Citrix Training Material & Cert Path

fixie_rider

Hi Guys

Had a good look around this forum and it looks great.

I’ve worked with other virtualisation technologies quite a bit and have decided to expand into the world of Citrix, I have a few questions though and was wondering if anyone could help.

I’ve used the XenServer a few times so decided this would be a logical place to start my certification? (XenServer- 1Y0-A09)

I usually work best from books and online material.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good book to work my way through which would also help me prepare for the exam?

Failing that any online documentation would do.

Any other advice you would like to throw my way please feel free.

Thanks

stupidboy

fixie_rider wrote: »

Had a good look around this forum and it looks great.

Welcome to Tech Exams

fixie_rider wrote: »

I’ve worked with other virtualisation technologies quite a bit and have decided to expand into the world of Citrix, I have a few questions though and was wondering if anyone could help.

I’ve used the XenServer a few times so decided this would be a logical place to start my certification? (XenServer- 1Y0-A09)

Seeing VCP in your list of certifications you should find the XenServer exam very stright forward. There is so much less to the product, it is a refreshing change to VMware sometimes

fixie_rider wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good book to work my way through which would also help me prepare for the exam?

Failing that any online documentation would do.

Unfortunately, as with most Citrix exams there are no books aimed at the exam. Obviously you could always attend a classroom course and obtain the offical corseware which is geared towards the exam but its not always at an accessible price bracket

In terms of documentation I would point you here for the Admin guide.

You can use the Prep Guide to ensure that you have covered all the right areas and it will point you towards additional resources that were used in the creation of the exam.

Personally I would also suggest that you visit Citrixxperience.com and check out the FREE Study Guide for this exam. I highly recommend that you purchase the study pack as it includes an interactive test engine that always helps me get in the right frame of mind before the exam.

Finally the most important part is lab time working with the product.

Hope this helps.

fixie_rider

Hi Stupid Boy

I was hoping it would be your good self who replied, had seen you doing a lot of posting on the forum.

The XenServer product does seem a little more striped back than the EXSi Server and surrounding technologies. As you said this is a bit of a relief as studying for my VCP4 was one of the more difficult certifications and took quite some time.

Thank you for the list of material, that should definitely be enough to get me started.

Although the XenServer will be my first stab at Citrix certifications, I’m particularly interested in the desktop side of Citrix, which is where I think I would like to specialise. From what I have seen of 5, it is quite impressive.

Would you say it is worth waiting for the certification of Desktop 5 to become available rather than get certified for 4?

Thanks again for the post.

stupidboy

fixie_rider wrote: »

I was hoping it would be your good self who replied, had seen you doing a lot of posting on the forum.

LOL, I love a bit of Citrix action

fixie_rider wrote: »

The XenServer product does seem a little more striped back than the EXSi Server and surrounding technologies. As you said this is a bit of a relief as studying for my VCP4 was one of the more difficult certifications and took quite some time.

I have my VCP410 exam on Thursday and am cramming like mad, I had forgotten how much there was to cover for this one.

fixie_rider wrote: »

Although the XenServer will be my first stab at Citrix certifications, I’m particularly interested in the desktop side of Citrix, which is where I think I would like to specialise. From what I have seen of 5, it is quite impressive.

Would you say it is worth waiting for the certification of Desktop 5 to become available rather than get certified for 4.

The XenDesktop exams and the concepts are really dependant on some foundation knowledge of XenServer and Provisioning Services. In fact I would recommend that without a good understanding of Provisioning Services not to attempt anything XenDesktop. If you are working towards XenDesktop continue with XenServer then on to Provisioning Services before XenDesktop to take everything in (each product is a bit like a puzzle piece).

The XenDesktop 5 exam is not even in beta as far as I know so might be worth picking up with version 4. I did find the XenDesktop 4 exam harder than XenDesktop 3 but this was not the content but the questions that tripped me up.

I personally need to get up to speed with whats new in XenDesktop 5, however, this month is already full

1. VCP410
2. Getting Started with Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V (need for some partnership requirement)
3. XenServer 5.6 beta
4. VMware Design Workshop

Enough of my fun.

Citrix are giving away a free Citrix XenDesktop 5 Overview e-learning course so might be worth adding to the e-learning account while it is still free

MentholMoose

As mentioned, there are no books covering XenServer, so you are stuck with the official docs unless you can pay for an expensive class. Keep in mind that the A09 exam covers XenServer 5.0, which is OLD. If possible, wait for A24, which covers XenServer 5.6. It is currently in beta. I don't know if you can still register for the beta, but it's free and worth a shot:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/citrix-certifications/59420-1y1-a24-xenserver-5-6-beta.html

If you can get in on the beta, or wait for the final version to be available, you can study the 5.6 documentation, especially the Installation and Administrator's guides.
XenServer Documentation

If you are interested in XenDesktop, the best way to learn is to use it. Citrix has an evaluation guide that will help. You will learn about and implement Provisioning Services as part of the eval:
Evaluating XenDesktop Enterprise Edition

There is also a free Technet Virtual Lab for it (it's by Microsoft so it uses Hyper-V instead of XenServer):
http://www.techexams.net/forums/citrix-certifications/51928-xendesktop-hyper-v-technet-virtual-lab.html

fixie_rider

Hi Guys

Thanks for the heads up MentholMoose.

I have booked in my 1Y1-A24: Citrix XenServer 5.6 Administration exam! It was free so Im guessing its still in beta.

The test centre is 10 miles away but that doesn't matter if its free.

I'm going to hit the documentation hard. I've already got the server running so as you both say, best way to learn is hands on.

