Online course vs the classroom

I am looking to take the VCP exam once I have completed my MCSE. I wondered whether anyone could offer any advice as to whether the online classes for this course are any good?

I would be looking to take the "Install and Configure" course in preparation for the exam and the online course would be more convenient for me than to attend one of the training centres.

Thanks!

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Comments

kingpeter

So thats a no then...

dynamik

What online classes are you referring to? I thought they were all classroom-based. Remember, you need to take an authorized course to have it count towards the VCP. Is this through VMware?

blargoe

I thought they had some online "virtual classroom" courses for Install and Configure.

I haven't taken any VMWare courses like that but I did take one from Symantec and the delivery was horrible. It was a slow ass connection to their virtual lab, which was itself seriously underpowered hardware-wise. It might not be representative of VMWare's online offerings or anyone else's but it soured me to the point that I'll probably not do the virtual class again.

dynamik

Actually, even in the classroom, you're still making a remote connection out to California (I believe) to access all their equipment. They don't have any of the SANs, servers, etc. on-site any more. I imagine that the experience would be just as good for anyone who has sufficient bandwidth. I didn't know VMware offered these themselves. Is it still a $3k course?

kingpeter

Thanks for the responses guys. Admittedly I only skimmed over the web page but they seem to offer either the classroom experience or online experience. They haven't advertised the pricing for the online courses (as far as I could see anyway).

I just thought, if it is substantially cheaper, it might be a good way of doing it

homerj742

maybe this?

http://mylearn.vmware.com/MgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=6756&ui=www&legacy=1

bwcarty

I saw online versions of the I&C course when I signed up for my live class last month. They're official VMware courses and count towards your VCP.

Personally, I liked having the instructor face to face since it was easy to bring of random questions, and I wasn't distracted by anything else while I was in the class. The labs were run over a remote console, but if you already have ESX experience, the labs aren't as important as the firsthand information you get from the instructor.

Either way you go, you'll pay the same amount - about $3000.

luckybob

From what I can tell, they offer the course online or class-room. The course is the same price either way.

My company just purchased 3 Infrastructure License package that came with 30 credits, just enough for the class. I will be doing my training mid November, and VCP by December (fingers crossed).