Top 3 VMware Certifications You Must Get - And How To Pass the First Time VMware Certification

Transcription

1 Top 3 VMware Certifications You Must Get - And How To Pass the VMware Certification Instructor: David Davis

2 Who is David Davis? Over 18 years of IT experience as a customer, blogger, and video training author vexpert, VCP5, VCAP-DCA, CCIE#9369 Has written hundreds of articles about virtualization technology Spoke at VMworld US & EU in 2010/11 Author of the best-selling video training library, available from

3 Please note: I don t work for VMware All content here is public knowledge I won t discuss what was on my exams This is not a brain dump session You won t learn everything you need to know to take the VCP exam in 45 minutes

4 In This Lesson: Why Get Certified? VMware s Certification Pyramid Top VMware Certifications What s New in VMware Certification? VCP5 Exam Cram VCAP-DCA Preparation Tips VCDX Preparation Tips How can TrainSignal Help?

5 Why Get Certified? Distinguish yourself Get a raise or promotion Get a new job Prove that you can / test your skills Learn new technology

6 VMware s Certification Pyramid VCDX VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) VMware Certified Professional (VCP) VMware Certified Associate (VCA)

7 VCP VMware Certified Professional VCAP VMware Certified Advanced Professional VCAP-DCD DataCenter Designer VCAP-DCA DataCenter Administrator

8 What s New in VMware Certification? VMware Certified Design expert (VCDX) Cloud Architect on vcloud Director VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP-DT) coming soon (official) VMware Certified Professional (VCP) Desktop or- VCP5-DT VMware Certified Administrator (VCA) Desktop or- VCA4-DT VMware Certified Advanced Professional DC Admin (VCAP-DCA) VMware Certified Professional (VCP5) VMware Certified Administrator (VCA) vsphere or- VCA-vS VCAP DC Design (VCAP5-DCD)

9 VCDX #1 What s his name?

10 VCP5 The Path

11 VCP - FAQ Yes, take a class (only VMware Cert that requires it) Yes, you can take it online Yes, you can still take the test without taking the class but, no, you won t be a VCP VCP exam code is VCP510 There are 85 questions & you have 90 minutes Score is between , passing is 300 Note: VCP5-DT is also available but it requires you first have a regular VCP

12 VCP - FAQ VMware Ed has a VCP mock exam on their website (it s bad) The exam blueprint is your BIBLE for passing the VCP!

13 VCP5 Exam Cram

14 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 1 Plan, Install, Configure and Upgrade vcenter Server and VMware ESXi Objective 1.1 Install and Configure vcenter Server Objective 1.2 Install and Configure VMware ESXi Objective 1.3 Plan and Perform Upgrades of vcenter Server and VMware ESXi Objective 1.4 Secure vcenter Server and ESXi Objective 1.5 Identify vsphere Architecture and Solutions

15 VCP5 Exam Cram Upgrading to vsphere 5 1. Backup vcenter 2. Local vs remote DB 3. Upgrade vcenter (32 bit vs 64 bit) 4. Pre-agent upgrade checker 5. vcenter data migration tool, if needed 6. Upgrade the vsphere Client 7. Upgrade Update Manager 8. Upgrade ESX/ESXi to ESXi5 either local, update manager, or AutoDeploy (use vmotion for zero downtime?) 9. Upgrade VM Tools 10.Upgrade virtual hardware 11.Upgrade VMFS 12.Use new features

16 VCP5 Exam Cram What s New 12 of No more ESX Server (only ESXi) 2. Largest VMs ever (32 vcpus & 1TB vram) 3. New vsphere HA, uses FDM, storage heartbeat 4. vsphere Auto Deploy 5. Profile-driven storage 6. Storage DRS (SDRS) 7. Web Client 8. vcenter Server Appliance (vcsa) 9. License reporting manager 10. vram Pooled pricing 11. ESXi Firewall 12. VAAI Offload for NAS Note: Don t forget about what s new in vsphere 4.1 SIOC, NIOC, VAAI, lockdown mode, vcenter Converter Hyper-V import, ESXi AD integration, memory compression, DRS affinity rules, etc.