StupidBoy, I noticed you mentioned in another thread you had registered for this exam. Did you take it? If so how was it? Does it count even if its a beta? How long does it take to get the results.

Sorry to keep this thread going and all the annoying questions.

Cheers

Daniel333

You know about a year ago I did the official training with XenServer 5 and read the admin guide. I even got to setup a couple XenServer boxes. It was enjoyable. Despite of pressures from my boss I never did certify up. If they anything like Microsoft exams a few months of experience and the official training wasn't going to be enough to pass.

You've got me thinking, maybe I should just try it.

Since my boss if reimbursing me pass or fail on cert exams right now I think I might just go for it... question is this Saturday, or next Saturday? When were you going to take it?

stupidboy

fixie_rider wrote: »

StupidBoy, I noticed you mentioned in another thread you had registered for this exam. Did you take it? If so how was it? Does it count even if its a beta? How long does it take to get the results.

I am booked in on the 16th so not yet taken the exam and given my intense schedule not had time to study yet either

The beta process will mean you will face a large number of questions (you may have noticed the amount of time allocated during your booking), some of which you will find mistakes in wording or formatting and some just down right incorrect. I usually take time to flag these in the comments field and hope the corrections find their way through to the production exam. Once you have completed the exam you will have to wait between 6-8 weeks after the exam closes to find out if you passed or failed. During this time Citrix are working though the feedback and workout what to include and what the pass mark should be. Once all agreed they will notify Pearson VUE of pass or fail, your exam history page will be updated accordingly. Maybe up to another month you will receive a full report, as you normally would, for this exam with the usual break down of your scoring.

If you pass 1Y1-A24 you have passed 1Y0-A24 and you will be a Citrix Certified Administrator for XenServer 5.6 (or words to that effect) so in short ... yes it does count

Always HTH

stupidboy

Daniel333 wrote: »

You've got me thinking, maybe I should just try it.

DO IT If you have taken the official course and had some hands on the exam is very straight forward. I would recommend the Citrixxperience study pack as a refresher

Daniel333 wrote: »

Since my boss if reimbursing me pass or fail on cert exams right now I think I might just go for it... question is this Saturday, or next Saturday? When were you going to take it?

Will your boss let you disappear for a beta exam? There are a number of hours put aside so is a day event. However, they are free

Let us know what you decide.

MentholMoose

Daniel333 wrote: »

If they anything like Microsoft exams a few months of experience and the official training wasn't going to be enough to pass.

For the XenServer 5.0 exam, reading the Administrator's and the Installation guides, plus some hands on experience (about a year, though mostly with XS 5.5) was enough for me to pass with over 90%. For the XS 5.6 exam, I will read the current version of those guides and do some labbing.

QHalo

Obviously experience seems to rule the roost in terms of Citrix certifications, but part of my new job involves me helping to maintain and provide backup support of our 4.5 environment. We're going to be upgrading to the VPX CAG's, etc. in the future to bring our environment up to speed.

My issue is understanding how Citrix is laid out. So for someone with little to no experience, do you still think that the paths you all have laid out would be the recommended path for a newbie into this world? I used to manage a Metaframe environment ages ago, so I'm not a total idiot but I haven't touched Citrix in a while and I'd like to get myself up to speed quickly even if I'm not totally studying the version we're on.

fixie_rider

Stupid Boy

Just wanted to say good luck for the exam Tuesday. I know its a bit early but I'm not going to be near a computer for the next few days so thought I'd say it now.

I'm currently reading my way through the guides and trying to remember all the new features.

Not looking forward to this exam at all, haven't had enough time to prepare at all.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

stupidboy

fixie_rider wrote: »

Stupid Boy

Just wanted to say good luck for the exam Tuesday. I know its a bit early but I'm not going to be near a computer for the next few days so thought I'd say it now.

I'm currently reading my way through the guides and trying to remember all the new features.

Not looking forward to this exam at all, haven't had enough time to prepare at all.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

Thanks dude, most kind. When are you booked in for?

I am actually looking at this now that vSphere is out of the way. However, I think I made a mistake yesterday .... I bought a Kinect for my Xbox 360 and I can feel it calling me

I'll let you know how things go, but I can tell you Admin Guide is hard work

fixie_rider

Hi Stupid Boy

My exam is booked for the 22nd. That was definitely a mistake buying a Kinect.

I made my own mistake of starting on the final series of 24 this week, so I can hear Jack Baur and his relentless pursuit bad guys with dodgy accents.

I'm seeing a lot of shared features between the XenServer and vSphere. Although there are subtle differences in the implementation and different limitations the over all concepts are very similar, which is a help.

stupidboy

fixie_rider wrote: »

Hi Stupid Boy

My exam is booked for the 22nd. That was definitely a mistake buying a Kinect.

I made my own mistake of starting on the final series of 24 this week, so I can hear Jack Baur and his relentless pursuit bad guys with dodgy accents.

I'm seeing a lot of shared features between the XenServer and vSphere. Although there are subtle differences in the implementation and different limitations the over all concepts are very similar, which is a help.

Are you watching the other thread? Some feedback has been posted and I have posted a link to another free eLearning course that might just help

stupidboy

fixie_rider wrote: »

My exam is booked for the 22nd.

Dude, good luck for Monday.

I am off on a VMware Design Workshop so wish you luck now.

fixie_rider

Stupid Boy

How you doing?

Any word on your Citrix result? I haven't heard anything back yet.

Hows the VMware coming along?

I got passed a Solaris box yesterday, got some itchy fingers and decided to play around with Solaris Oracle Express 11. Would love some big money to have a look at their virtualization solutions. A couple of our Oracle guys I work with have been talking it up, but havent actually shown me anything yet.

Fixie