virtualization | TheSaffaGeek

July 17, 2012
by Gregg Robertson Leave a comment

VCDX Spotlight: Eiad AlAqqad

Name: Eiad AlAqqad
Twitter Handle: @VirtualizationT
Blog URL: http://www.VirtualizationTeam.com
Current Employer: VMware Canada
VCDX #: 89

How did you get into using VMware?

I have started my IT Career with IBM partners specializing in System X(IBM x86 Servers) & Storage. As Virtualization was a part of most other platforms in IBM (Main frames, iSeries, pSeries), I felt it was finally the chance to join the Virtualization boat when VMware came with Virtualization that run on System X. It was like bringing equality to the System X team (Wohoo we finally got VIrtualization too!) . I have started working on VMware since ESX 2.5 building POCs for customers. When ESX 3.5 came out resources were scarce, so more Virtualization projects start being put on my plate by day. The magical features of VMware Virtual Infrastructure at that time, & the response of customers made me feel as its the technology of the future and was glad I joined the boat of Virtualization back then.

What made you decide to do the VCDX?

I always was a certification junky, but after a while I got tired of attempting multiple choices certifications where the value of them were quickly diluted. When the VMware Administration & Design exams came out, I thought that should be a challenge that can be worth a while in a field that is invading the technology world at that time. Then when VCDX came out, it seemed like a very unique certificate in the market where you really have to proof your knowledge/skills in the front of the experts before obtaining your magical number, & here the journey started. Glad I was up to the challenge at the end of the Journey.

How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?

Almost 3 years, as I started on VI3 where I got to the stage of my design being accepted for the last VI3 defense, but was not able to attend due to travel constraints(Getting Visa on time as well cost). Afterward, I have upgraded my design & certification to vSphere 4 and waited to get a VCDX defense in a close proximity where my employer was ready to sponsor the cost. Its important to note though things are much easier from logistics perspective with VCDX4/5 as you can do the VCAP exams at any local Prometric Testing Center, where it was only available at particular times and in few centers around the world for the VCDX3 with none being near me at that time.

What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?

If you are passionate about Virtualization & VMware in particular, then VCDX is the journey you are looking for. There is currently no other Virtualization certification in the market that get even close to VCDX. VCDX is not the easiest certificate to obtain, but its well worth the challenge so get your act in place and enjoy the ride. The knowledge gain of the journey itself is as valuable as the certificate itself. My biggest advice would be to plan well ahead. Make sure you have enough time for the full journey where you have enough time for each part of the journey with the least amount of time pressure possible. Time shortage pressure trying to achieve your VCDX before the last defense will never be on your side and can raise your frustration & stress. Save yourself from being burned out during the VCDX trip and plan a head. By the way there is no better time to start your VCDX 5 journey than now, as there is still plenty of time and many defense opportunities left out. At last make sure you get advantage of other VCDXs in the community and blog sphere who share their VCDX trip experience and great tips all over the web. Wish everyone good luck on their VCDX event! Never give up!

If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?

I would probably delayed the start of my journey to the VCDX4, as I did not plan enough time to be able to manage all the logistics to attend the VCDX3 defense on time. I believe many others have fallen for the same trap as well.

Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it

Was it worth it? 100%. The joy of obtaining my magical number after a long challenge was well worth it. The knowledge I have obtained during my VCDX trip is influencing my design decisions on daily basis, as well ensure I look into more details than I ever did before.

As far how my company responded, obtaining VCDX was greatly greeted by VMware as the first response go, as I got nice congrating e-mails from the management as well my colleagues. Further, VCDX seems to get much more attention lately in VMware & seems more events and awareness will be surrounding the VCDX certification and it feel great just being a part of it. I hope I will be on the second part of the fence one day as a VCDX panelist. I had the VCDX as one of my career goals for the year, so I am hoping for a nice pay rise too!

