Vcix-nv

dave330i

Pushed the exam back by a month.

dave330i

Finished reading the admin guide. Had about 30 pages left before switching to TOGAF. I feel reasonably comfortable flipping various switches, but don't have a deep architectural understanding. Really wish there was a NSX deep dive like HA/DRS.

Deathmage

dave330i wrote: »

Finished reading the admin guide. Had about 30 pages left before switching to TOGAF. I feel reasonably comfortable flipping various switches, but don't have a deep architectural understanding. Really wish there was a NSX deep dive like HA/DRS.

I swear I saw a book on this subject on Amazon...

Zentraedi

So, just wondering how deep into the networking side are your NSX engagements going?

Looks like I'll have a bunch coming up and while I'm comfortable with most of the NSX config, need to brush up on BGP/IS-IS if we'll require integration in those areas.

dave330i

Zentraedi wrote: »

So, just wondering how deep into the networking side are your NSX engagements going?

Looks like I'll have a bunch coming up and while I'm comfortable with most of the NSX config, need to brush up on BGP/IS-IS if we'll require integration in those areas.

Other than dealing with Cisco ISE sales pitch, not much.

dave330i

Exam rescheduled to 5/19. Hopefully this is the last time I need to reschedule.

Essendon

You've got this mate.

dave330i

Essendon wrote: »

You've got this mate.

Life keeps getting in the way. I can focus on studying after Wednesday.

dave330i

Exam's tomorrow. I'm probably not ready for the exam, but don't feel like rescheduling it anymore. Rescheduling probably won't help, since I'm no longer motivated towards technical exams.

kj0

Have a quick read of Rene's post here for some tips. He took it on Saturday.

VCIX-NV Exam Recap | vcdx133.com

jibbajabba

dave330i wrote: »

I'm no longer motivated towards technical exams.

Yea - all that expiration nonsense won't help.

dave330i

jibbajabba wrote: »

Yea - all that expiration nonsense won't help.

VCAPs don't expire.

gorebrush

Best of luck for the exam dave. I've quietly been thinking about what to do next, and the chance to get into VMWare certification without the course requirement at the moment cannot be passed up. Will be doing VCP: NV to get my feet wet and see where we go from there, but thinking about the VCIX given that it's so new and a chance to get in there quickly with the new technology, it also shouldn't take too long for me to get into it and then I need to think about CCIE #2 next year instead of recerting RnS in '17.

dave330i

Here's my impression of the exam. Get used to waiting and relaunching. Web interface is slow and Firefox is the only browser. Wish they had Chrome. I had to relaunch the web interface multiple times during the exam.

The exam itself was very fair. Few of the directions were vague or missing part of the information.

No idea if I passed or not. I'm leaning towards not passing. What hurt me was that I don't have much install/initial setup experience due to using HOL exclusively.

Essendon

So things havent improved since at all since I took the DTA late last year. Latency shouldnt be the issue, unless your lab was located somewhere other than the US. $400 a pop and we've got to put up all the sluggishness and missing pieces!

Like you say, the Advanced exams are very fair, I concur. Dont you find out within an hour or so Dave, like you did the VCAPs?

I know you'll pass mate, these exams are second nature for you!

dave330i

Somehow I managed to pass it with a 306. I continue my proud tradition of barely passing my exams. My study material were:

-ICM class lecture material
-NSX install guide
-NSX admin guide
-VCIX-NV Study Guide | Lostdomain.org​
-NSX Compendium | Network Inferno​
-lots of HOL

Spent about 2 months studying and never got a chance to deploy it in real world.

Quick tip for those interested in taking this exam. Have 2 browser tabs open. 1 for NSX and 1 for vCenter. This was mentioned on VCIX-NV Exam Recap | vcdx133.com and it really saved me some time.

The cert team is doing a fantastic job in reporting the results. It only took about a day unlike the 30 days in the good old days.

It would be nice if they'd leverage vCloud Air to provide the lab environment. That would probably help with the latency.

GSXRules

Congratulations!

gorebrush

Nicely done - I'm heading down this road now I've had a break from CCIE. VCP: NV first then probably straight into the VCIX then I will branch out into the data centre cents before looping back for CCIE#2.

Essendon

See we knew you'd pass, congratulations! I'm going to start dabbling in this too once things at work cool down a bit.

Is this it for VMware certs for awhile Dave? TOGAF for now eh?

dave330i

Thanks everyone. This one was painful because I kept having to reschedule. Didn't realize VCIX extended VCP expiration.

@Esse,

Yup. I'll be focusing on TOGAF and probably GMAT.

Essendon

GMAT for an MBA right Dave? You'll absolutely fly through the GMAT no worries!

dave330i

Essendon wrote: »

GMAT for an MBA right Dave? You'll absolutely fly through the GMAT no worries!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I haven't studied to score well in an exam in a long time.

I wonder if VMware still give out the bumper stickers?

Maybe I'll get the "elite" status.

gorebrush

Dave, do you use any equipment at home yourself, or just HOL? I just tried the 1403 HOL (Intro to NSX) and it looked to have everything. I was going to build my own, but if you've gotten by purely with HOL - I will do the same.

dave330i

gorebrush wrote: »

Dave, do you use any equipment at home yourself, or just HOL? I just tried the 1403 HOL (Intro to NSX) and it looked to have everything. I was going to build my own, but if you've gotten by purely with HOL - I will do the same.

HOL 1403, 1415 & 1425 only. Initially, I tried to do it on my home lab, but I didn't have enough resources.

gorebrush

Thanks! I was thinking about building it myself, but you've proved that I don't need to go to the expense. I have a single ESX host in my rack, 32GB RAM and that's the limit. I may revisit the idea of a 2nd host when I go more into VCP-DCV or something though

dave330i

gorebrush wrote: »

Thanks! I was thinking about building it myself, but you've proved that I don't need to go to the expense. I have a single ESX host in my rack, 32GB RAM and that's the limit. I may revisit the idea of a 2nd host when I go more into VCP-DCV or something though

That's enough resource for VCAP-DCA. No need to buy more.

Essendon

Yep, nest it all (or as much as you can)

gorebrush

Excellent. I can use my desktop machine as well - that's an i7 with 16GB. Just dual boot it and move some NIC's over to it (main machine has 9.... 1x4, 2x2 and the onboard)

Thanks guys.

dave330i

@gorebrush,

As you learn about NSX let us know how it compares to Cisco solution.

gorebrush

Yes I'll start a thread documenting it. I've got a fair range of ESX knowledge so I'm off to a good start.