17 VCP5 Exam Cram What s New 13 of VASA vsphere API for Storage Awareness 14. Improved iscsi Configuration GUI 15. Enhanced logging new log files 16. Enhanced storage metrics 17. vsphere replication 18. Network I/O control custom resource pools 19. vds port mirroring 20. Netflow version Esxcli command 22. Swapping to host cache & SSD detection 23. vcenter dump collector and vcenter syslog collector 24. vshield VMware Data Recovery 2.0 (an ISO, that contains plugin and VA)

18 VCP #1 What s her name?

19 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 2 Plan and Configure vsphere Networking Objective 2.1 Configure vnetwork Standard Switches Objective 2.2 Configure vnetwork Distributed Switches Objective 2.3 Configure vss and vds Policies

20 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 3 Plan and Configure vsphere Storage Objective 3.1 Configure Shared Storage for vsphere Objective 3.2 Configure the Storage Virtual Appliance for vsphere Objective 3.3 Create and Configure VMFS and NFS Datastores

21 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 4 Deploy and Administer Virtual Machines and vapps Objective 4.1 Create and Deploy Virtual Machines Objective 4.2 Create and Deploy vapps Objective 4.3 Manage Virtual Machine Clones and Templates Objective 4.4 Administer Virtual Machines and vapps

22 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 5 Establish and Maintain Service Levels Objective 5.1 Create and Configure VMware Clusters Objective 5.2 Plan and Implement VMware Fault Tolerance Objective 5.3 Create and Administer Resource Pools Objective 5.4 Migrate Virtual Machines Objective 5.5 Backup and Restore Virtual Machines Objective 5.6 Patch and Update ESXi and Virtual Machines

23 VCP5 Exam Cram

24 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 6 Perform Basic Troubleshooting and Alarm Management Objective 6.1 Perform Basic Troubleshooting for ESXi Hosts Objective 6.2 Perform Basic vsphere Network Troubleshooting

25 Who is VCDX 007?

26 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 6 Perform Basic Troubleshooting and Alarm Management Objective 6.3 Perform Basic vsphere Storage Troubleshooting Objective 6.4 Perform Basic Troubleshooting for HA/DRS Clusters and vmotion/storage vmotion

27 VCP5 Exam Cram Section 7 Monitor a vsphere Implementation Objective 7.1 Monitor ESXi, vcenter Server and Virtual Machines Objective 7.2 Create and Administer vcenter Server Alarms

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31 VMware Community Roundtable Podcast

32 vchat

33 vnews & Chinwag

34 VCP5 Exam Cram FINAL TIPS Know BOTH theory and practical (hands-on) in each section May want to memorize some theory, like maximum configurations You ll remember the hands-on better if you actually do it Getting hands-on experience with vsphere CAN be free (60 day eval on your own desktop / laptop) Build a lab

35 VCAP - FAQ 2 kinds of VCAP = DCA and DCD DCA is my favorite DCA is 100% hands on with real servers! SO many configurations to perform, SO little time Closest exam I have ever to the CCIE Note: DCA5 is now in BETA

36 VCAP - FAQ Top 3 VMware Certifications You Must Get - And How To Pass the

37 VCAP - DCA Preparation Tips Must have a lab Master common configurations that you could perform in seconds Troubleshooting is HUGE Performance is very important (security and PowerCLI, not as much) Know ALL VMware products and features Know log file locations and what to look for Only receive a few basic vsphere docs Likely, won t have time to use the provided docs anyway Be prepared to sit there for 3-4 hours no snacks and no coffee

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39 VCDX - Preparation Tips Overview It s about knowing your DESIGN VCAP DCA and DCD are prerequisites for VCDX5 You create a design of a fictitious customer, diagram it, document it Submit it Defend it in front of a live panel of VCDXs Tips Talk to existing VCDXs (Nash, etc) Attend the VCDX workshop Create your own mock defense Attend a mock defense Be a enterprise consultant (or pretend you are)

40 Senior VMware Administrator in Connecticut College degree VCP, VCAP, or VCDX Virtualization Experience Pay range $165-$275K Dated: 9/16/2011

41 Evolve or Die I m in charge of Printers or LUNs or FAX machines

42 Evolve or Die Today s datacenter no longer functions with siloed knowledge Breakout into virtualization, storage, networking, and THE CLOUD Build your own lab to get hands-on knowledge Become an infrastructure engineer

43 Cert + Hands-on + Initiative = SUCCESS! You won t differentiate yourself with a MCSE Challenge yourself to become the go to guy, the lynchpin of your organization Certification + hands-on + initiative = SUCCESS!

44 TrainSignal VMware Products vsphere 5 VCAP-DCA package Troubleshooting, Performance, Security, PowerCLI View 5 Essentials vsphere Advanced Networking vcloud Director Essentials Cisco UCS

45 Upcoming TrainSignal Courses vsphere Design by Scott Lowe Cisco Nexus 1000-V Site Recovery Manager 5 More vcloud Director!

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47 VCP or VCAP Questions? vsphere Questions? Feedback or Blog Post Ideas? Contact Me Blog