July 3, 2012
by Gregg Robertson Leave a comment

VCDX Spotlight-Josh Odgers

Name: Josh Odgers

Twitter Handle: @josh_odgers

Blog URL: http://www.joshodgers.com

Current Employer: IBM Australia

VCDX #: 90

How did you get into using VMware?

I had been a Post/Pre Sales engineer for a number of years, specialising in Storage / Servers / Wintel type technologies, the company I was working for at the time put me on the VMware Virtual Infrastructure – Install and Configure Course and wanted me to get VCP as soon as possible as a requirement of the VMware partner program. The course really inspired me, and I quickly focused my attention and career path on virtualisation and shared storage. I gained my first VCP (VCP3) in mid 2007.

What made you decide to do the VCDX?

A good friend of mine (and former Colleague) James Wirth, better known as VCDX#83 and I decided to challenge ourselves and each other. It started out as a bit of a challenge or contest, but quickly turned into an excellent learning experience. In the back of my mind I also wanted see how my skills compared to the elite virtualisation architects (the VCDXs).

How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?

As always, I tend to put myself under pressure, which I did in this case. James and I agreed we would like to defend in Germany and take a run down the autobahns in a Porsche 911 Turbo, but we quickly realised time was not on our side as applications were due in December, so we agreed on Toronto.

I sat the VCP4 in November 2011 (after already sitting VCP5 thinking that would qualify me for the VCAP4 exams, big mistake!), then VCAP4-DCD in early December, VCAP4-DCA in mid December, then prepared my application in January & Feb (while also Sitting VCAP5-DCD Beta exam).

I completed the VCDX4 Defence in Toronto May 2012.

So all up, including study it was only October 2011 to May 2012, a total of 8 months.

I would however not recommend anyone try to go through the VCDX “Journey” in 8 months as I studied day and night, and had minimal personal life during this time. I was lucky to have had a solid 6 years working with VMware products, so the experience was essential, without the experience, I wouldn’t have had a chance.

What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?

The VCDX journey should be looked at as a huge learning experience, rather than just aiming for a certification.

Assuming you have several years (I’d suggest 5+) of solid VMware experience with significant and varied design experience, I’d give yourself 6 months per VCAP exam, and 6 months to prepare your VCDX application. So 18 months, total.

I would suggest

1. Do whiteboard design scenario sessions with other skilled VMware architects and consider the pro’s and con’s of every architectural decision, and when you use one setting over another, and vice versa. This is very handy, not just for VCDX defence where you will be asked these type of questions, but for a VMware architects day to day job.

2. Read, read, and read some more. Books like Duncan and Frank’s vSphere 4.1 HA/DRS & vSphere 5 Clustering books are excellent. Blogs, VMware Best practice documents etc are great resources.

3. Setup a home lab (if you don’t have a lab at the office). Test things, try as many different scenarios as possible and run through all the tasks in the VCAP4-DCA blueprint several times, as the DCA exam requires you complete alot of tasks in a short period of time, so you don’t want to have to refer to the manuals at all if possible.

4. Know the VCAP and VCDX blueprints back to front!

5. Repeat items 1 through 4

6. Refer to item 5

If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?

Take more time, a lot more! I still feel there is a lot I can learn, and I feel I would have enjoyed the journey more, as I wouldn’t have been under such tight time pressures. I would also have done more design scenario sessions with friends and colleagues, as these are great ways to learn as well as help prepare for the VCDX panel.

Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it

Was it worth it?? 100% Yes. It was definitely worth it. I learned a huge amount, and improved as a VMware architect. I now think my architectural decisions through much more and consider a wider range of options.

Life after VCDX for me is much like the VCDX journey, keep learning as much as possible, including improving my skills in complimentary technologies, such as Storage & networking.

I am planning on knocking off the desktop certifications VCA4-DT, VCP4-DT and VCP5-DT in the next couple of months, and when released, the VCPVCD511 (VCP-IaaS).

