VMware - Where to start!?

Overdue

Hello,

I will just give a quick background; I have been working in 2nd level support for about 6 years now. I have done a few MCSE 2003 exams and am looking for something new and most likely something where there will be some stability for the next few years.

I have been playing around with VMware in work the past few weeks and I have come to the conclusion I need and want to do some sort of course in this area or do some home study. I want to broaden my expertise and also broaden my bank balance.

A friend has given me a loan of mastering VMware by Chris McCain, does anyone have this book and is it helpful?

I have also been considering

http://store.vmware.com/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayPage&Env=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=vmware&id=ProductDetailsPage&productID=104315100

As a starting point, or is this for total novices?


I see CBT also have a course out at the moment

VMware Infrastructure 3 VCP Certification Package

Would anyone recommend this?



A lot of questions there but any help appreciated,

Thanks

dynamik

I wouldn't waste any money on the online training for Workstation. It's pretty straight-forward once you get into it. There's plenty of tutorials and the help file is great. You can always ask here if you get stuck; a ton of us use it.

This is the Mastering book you have, right? That's gotten some pretty good reviews, but I haven't read it myself. Let us know how you like it. You might also want to check out this and this. I'm not sure how much those overlap with the Mastering book. I used the Train Signal CBT over the CBT Nuggets because they have some updated material for version 3.5.

tiersten

There are several VMware products. Workstation, Server and ESX. They're all aimed at totally different markets and usages. Which one are you looking to get more experience of?

If you want to get more experience of an enterprise installation then it'll have to be ESX. VMware do have the VCP certification for this but its pretty expensive. You must do their course and then take the exam to actually get the cert. Self study + exam doesn't work as the course is a prereq.

Using Workstation shouldn't be a problem if you're capable of doing Windows admin. As Dynamik said, the help files are good and you can always ask here if there is anything else.

Server is free to download and if you can use Workstation then you can use Server. Server is basically a service based version of Workstation.

ajs1976

Get an eval of ESX and read the documentation and start playing with it.

shednik

ajs1976 wrote:

Get an eval of ESX and read the documentation and start playing with it.

+1...best way to go IMO

bwcarty

If you want official recognition (e.g. the VCP certification), you'll need to attend an official VMware course first. The Virtual Infrastructure Install & Configure class meets this requirement, and while it helps to be familiar with VMware and virtualization ahead of time, the class will teach you what you need to know.

One important thing to note is that VMware servers really should tie into a SAN of some sort. If you're used to using local storage for all of your servers, I'd recommend brushing up on HBA's and basic server to SAN connectivity before the class.

RTmarc

Can't you also run ESX on Workstation? Seems like I remember hearing/reading someone saying that a while back. Great method of learning the OS without having to load it on a physical server (if it's possible).

tiersten

RTmarc wrote:

Can't you also run ESX on Workstation? Seems like I remember hearing/reading someone saying that a while back. Great method of learning the OS without having to load it on a physical server (if it's possible).

You need Workstation 6.5 to run ESX 3.5. Older versions of Workstation won't work.

tiersten

bwcarty wrote:

One important thing to note is that VMware servers really should tie into a SAN of some sort. If you're used to using local storage for all of your servers, I'd recommend brushing up on HBA's and basic server to SAN connectivity before the class.

You can install a Linux distribution that supports NFS and iSCSI target mode onto a spare machine or a VM. You won't have experience of FC or hardware HBAs however but you'll get most things from that.