Taking the VCP dive

Lexluethar

So i'm going to schedule my VCP 5.5 exam for the first weekend in November. I've read the mastering 5.5 book already and i've also created a 5.5 lab and am running the 5.5 appliance in a domain environment to test a few things out. I'm hitting the blueprint and lab pretty hard the next few weeks - any advice for people who have already taken it?

I'm familiar with Microsoft exams but this will be my first VMware exam. I've already taking the course for the exam, i just need to sit it at this point.

Essendon

Go through the vBrownbag videos for the VCP, really helpful. Maybe get your hands on the PluralSight training too (they have a full free trial). Perhaps go through the VMware quiz thread we've got in the forums for some decent questions.

Don't underestimate the test, it's not entry level by any means. Hit everything on the blueprint hard, anything is fair game. Things like Storage vMotion, Storage DRS, Net IOC, vDS which people might gloss over are going to be on the test.

As you prepare ask us about any specific areas you have issues with and people will be glad to assist. Good luck!

Lexluethar

I will, thank you! Forgot about those vBrownbags.

I've been working with VMware for a little under 3 years now and i'm responsible for doing some high level stuff. So the concepts aren't foreign to me but i realize the exam will be extremely specific.

I also need to just uninstall the local client from my desktop so i stop using it and force myself to use the web client (but it's so darn slow!).

simtech

CBTNugget videos also helped me a lot. I just signed up for 7 days trial. It gave me great overview.

Rick9

I'm on the same ship; took the Stanly (thank you SCC!!!) course, read "Mastering vSphere 5.5" and got some experience. I'm planning to take the exam the first week of December, and by the end of the year in any case.
Just a question: how did you set-up your home lab? I'm considering to go nested with ESXi (free license) on a server and manage the whole virtual infrastructure with my laptop.

Lexluethar

I'm fortunate enough that our company purchased new equipment for our regional and DC Hosts, which means the old ones are sitting on shelves (we own them). Instead of recycling them with permission i was able to take a few home to setup my own lab. I have two HP G6's in my basement running 5.5 U2 on a 1 GB switch. I have an extra NIC on my desktop that is wired to that same switch - so i get a completely segmented lab environment. I'm using FreeNAS and an NFS mount point to test out using vmotion between hosts. ESXi comes free for 60 days, so i'm using those 60 days to study.

fuz1on

Same scenario here! I took VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V5.5] at Stanly CC Mar-May (great class - loved the labs; not the slow Ubuntu box tho ) and have been lagging to take the exam. I thought I couldn't wait anymore since VCP6 is the new status quo. I had it scheduled for yesterday but moved it to 10/16 - I'm thinking about changing it back to Monday depending how I feel tomorrow. I've used a lot of GNS3 and watched CBTNuggets as well as the usual internet resource scrounging. Good luck everyone!

Lexluethar

Good luck fuz1on.

I had the same idea, take the vcp now with 5.5 then not upgrade for another year or so once an updated 6.0 comes out. Then i'll test out on that. My goal is the first weekend in November.

Rick9

Lexluethar wrote: »

I'm fortunate enough that our company purchased new equipment for our regional and DC Hosts, which means the old ones are sitting on shelves (we own them). Instead of recycling them with permission i was able to take a few home to setup my own lab. I have two HP G6's in my basement running 5.5 U2 on a 1 GB switch. I have an extra NIC on my desktop that is wired to that same switch - so i get a completely segmented lab environment. I'm using FreeNAS and an NFS mount point to test out using vmotion between hosts. ESXi comes free for 60 days, so i'm using those 60 days to study.

Lucky you!! I have access to a couple of HP DL360 G5 servers at my friend's but due to an unreliable connection (damn ISPs here in Italy!!) it's not really an option and I can't study locally all the time, so I thought about nested virtualization at home. Wish I could take them home but I don't have space, and the electric bill would spike (avg. 250W/h!) !
Btw we use FreeNAS too and it's nice once you get into it; we ran it on a dedicated server, but perhpas it's best to have it as a VM on a host.

Lexluethar

No doubt Rick9, not every person can have dedicated hardware in their lab. Before i had this lab setup I used vmware player for testing virtualization but you can't really get a grasp of things without having dedicated hardware or a nested virtual environment.

zcarenow

VSphere 5.5 will be around for quite some time. I wouldn't wait for 6 to take the test.