Hope I can get a healthy pay rise too! (Hope the boss reads this, wink wink, nudge nudge)

June 12, 2012
by Gregg Robertson Leave a comment

VCDX Spotlight–Nathan Raper

About two years ago I came up with the idea of the vExpert Spotlight to help people looking to get into IT,virtualisation and possibly gain the same kinds of roles a number of the vExperts are in. I’m pleased to say the idea gained loads of interest and is now being published three times a week on the VMTN blog. At present I’m looking to start my journey on becoming a VCDX5 and came up with the idea of using the same kind of format as the vExpert Spotlights but getting the current VCDX’s to answer a few questions so that VCDXWannabe’s like myself can find out more about each of them and why they decided to start the journey in becoming a VCDX. I asked a few of the VCDX’s I know who follow me on twitter if they would be willing to answer the questions and as is the case in the VMware community, everyone was more than happy to do it and liked the idea. So I would like to introduce the first in hopefully almost 100(the current number of VCDX’s worldwide) VCDX Spotlights and one from a good friend of mine who obtained his VCDX only a few months ago:

Name: Nathan Raper

Twitter Handle: @nateraper

Blog URL: nateraper.wordpress.com – I swear I’ll blog soon!

Current Employer: Catholic Health Initiatives

VCDX #: 85 – that’s “ochocinco” for the US folks 😉

How did you get into using VMware?

I worked for a small Citrix and Microsoft reseller in the late 1990s (Hensmann Technology in Castle Rock, CO for anyone who remembers them) that was focused on delivering solutions to small healthcare providers. The owner was a forward-thinker and saw VMware as a game changer. We started using ESX 1.5 internally and went to the 5-day certification class so that we could attain VCP certification and become an authorized reseller for VMware. I was hooked…

What made you decide to do the VCDX?

I love a challenge! VCDX was a motivation for me, a goal that would help me take my virtualization and datacenter skills deeper. I also saw it as career insurance – a way to differentiate myself in the job market.

How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?

I think it was some time in mid-2010 that I started exploring the idea of pursuing VCDX. In late 2010 I made up my mind and I started studying in earnest for the DCA exam and took that in early 2011. That’s probably the most difficult exam I’ve ever taken (although VCP2 was no walk in the park either). DCD came later that summer. I stalled a bit at that point because I knew that there was a lot of work that needed to go in to my design and there was uncertainty from VMware whether or not they would hold another VCDX 4 defense. I also had taken a lot of time off from pursuing my Master’s degree and needed to take some classes toward that. When VMware announced that Toronto would be the final shot at VCDX 4, I got busy! So I guess around 18 months, but I certainly didn’t hurry.

What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?

Do it! I learned a tremendous amount through the process and took myself beyond limits that I thought that I had. Don’t look at the VCDX as a purely technical certification – it’s not. VCDX requires both technical and business skills, so seek peer review of both your submission and your presentation skills. Plan to do several mock defenses with both technical gurus and business leaders – the business leaders may ask more difficult questions and ones that you wouldn’t otherwise prepare for! Study the blueprint, VMware publishes it for a reason. And get support from your family and friends – find a cheerleader to keep you motivated when it’s late at night and you want to give up. VCDX is a long journey and I could not have achieved this without the support of my wife!

If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?

I would definitely work more on my soft skills and mentally preparing myself. I’m in a position right now that doesn’t require me to be in front of people very often, so my presentation skills had dried up a bit from my consulting days. Above all I would learn to control my nerves better and calm down – I was a nervous wreck during my defense!

Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it?

Well it’s only been a couple of weeks since the results went out…not a lot of time for change, but it has certainly opened up some exciting doors for me. Several folks at my company congratulated me and my boss took me to dinner but I don’t think that many understand the significance of the certification. My reps and contacts at EMC and VMware were all excited and happy for me. Was it worth it? Absolutely!

