Scheduled the VCP-DCV 5.1 exam for December 17th

anoeljr

Congrats man we knew you could do it!

SixtyCycle

Congrats! That was a close one. I'll be sitting for the exam end of this month.

JasminLandry

Congrats on the pass! Reminds me of when I passed the 70-640 with 700. You deserve it after such hard work!

Deathmage

I honestly think just the fact I read a different book in 10 days and then spent 4 days to review and made notes and used a highlighter in the book was what helped me the most. Also up to the last two chapters I just read the maximums for a solid week... it's been two weeks of VMware bliss...

I got to the exam and like VMware fashion the questions were freaking hard, had to really read them....

Flagged a bunch and then took a bio and got to 56 of 85 questions with 15 minutes left and my adrenaline kicked it and my blood pressure went to like 190!

How I did those questions in 15 minutes is beyond me, it was like speed read, trust instincts, bam, next question....

There is definitely a technique to that exam... so wanted a 500!

But now I'm going to change gears and study for the Storage +, the voucher I'm paying for this afternoon and then hit that one...

Found out next month I'm doing the Project + at WGU and Linux + in March.

At some point I'm going to get back on the bandwagon for the VCP5-DCV 5.5 pursuit, there is a method to my madness. Hopefully it serves me well...

Now I can put a verification code on my LinkedIn so that's awesome! !!

dave330i

Congrats on the pass.

Itrimble

That's great new DeathMage!!! You might be able to save money if you do your Cloud+ with ProcterU. I'm doing all of the pearson tests from the book, as well as the premium test. I definitely hope I pass it this next go round!

tstrip007

Congrats!

hiddenknight821

Congrats! We knew you would pass it this time!

Deathmage

Itrimble wrote: »

That's great new DeathMage!!! You might be able to save money if you do your Cloud+ with ProcterU. I'm doing all of the pearson tests from the book, as well as the premium test. I definitely hope I pass it this next go round!

Best of luck to you man. If you want I can send you my notes. Just holler.

Essendon

Congrats mate! Time to update that cert list!

kriscamaro68

Congrats on the pass!!!

Deathmage

Thanks guys.

Going to bang out the Storage + now, probably will take like tonight off and get back into the books.

I think the next big certification is going to be MCSA since CCNA R&S/Security is included in WGU.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats buddy way to go!!

Deathmage

It's legit now.... only 8 hours to process, VMware much be on crack or something....

Essendon

You've earned it bud!

Deathmage

Essendon wrote: »

You've earned it bud!

I think I may do VCAP5-DCV.... but this post from a guy on Amazon has be nervous, will I disappear for 6 months without any eyeballs?

"Go to any mirror in your area and look into that reflection. Take a look at your eyes. Not just the eye pupils but what is behind those eyes. I would like you to peer deep into your own image. Do you see yourself as one who would be dedicated enough to take on a completely different type of technical challenge or are you simply interested in obtaining another certification?

Only you will know because you will read and be told all sorts of opinions people have about yourself. It is easy to sit in an office chair wishing or wondering what it might be like in another career field. Managing a data center may sound easy based on what you have heard but think about it in the context of your background. If you look beyond the black portion of your eye you will see your own impression of what you are capable of achieving in life. Not everyone can be a professional wrestler or a concert violinist.

The VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Data Center Administration is nothing like anything you have seen before unless you have several years of technical experience under your hood. The mind behind those eyes looking back at you in the mirror will tell you if you should go after this monster task.

First off, the book makes no pretense that you are embarking on a difficult task. You are expected to have a very good understanding of basic vSphere commands and operations. Mr. Baca and Mr. Davis do cover some of the fundamental portions of vSphere but most of that is accidental to the method they are teaching you. You must have your hands on a VMServer with VM clients because the entire book is based on hands-on lab situations. To set yourself up ahead of time, grab a copy of VMware (or vPlayer) and install it on your own machine at home. You can make up a bunch of vms but the important point is to read along the book and install the important tools as they are discussed in the book.

