calling ahead to ensure a space can be reserved. Across the round from the training centre are a few newsagents and a fast food place (does nice food). There is a pub, but the people hanging outside kinda put as off.. therefore no idea if it’s any good! Be aware there are a couple of cash machines, these do in fact charge. Most of the weekends I took packet lunch as this was cheaper and can just snack in class. There is water (chilled) drinking facilities on site.

I would highly recommend taking the VMware course via the 360gsp college. Other IT Professionals over at certforums have had a similar experience.

I plan on taking the VCP 5 exam sometime early next year. A post will follow with study material I used similar to that of my Cisco ICND 1 post.

VMware vSphere 5 Course via 360gsp college

Chris Stark Leave a comment

I have been wanting to do the VMware VCP 5 certification for a while, the main thing that was putting me off was the cost of the course (around £2000+). Thanks to SimonD from Certforums I have come across 360gsp college that had an appealing offer on the VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V5.0] course that included a 50% discount. The training company are based in Wembley, London.

The bonus of this training provider is their flexibility of doing the course on weekends – which is great if you can’t take time of during the working week like myself.

I start this weekend 1st September 2012 for the next 4 weekends. I shall be tweeting (@ChrisLStark) my experiences and will try to do a summary up at the end.