May 15, 2012
by Gregg Robertson Leave a comment

London VMUG May 2012

Just a very quick posting to remind anyone around the south of England or who is willing to come to the south of England for it that the next London VMware User Group (LonVMUG) is happening THIS Thursday the 17th of May. Also my fellow vExpert, partner in crime and Xtravirt colleague Darren Woollard is presenting which should be an incentive for anyone to go just to heckle him

If you haven’t registered I would highly recommend you do so ASAP . You can register for the event here and there will also be a large contingent of my fellow Xtravirt colleagues attending as well and should be easily recognisable due to them all wearing the shirt shown below (one each obviously )

After the VMUG the standard vBeers will take place. If you’ve somehow never heard of vBeers before the below is just for you .

vBeers

Is an informal get together of virtualisation enthusiasts and professionals to meet and discuss all things IT. It’s a great opportunity to network, learn and meet like minded people.

The following is part quoted from Simon Seagrave’s Website :

Enjoy Talking Virtualization? Come & Socialise at vBeers!

Fancy meeting up every month with other IT virtualization enthusiasts to socialise and chat over a cold beer, wine or soft-drink? If so, then vBeers is for you! This is a great opportunity to meet with other virtualization enthusiasts and professionals and enjoy discussing all things virtualization, and in fact anything else that comes up in conversation…

vBeers is open to everyone so whether you are a VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer user/fan or none of the above it really doesn’t matter as “it’s all about the virtualization”.

The London vBeers meet-up is held at the Pavilion End Pub . Details and directions below:

When & Where

The London vBeers are held on the first Thursday of every month or after a VMUG meeting starting at 6pm in the ‘pavilion end pub’

Location: The ‘pavilion end pub’, London

Address: 23 Watling Street Moorgate EC4M 9BR

Date: First Thursday of every month and after VMUG meetings

Time: 6:00pm

Map:

Gregg

April 5, 2012
by Gregg Robertson 10 Comments

vCenter Operations Management Suite Resources

Recently I was tasked to get myself up to speed with vCenter Operations Manager and Configuration Manager as part of the vCenter Management Suite for a client delivery we’re doing at Xtravirt. So due to this I have been collecting all the resources I could to help me do this and thought I may as well do a blog posting on it for anyone also looking to implement the suite soon or who are just interested in learning about it. I will be constantly updating this and plan to do two separate postings on the tips and tricks I learnt after deployment for each of the products and my opinions of each.

VMware Operations Manager 5.x

The below videos are a great introduction to the product done by VMware via their YouTube channel

VMware vCenter Operations Manager Introduction

VMware vCenter Operations Manager

As is standard there are the Administration and Installation Guides which I would highly recommend reading through especially the Getting Started Guide to help you prepare before you deploy it.

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vcops-pubs.html

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vcops-5-installation-guide.pdf

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vcops-5-getting-started-guide.pdf

You can download an evaluation of VCOPS for your own testing and to let you play around with it and learn how it all works. I’ve already done this as actually deploying and working with the solution helps me understand a hundred times better than reading documents on it.

https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/index.php?p=vcenter-ops5&lp=default

The communities are a great place to read a few people problems and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes/prepare so you don’t hit the same hurdles:

http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/server/vcenter/vcops

Eric Sloof posted about a vCenter Operations 5 – Level 300 training slidedeck done by Iwan ‘e1’ Rahabok (virtual-red-dot.blogspot.com) which gives a really great in-depth look at VMware vCenter Operations 5 and some amazing resources.

VMware have done a webcast on Automating Infrastructure and Operations Management with VMware vCenter Operations Management Suitewhich gives a great overview of the whole Operation Management Suite and Operations Manager capabilities:

http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=397322&s=1&k=22E3A47A4D3EEC4794EEEAD75C1BC6E7&partnerref=WEB

VMware vCenter Configuration Manager

VMwareTV have also done a video covering vCenter Configuration Manager and the change management capabilities of the product. The video gives you a really good overview of the layout of the product too and the extensive amount of data and information you can find and create.