The first bite is much worse than the bark. The authors open up your exam prep by digging into the CLI with ESXCLI, vCLI, vMA and PowerCLI. Yes, that means lots of commands you will need to master. If you have a background in Unix or Linux Bash or even old DOS, you'll find these commands are very familiar but different. Each tool, whether ESXCLI or PowerCLI has it's own rules and limitations. Think of these interfaces as a collection of kitchen knives: you will use one CLI to slice bread and another CLI to carver up ribs. Don't mix the tools up even if they can do the same task because you will find yourself with more work later on. The authors make sure this message is loud and clear to the reader.

I was frustrated at the small size images. I am one of those people who wants to see what was typed in to get the results shown in the screen-shot. Another sour point I have is the lack of a ********** for common commands. I'm lazy like that and I want to have a simple sheet with common tasks and switches at my disposal. Many of the switches are the real power behind the command but that isn't telling you much if you have worked with command lines before. Another problem I have is that some of the commands with switches, routing addresses, locations and so forth are really long typing exercises. If you miss one letter, number or symbol, the whole command gets rejected. Whatever happened to F3?"

Essendon

Well it'll take a lot of effort from you, there's no doubt about that for sure. The exam's about both speed and knowledge. You'll need to know things inside and out, you'll need to be able to do things like setting up DRS rules/enabling FT for machines etc in the blink of an eye. It's a grueling exam, no doubt about it. Dont let this review put you off though, studying for this one is great fun. Carry forward the momentum you've nicely built up with the VCP, when you come out the other side of the VCAP-DCA, I guarantee you'll be a gun administrator.

Deathmage

Essendon wrote: »

Well it'll take a lot of effort from you, there's no doubt about that for sure. The exam's about both speed and knowledge. You'll need to know things inside and out, you'll need to be able to do things like setting up DRS rules/enabling FT for machines etc in the blink of an eye. It's a grueling exam, no doubt about it. Dont let this review put you off though, studying for this one is great fun. Carry forward the momentum you've nicely built up with the VCP, when you come out the other side of the VCAP-DCA, I guarantee you'll be a gun administrator.

So basically all the things I was doing in the home lab for VCP5-DCV was actually on part with the VCAP5-DCV?

Well here is a better question, are there man VCAP5-DCV's? - would it make me stand-out?

Essendon

Yep most of what you appear to have studied for the VCP will carry over for sure. There are plenty of VCAP's no doubt, but this cert will make you stand out - both because of the cert and the knowledge you will gain out of preparing for it. HR don't know or care about the DCA usually, the interviewer will probably know.

scott28tt

Have a look at the objectives in the blueprint for the VCAP exam - that will help you make your mind up

SimonD.

Ok, I am going to throw my oar in here and I don't mean to be harsh but..

If you only just passed the VCP exam then are you sure that the VCAP is the right thing to do?
Also I would be concerned with the amount of certifications your doing, remember they are there to prove your ability not as a means to learn about the product.

A VCAP is someone who has used the product for a couple of years, knows and understands the technologies (not just ESXi but the whole product suite) and bleeds green when you cut him.

It sounds like you're chewing up far too many certs at the moment, moving from the VCP to the Storage+, to the CCNA to the MCSA\E.. you're doing way too much to be able to actually retain any decent level of knowledge.

I would honestly suggest sticking to a technology stack (be it Windows, VMware etc) and concentrating on that for a bit, get some real world experience of not just deploying but also administration and troubleshooting under your belt and then decide what you want to do. Passing the VCP exam is great (and well done for that) but actually being able to do the work successfully is something else entirely.

If I were hiring you and I saw a solid 6 - 12 months of such varied certifications appearing on your CV I am afraid to say I wouldn't hire you, it would be different if you have managed to study for VCAPs in that time frame (whether DCA, DCD, CIA or CID for example) but to have CompTIA, MS, VMware and Cisco certs appear all within a year?? Sorry but it shouts paper certs to me and that's never a good thing.

Yes it's harsh but having been in the IT Industry for over 15 years I have a little bit of experience where certs and experience comes in and as a hiring manager I do get to see the pitfalls of engineers with certs and no experience.

Deathmage

This observation is duly noted however there is a method to my madness.

I see certification as a validation of skill-sets acquired from hands-on learning.

