Scheduled the VCP-DCV 5.1 exam for December 17th

Deathmage

Anyone know some good review websites and/or some practice tests, I can't seem to find the previous posts on this question.

I'm kind of excited for the test.

Verities

With your work experience, the studying and labbing you've been doing, you'll knock it out the park; you don't need any practice tests for this exam.

tstrip007

I remember going through mwpreston practice questions and study guide but I believe its based on vSphere 5. I personally thought the actual exam questions were more difficult than any practice question I saw but they at least point areas that you need to review. Good luck.

Dakinggamer87

You got this!!

Breadfan

I was going to suggest Simon's site The SLOG – SimonLong/Blog, but his practice tests and guides are all geared toward 4 & 5. You are doing 5.1 so I am not sure how much help it would be, but he has links to other people's sites, so that might help.

Good luck.

Breadfan

Dakinggamer87

I may have some resources Deathmage PM me sometime.

darkerosxx

Measureup's practice exams are good for the VCP510.

Deathmage

Thanks guys. I'm reviewing Scott Lowe's 5.0 book as of the last few days. Finished reading it on Sunday.

Right now I'm taking chapter notes on the stuff I highlighted on the Kindle.

Will take a practice test this weekend too.

I really just want to be prepared for the exam, but we all know it's so hard to gauge when you're ready hence why I scheduled the exam so I have a set date and a window for review...

GSXRules

Remember the questions are written by teams of SMEs who have been handed the blueprint.

Writing yourself (and your blog, for posterity) questions for each topic is the best way to study.

scott28tt

Download the blueprint, read the blueprint, focus all your preparations around the objectives in the blueprint.

Did somebody say something about a blueprint??

Deathmage

I've gone threw half of the study notes and practice exams on mwpreston.net for most of today with two naps throughout the day for my brain to 'reset'.

tomorrow I'll finish up the notes and micro tests then proceed to the big practice test and head back to reviewing scott lowe's book and then blowing up my lab and starting from scratch for a 4th time.

Be nice if there was some other free practice tests out there someplace. I want to get this knowledge so engraved into my skull it's second nature kind of like the Network and Security + to this day are still engraved into my skull and I can recall them on a daily basis...

Deathmage

Completed the practice exams over at mwpreston.net and I really like the study notes. I like reading study notes, so if anyone has any there willing to share that would be awesome. Distilled facts are awesome, kind of would hate to re-read scott's book all over again....

also took the two practice exams over at The SLOG – SimonLong/Blog too and even though they seem to cater to 5.0 the question were still interesting, showed me areas to work on.

going to keep taking these practice exams and I just started listening to the 5.1 videos over at CBT nuggets and I'll listen to them over the week and then review the study notes at mwpreston.net again.

I want these concepts to be so repeative it's nutso. plus I successfully blew away my esxi cluster today and rebuilt it in under 5 hours; vCenter and all (minus I didn't re-do the switching fabric or NAS - that I got down cold) not sure what else I can do to prepare myself quite frankly...

Essendon

Learn a bit about what some other vSphere products such as vCenter Heartbeat, VMware VCM, vShield Edge, Chargeback Manager etc do. Just one/two line ideas of what these are for.

Deathmage

Essendon wrote: »

Learn a bit about what some other vSphere products such as vCenter Heartbeat, VMware VCM, vShield Edge, Chargeback Manager etc do. Just one/two line ideas of what these are for.

Thanks! - sure will!

scott28tt

Essendon wrote: »

Learn a bit about what some other vSphere products such as vCenter Heartbeat, VMware VCM, vShield Edge, Chargeback Manager etc do. Just one/two line ideas of what these are for.

Yep, that's wise - there is a mention of "other VMware products that interact with vSphere" in the objectives in the exam blueprint.

There I go mentioning the blueprint again, can't imagine why...

Essendon

Yep, like Scott always says, if it's on the blueprint, it's on the exam. Dissect the blueprint to the last word.

Deathmage

Got it - read the blueprint, dissect the blueprint, own the blueprint, conquer the exam. ....Seems pretty clear to me.

sometimes just need a few coaches to egg me on!

Deathmage

I've re-done the quiz from mwpreston.net and got a 95% so that's decent, but the last quiz is still fresh in my head. will come back to it in a few days.

Today since I'm stranded at home because of the nor-easter I'm doing the CBT nuggets video from Greg Shields; it's about 7 hours long, then the practice exam and then finish up the blueprints this evening in the lab.

Tomorrow I'll be re-reading Scott's book and make my own chapter-by-chapter notes.

dave330i

I think you're over studying for this exam.

Deathmage

dave330i wrote: »

I think you're over studying for this exam.

Probably but with 3 weeks till the exam, mind as well keep my knowledge sharp.

dave330i

Deathmage wrote: »

Probably but with 3 weeks till the exam, mind as well keep my knowledge sharp.