VMware vCenter Configuration Manager 5.5 has just been released and the best place for all the information is the Documentation Resources page for the product here:

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vcm_pubs.html

The communities are a great place to read a few people problems and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes/prepare so you don’t hit the same hurdles.

http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/server/vcenter/vcm

I’m very fortunate to work for a VMware partner and so there are a whole load of really great resources for VCM. The ones I have used and would recommend to people who also work for VMware partners are:

VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Essentials [V5.X]

vmLIVE – What’s New with vCenter Configuration Manager 5.5

Both give you a good overview of the product, it’s layout and what it is capable of and with the vmLIVE presentation you will be able to update your knowledge for the latest release.

The VMware Operations Management team were nice enough to ReTweet this posting and advised me that there is an official course called VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Fundamentals that has been upgraded to version 5.5 . The course looks to cover everything you could possibly need and I’m hoping I can get myself added onto it as it is self-paced which is perfect for consultant like myself who can’t take the time away from the client to attend a course.

Fellow vExpert and #LonVMUG attendee Ed Grigson has done an amazing blog posting all about Using vCenter Operations v5 – Introduction and deployment and has linked to loads of top VMworld Sessions and podcasts that I had no idea were out there. Make sure you have a look at his posting and keep an eye out for his future two postings on the subject.

vCenter Operations Manager for View

Hopefully these will help people looking to learn about the Suite and as I stated at the beginning I plan to update this with more resources as I come across them. If you know of any other resources out there please do leave a comment or drop me a tweet on twitter on @greggrobertson5

Gregg

February 8, 2012
by Gregg Robertson 1 Comment

DevonIT VDI Blaster Experiences

Recently I’ve been introduced to and have been rolling out DevonIT’s VDI Blaster at one of Xtravirt’s customer sites to temporarily enable VDI connectivity whilst still having the ability to boot back into the normal OS should any problems arise. So I thought I would do a blog posting on my experiences with the solution and how I did it.

Overview

DevonIT marketing state: “VDI Blaster™ can be used without taking the risk to erase your existing Windows installation. To install VDI Blaster™, just execute the installer on the PC you want to repurpose. After installation, the PC reboots by default in thin client mode, running Devon IT’s Terminal Operating System (DeTOS™).” When I initially heard what the product did I was a little sceptical, especially seeing as it only costs $29.99 (£22) per licence. But I was keen to give it a try and see if it was as easy as they stated.

We also decided to use their Echo Thin Client Management Software to allow us to control what the users saw once they booted into the DeTOS and to make sure all they saw was a kiosk view with the logon page to the VDI environment.

Before I did the installation I found a fairly good overview video for the product on YouTube (below) although it’s unfortunate they don’t actually show the screen but rather zoom in partially with the camera so you can’t see it very clearly.

Installation

Echo Management Server

For the installation of the Echo Management Server it was quite straight forward as all that needed to be done was to download the Virtual Appliance and import it into my virtual infrastructure. Once imported all that needed to be done was to set an administrator password, give it geographical settings,DNS settings, a static IP address and then set a custom DNS setting to allow machines to obviously resolve the ws-broker name of the Echo server.

VDI Blaster Thinclient

The installation of the Thinclient software is extremely simple and is essentially a next, next, next finish installation.

Once the machine reboots you will now have the dual boot option of your unaltered original OS or the new Devon IT DeTOS for VDI Blaster

Management and customisation

As mentioned we also purchased the Echo Thin Client Management Software so we could manage the VDI blaster desktops and also push out a customised profile.

To connect to the administration page you will need to browse to the name or ip you assigned the management server via an internet browser. Once in you will need to add your licences to the management server to allow terminals to connect and be managed by the management server by clicking on the Maintenance tab on the left and then clicking on Manage Licences and inserting your licence key/s.

We created our customised profile with the URL to our VDI web interface automatically in the browser so that it opened up in kiosk mode on device bootup.