I'm not going into a interview saying "Look at me I got 15 certifications, hire me, I'm awesome."

I go into a interview presenting solutions to problems and providing examples of how different products can resolve these issues in two key important things employers want, cost and simplicity.

See I perceive in order to be called an expert, in the essence of say being VMware focused you must understand VMware 1st and foremost but also storage, networking, security, Server O/S's principles and strategies. I'm not going to just go deep into VMware without 1st fully understanding the building blocks that it resides upon, such as Storage, Networking, and the platforms the VM's are used by. I know enough as it is now about Storage, Networking, and Windows Server O/S to apply these to VMware deployments but I want to know more....

...In the past two months as a field VMware/Network Engineer I've deployed 11 Full-VMware deployments for small to medium sized companies that involved VMware ESXi/vCenter 5.5, Equalogic SAN's, HP/Cisco Networking, The fabric that connects them, the design involved, the visio flowchart presentations, Wireless survey's then deployments, and on top of that the Sonicwall/Barracuda gateway protection solutions.... before all of this I was a IT manager for a 2500 user company with 5 locations and 45 servers at it's peak (which upon my exit was reduced to 8 server in a 5.5 cluster with SRM and SAN-to-SAN Replication along with FT on Exchange and a Amtech/Kiwiplan ERP system), had I not had that 4 year experience I wouldn't be in the state I am now in my career. I was brought on-board from the start with designing, implementing, maintaining and improving a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility; check out the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljG-FTwEysQ

...If I wasn't using these countless skills on a daily basis I could honestly see validation in the above observation. However me getting the Storage +, CCNA, MCSA/E, and VCAP are just validations to myself of skill-sets I already posses there just a means to make sure I didn't leave anything behind that could make the solutions to problems even better.

If anyone has noticed the past few months or year, when I study for something I go all-in, my home-lab is a fine example of this, I've invested over $5500 in hardware and licensing (full list of hardware is in the 'home lab' tab @ www.G15IT.com) in order for me to physically replicate a medium sized enterprise network. I don't like talking the talk without walking the walk. If I'm going to call myself an expert at something I'll do my best to know everything I can about it.

I do understand the notion that I'm young and don't have the countless years of experience that some do I get the rubbed on me all the time but it's that resistance that drives me forward, but in my eyes that's a clear-cut advantage. I have a defined goal of what I want to achieve and accomplish in the next 3 years in terms of my career and knowledge growth, one of the most notable tools I truly appreciate is the criticism, perspectives, and boundless knowledge that this forum provides individuals looking to push the boundaries of what they can achieve. Were only human, no one is perfect, aye?

dave330i

@Deathmage,

Replace Storage+ with intro cert from EMC or NetApp and Project+ with ITIL.

You're on a similar path to the one I took. Good luck on your endeavours.

darkerosxx

Dave, I agree with the ITIL over Project+, but I have a question about the EMC/Netapp certs. Are they oriented towards their specific software? I got the impression that was the case, so I was going to do the following vendor-agnostic cert path for the engineer line:

Storage Networking Certification Program (SNCP) | Storage Networking Industry Association

Storage+ powered by SNIA followed by the exams for SNIA CSE doesn't sound like a complete waste of time, anyways, but if EMC/Netapp certs are vendor-agnostic, I'd much rather go that route.

dave330i

@dark,

EMCISA was 80-90% vendor neutral. I thought NetApp intro cert was similar as well, but I don't have personal experience with it.

JoJoCal19

dave330i wrote: »

@Deathmage,

Replace Storage+ with intro cert from EMC or NetApp and Project+ with ITIL.

You're on a similar path to the one I took. Good luck on your endeavours.

Agree with ITIL over Project+ (or even CAPM if you meet the requirements).

Deathmage

darkerosxx wrote: »

Dave, I agree with the ITIL over Project+, but I have a question about the EMC/Netapp certs. Are they oriented towards their specific software? I got the impression that was the case, so I was going to do the following vendor-agnostic cert path for the engineer line:

Storage Networking Certification Program (SNCP) | Storage Networking Industry Association

Storage+ powered by SNIA followed by the exams for SNIA CSE doesn't sound like a complete waste of time, anyways, but if EMC/Netapp certs are vendor-agnostic, I'd much rather go that route.