Or take the exam sooner.

Deathmage

dave330i wrote: »

Or take the exam sooner.

it's the soonest slot for the exam, the SUNY college is usually packed with test takers...

Deathmage

VMware Guru's any useful KB's from VMware Virtualization for Desktop & Server, Application, Public & Hybrid Clouds | United States besides the 5.1 troubleshooting guide I've been reading, like maybe the 5.1 maximums guide.

anything would be helpful.

Thechainremains

I too will be taking this exam after completing both my CCENT and CCNA, to get the Education Costs ($5,000) Waived by Feb. 28th 2015. I've delayed taking the CCENT, just because i didnt want to rush myself.

Kudos for taking your time.. the one thing i learned getting my MCSE most recently (in September 2014) is " TAKE YOUR TIME. " Nothing wrong with being aggressive, but these exams are difficult for a reason. 2-3 weeks is not enough time to nail an exam. (Even with a ton of experience and knowledge)

Minimumally, 3-4 weeks gives you enough time to: 1) Study it cold. 2) Get bored with the Material. 3) Find holes in your practice material.

Deathmage

Essendon wrote: »

Learn a bit about what some other vSphere products such as

vCenter Heartbeat:

VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat (vCSHB) is VMware's OEM version of NeverFail, which is designed to ensure the high availability and disaster recovery of vCenter Server whether on a LAN or a Wireless Wide Area Network.

VMware VCM:

VMware vCenter Configuration Manager is a policy-driven configuration automation solution that detects deep system

changes and checks whether those changes are compliant to industry, regulatory or your own self-defined best practices. It

helps you avoid configuration drift by remediating systems to bring them back into compliance, managing change, controlling

risk, and automating software provisioning and patching.

vShield Edge:

VMware vShield Edge is an edge network security solution for virtual datacenters that provides essential security capabilities

such as port group isolation, network security gateway services and Web load balancing for performance and availability. The

solution plugs directly into vSphere and leverages built-in features such as fault tolerance and high availability for

unparalleled resiliency.

Chargeback Manager:

vCenter Chargeback Manager is an end-to-end cost reporting solution for virtual environments that are using VMware vSphere. vCenter Chargeback Manager provides functionality to define unit costs and calculate the overall costs based on the actual usage or reservation of computing resources.

vCenter Orchestrator:

VMware Orchestrator is a free vCenter feature that helps automate VMware vCloud Suite, vSphere and other virtualization management system processes. Orchestrator's workflow engine can be used to automate bulk operations and create workflow processes for integrating existing third-party tools; it comes with a library of pre-defined workflows as well as a drag-and-drop tool for linking actions together to produce customized workflows to meet specific business needs. It can be installed as a virtual appliance, a vCenter add-on or a standalone product for a Windows Server installation.

etc do. Just one/two line ideas of what these are for.

how does that look? - I figured heck If i can learn it mind as well make it useful for others too and pop these shorts into the post.

Itrimble

I'm also taking my exam on the 17th. I've been using Measure-Up and the practice test on the My.Learn Vmware page quite often. My nerves are starting to get tighter as the test date approaches.

Essendon

@Itrimble, I suggest you go through the 'your daily VMware quiz' thread too, if you havent already. Some decent questions there. Good luck!

emerald_octane

I recommend grabbing a lasso and practice wrangling a greased pig; that's how i felt taking this test, one of the hardest of the ones I have <- .

Maybe I just under studied (heck, I still passed) but some of those questions blew me away.

Your study plan is good/better than mine though.

Deathmage

Itrimble wrote: »

I'm also taking my exam on the 17th. I've been using Measure-Up and the practice test on the My.Learn Vmware page quite often. My nerves are starting to get tighter as the test date approaches.

man... I know what you mean, I'm finding myself going over the blueprints like 2 times a day now... for the past month it was like once a week....

my electric bill this month will be insane have both of there R610's on for 10+ hours a day on weekends and atleast 5 hours a night during the week...

I think what makes me the most nervous if not knowing what to expect...

Deathmage

Well I've gone thru the blueprints for the 15th time now and I feel like the info is getting boring now... printed it out the other day and I got so many doodle notes on here it's nutso...

now I'm just re-reading these study notes: VCP 5 | mwpreston.net

Deathmage

well I've been doing a number of practice exams tonight and reviewing flash cards, hopefully VMware doesn't throw me a curveball and make me go crazy with the complexity of them....

Found a nice practice exam app on the Android market over @ http://www.certification2go.com/ that I've been trolling all day, hopefully it's legit....

anyways I've done as much studying as I can I guess....

Was thinking of going threw the questions I do know nearly instantly and flagging others to come back to them, good idea?

any last minute advice?