To do this you first need to create the connection settings or else you will need to go edit your profile once you have created the connection.You create the connection by going to the connections section of the Echo Administration page

Select Firefox as the protocol,set the URL to the VDI web interface for your VDI environment,give the connection a name and description and tick the box for the autostart of the page upon the device bootup. You can also specify a proxy server if there is one and the kiosk mode settings you want

Once the connection has been created you can now create a profile that you can then apply to any client that connects to the management server

To create a profile:

Click on the Profiles tab on the left

Give the profile a name and description and select if you want it to be the default profile for all your terminals or selected terminals. Then expand the connection dropdown and select your newly created connection

You can add additional settings like terminal settings,assign certificates and apply a specific disk image that you either downloaded or one you created yourself.

Now that the profile is created, when a terminal boots up it will get the applied settings and the connection from the assigned profile and go straight to the VDI web interface.

Conclusion

The software does what it says it does and the installation and configuration is really simple. For me personally I think it works perfectly as a small interim solution in your migration to a full VDI deployment as it allows you to let the user boot into their old machine if there are any problems thereby allowing them to carry on with their job and is also a great way of possibly using old hardware as a VDI terminal if you can’t afford to buy dedicated thin client hardware(Which DevonIT do also sell)

Gregg

December 2, 2011
by Gregg Robertson 11 Comments

The Next Chapter

Until you spread your wings, you‘ll have no idea how far you can fly.- anonymous

Almost five years ago, I made the decision to make a change or risk the chance of possibly never getting the opportunity to spread my wings. After having worked for my company in South Africa for just over three years and having grown from someone on a three month contract tasked with creating an IT equipment inventory of all the companies IT equipment to being a permanent employee and the Systems Administrator I handed in my notice and decided I wanted to move to the UK to try get a job with a large IT organisation and work with cutting edge technologies. I left my then girlfriend (now wife), parents, lifestyle and comfortable job back in South Africa and make a leap of faith that I could do it. I’m proud to say the risk paid off and five years down the line, I’m working for one of the biggest IT companies in the world, working with innovative technologies and have grown immensely from when I first came over to the UK both personally and professionally. However, the time has come yet again for me to push myself out of my comfort zone and try spread my wings even more. So as of the 12th of December, I will be joining Xtravirt as a Technical Consultant specialising in virtualisation and complimenting technologies. I have loved my time at EMC Consulting and owe so much of my growth to the people I have worked with at EMC and previously Conchango and the opportunities both have granted me to grow and keep advancing my knowledge.

My leaving is not down to disliking my role at EMC Consulting, as I’ve loved it immensely. I’ve felt that the next logical step in my career was to test and hone my skills and knowledge in the consulting arena as a consultant and Xtravirt have given me an amazing opportunity to learn and grow an immense amount while joining a very exciting team of people working on loads of very exciting projects.

If you haven’t heard of Xtravirt before, you should have and I have full confidence you will hear a lot more of us in the future. Some quick facts about Xtravirt:

Xtravirt were awarded VMware EMEA Consulting Partner of the Year at this year’s VMworld Europe.
Xtravirt are also very well known in the virtualisation community for their tools especially the Free vAlarm application which David M Davis of Trainsignal fame covered in one of his VMware vSphere Performance Monitoring Training lessons and the vLogView application which provides the ability to store, view and search ESX Server log files from multiple ESX Servers, without requiring individual login, navigation and manual file transfer to name but two.
Xtravirt is a knowledge-based company that delivers its expertise in virtualization online and in person. They have a reputation for astute leadership and expertise through their work with an impressive array of organisations. It is this real-world experience that drives the ability to provide the best professional consultancy services available

I’m still planning on blogging as much as possible and am actually very confident of being able to blog about a lot more technologies and a much broader base due to Xtravirt having no affinity to any specific vendor or technology. Although I don’t know about any Hyper-V postings I’ll still be on twitter whenever I have the opportunity and will still try answer and help people on the VMware Communities and try attend the London VMUG’s and vBeers.