This is an interesting question, would like to research this more. I'm taking Project + because its a requirement of WGU, but Storage + I was taking it becasue it was vendor neutral, there is so many solutions out there my thought was if I got Storage + I could reverse engineer it to a few solutions like Dell's Appassure or EMC/NetApp as examples.

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Agree with ITIL over Project+ (or even CAPM if you meet the requirements).

Well what's to stop me from doing the ITIL, I'm going to be 30 in April. I got a feeling my 30's will be found inside a book so mind as-well add it to the list.

...and hey I finally meet someone at the gym, so maybe my 30's I won't be single either.

Problem is.... is it possible to get to a point that your a IT certification whore? :LOL: :rofl:

Essendon wrote: »

Well it'll take a lot of effort from you, there's no doubt about that for sure. The exam's about both speed and knowledge. You'll need to know things inside and out, you'll need to be able to do things like setting up DRS rules/enabling FT for machines etc in the blink of an eye. It's a grueling exam, no doubt about it. Dont let this review put you off though, studying for this one is great fun. Carry forward the momentum you've nicely built up with the VCP, when you come out the other side of the VCAP-DCA, I guarantee you'll be a gun administrator.

I'm almost curious if I should get a 3rd host for the cluster, the R610 I got from a warehouse in LA told me the next one I could get for $150 with 32 GB's of RAM since he did mess up the order, not so much him but FedEx lost it and he sent me another one 4 weeks after it was ordered with next day shipping. How the hell Fedex had it sent to Kiev is beyond me..


.....Now for the most important thing so far this week, My VCP oxford shirt has been shipped!

JoJoCal19

Deathmage wrote: »

Well what's to stop me from doing the ITIL, I'm going to be 30 in April.

I say do them both if you have time, especially since the Project+ is required and you have to do that one anyway.

Deathmage wrote: »

Problem is.... is it possible to get to a point that your a IT certification whore? :LOL: :rofl:

Oh I'm sure it's possible but as long as it's stuff that you're using or pertains to your job or duties I say why not!

SixtyCycle

I have to somewhat agree with SimonD. VCAP may be too early to tackle on. You had listed your experience and knowledge along with spending a considerable amount of time studying however it had proven not to be enough to pass the VCP on the first try which tells me VMware exams are very hard to pass, just imagine what it would be for VCAP. I don't think having a variety of certs within a year will make it look like a paper cert though, it really depends whether one has the experience to support it. If there is zero experience then obviously that is questionable but it shouldn't be a problem in your case.

Deathmage

SixtyCycle wrote: »

I have to somewhat agree with SimonD. VCAP may be too early to tackle on. You had listed your experience and knowledge along with spending a considerable amount of time studying however it had proven not to be enough to pass the VCP on the first try which tells me VMware exams are very hard to pass, just imagine what it would be for VCAP. I don't think having a variety of certs within a year will make it look like a paper cert though, it really depends whether one has the experience to support it. If there is zero experience then obviously that is questionable but it shouldn't be a problem in your case.

I do agree with SimonD stated, I'll be doing the VCAP5-DCV at some point this year but right now my focus is on Project +, Storage (something) and CCNA for the WGU curriculum. Might get the MCSA before the VCAP5, since I truly do think in order for me to go for the VCAP I really want a strong understand in Windows Server and all of the services it provides and what will interact with VMware in that aspect.

My goal was the VCP5-DCV and then the CCNA then MCSA, so just sticking to that method and branch farther inward once those next tier certs are done. To me VCAP is comparable to CCNP/MCSE and I want to build up my networking/OS knowledge more.

Plus I'm sure since I'm VCP certfieid I'll do doing more and more VMware deployments so this will get me the VCAP real-world exposure I'll need that you can't really always learn in a control scenario like a lab.

speaking of real-world, I update my Linkedin with my VCP and now I have headhunter emailing me constantly and interviews lining up in Westchester and Stamford, CT area. But I guess that's the point of moving up in knowledge, you get noticed.