Gregg

November 15, 2011
by Gregg Robertson 7 Comments

VCP5 Study Resources Page

Just a very quick posting that I have finally created my VCP5 Study Resources Page with all the resources I’m planning to use in preparation for my VCP5 exam. As mentioned on the page I decided to create the page as it seems the VCAP5 exams aren’t going to be out before the grace period for people with the VCP4 accreditation not needing to take the What’s New course expires. So like with my VCAP4 and VCAP5 pages I’m planning on listing all the resources I plan to use and the great study resources I come across that may help other people of varying degrees of expertise prepare for the exam

Good luck to anyone preparing for any of the VMware exams soon, good luck! Also tell me how you’ve done or if you think I have missed an amazing resource by either leaving a comment or sending me a tweet on @greggrobertson5 on twitter

Gregg

October 10, 2011
by Gregg Robertson 1 Comment

VCAP4-DCA Exam Experience

I decided to wait until I got my results before I wrote up this blog posting as I felt writing it up straight afterwards would mean I might miss something out and to see if VMware would give me credit for doing things in another way even though I made a mistake. Firstly, unfortunately I failed the exam by 23 points. This was mainly down to my making a major mistake very early in the exam and VMware not giving me the ability to fix it even though I knew how and the ability to know how to fix it is one of the exam objectives. I agree that if I make a mistake it’s only right that now I should use up my exam time fixing my mistake but not giving me the ability to fix it when in a real world situation you would have this ability isn’t very fair in my opinion.

Study Resources:

But enough of that as it’s done and seeing as I made that mistake so early on and still got so close is pretty pleasing in my opinion. For my studying of the exam, I decided I wanted to cover everything and so set myself a month and a half to study for the exam. I covered everything in my VCAP-DCA study notes list and went through both Sean Crookston and Ed Grigson’s study guides. I did all four of the VCAP courses trainsignal videos (these were honestly the best for it and taught me things so in depth that even questions in the exam that was very unusual I knew them because of these videos). I also researched anything I didn’t understand and as linked to in both Sean and Ed’s study guides I read up on loads of blogs, watched loads of YouTube videos from people like Eric Sloof (you can find these by just searching for Eric on YouTube as he has loads of them up) and watched a whole load of VMworld videos. Using all of these resources prepared me amazingly; the only thing I didn’t do enough of which was mainly to blame for me making my major mistake was not enough lab hours. I’ve got so used to question and answer exams that even though I obviously knew the exam would be 100% lab based I never realised the real importance of my practicing all the tasks twenty times until I knew it without even thinking as trust me the pdf’s give you nothing apart from the real basics and if you don’t know those you won’t pass the exam anyhow.

The Exam:

The exam was hard and is probably the hardest IT exam I have ever done (previously this title was held by my MCSE 2003 upgrade exams) but I think it is only right it is as tough as it is as it really does separate the men from the boys and really shows if you know your stuff or not. As mentioned by every one, time is extremely tight and you won’t finish all the questions unless you skip certain ones. One bit of advice I was given which was really helpful was, if you don’t know how to do the question mark it down on your notes and carry on as rather do the ones you can do rather than waste time on ones you are unsure of as I knew how to do some of the last questions just before time ran out whereas if I had sat and tried to work my through ones I didn’t know I probably wouldn’t have even had the time to see and do the ones I could.

Summary:

If you do all the study resources I’ve listed in my study resources page and put in loads of hours deploying and playing around with every single thing on the blueprint in your lab then you’ll pass it. I’ve already started rebuilding my lab to get in a serious number more hours of practice for my re-sitting of the exam and making sure that the stuff I was unsure of in the exam I now know 150%. Good luck for anyone writing

Gregg

TheSaffaGeek

My ramblings about all things technical

Tag Archives: virtualization

VCDX Spotlight: Eiad AlAqqad

VCDX Spotlight-Josh Odgers

VCDX Spotlight–Nathan Raper

vCenter Operations Management Suite Resources

VMware Operations Manager 5.x

VMware vCenter Configuration Manager

vCenter Operations Manager for View

DevonIT VDI Blaster Experiences

The Next Chapter

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