Other areas to compliment VCP

I'm working towards my VCP 5. VMware, to me, seems to be the wave of the future. My end goal is to get into a MSP. After getting VCP, what other areas would be good to study? I was thinking on going for my CCNP and the EMC's entry level storage exam.

What makes a really good Vmware Engineer\ Cloud Engineer?

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QHalo

That's my plan. VCP, CCNP, EMC and security. Security is the often forgotten part. Should be enough to do for a while.

odysseyelite

I've told the last few years I need to specialize. For storage thats easy you do EMC, for Networking its Cisco, for Security CISSP and Cisco. However, it does not seem that way for a virtual engineer. You need to know all pieces of the puzzle. Is this how to become a master of cloud computing? By becoming a jack of all trades?

dave330i

Obviously you need to be an expert on VMware, but you also need entry level knowledge of networking (CCENT/CCNA), storage and guest OS.

odysseyelite

Dave,

Any suggestions on becoming an expert with VMWare? Just getting a VCP does not make you an expert. Its a step in the right direction. No higher level exams have been created for ESXi5 yet.

To expand my knowledge I picked up the following books:

Administering VMware Site Recovery Manager 5.0
Amazon.com: Administering VMware Site Recovery Manager 5.0 (VMware Press Technology) (9780321799920): Michael Gordon Laverick: Books

VMware vSphere 5 Clustering Technical Deepdive
Amazon.com: VMware vSphere 5 Clustering Technical Deepdive (9781463658137): Duncan Epping, Frank Denneman: Books

VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration
Amazon.com: VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration (9780470890790): Luc Dekens, Alan Renouf, Glenn Sizemore, Arnim van Lieshout, Jonathan Medd: Books

EMC's Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information
Amazon.com: Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information (9780470294215): EMC Education Services: Books

dave330i

I'm no expert, but I would add Mastering VMware vSphere 5 & VMware vSphere Design. Both books helped expand my understanding of VMware. The Design book is vSphere 4, so some of it doesn't apply to 5.

odysseyelite

dave330i wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I would add Mastering VMware vSphere 5 & VMware vSphere Design. Both books helped expand my understanding of VMware. The Design book is vSphere 4, so some of it doesn't apply to 5.

I have that book as well for the VCP exam.

dave330i

odysseyelite wrote: »

EMC's Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information
Amazon.com: Information Storage and Management: Storing, Managing, and Protecting Digital Information (9780470294215): EMC Education Services: Books

I hear this maps well with EMC associate cert. Planning on taking the exam after reading the book?

meadIT

odysseyelite wrote: »

Dave,

Any suggestions on becoming an expert with VMWare? Just getting a VCP does not make you an expert. Its a step in the right direction. No higher level exams have been created for ESXi5 yet.

The VCAP certifications for version 5 will arrive shortly. The DCD ( Datacenter Design) has just finished beta testing and will probably be released in the next 6-8 weeks.

odysseyelite

dave330i wrote: »

I hear this maps well with EMC associate cert. Planning on taking the exam after reading the book?

That was my plan. I have to squeeze it in between my vcp and ccnp studies. I find having a goal (certificaiton exam) helps me stay focus to learn new material. Plus its always good to make yourself more marketable.

dave330i

odysseyelite wrote: »

That was my plan. I have to squeeze it in between my vcp and ccnp studies. I find having a goal (certificaiton exam) helps me stay focus to learn new material. Plus its always good to make yourself more marketable.

Looks like we're on very similar path. I'm probably a step or 2 ahead.

odysseyelite

Yeah, you are just ahead. VCP set for this May. Finishing the required class this weekend. I'm also reading PowerCLI reference. I'm loving it so far. I haven't used powershell before so i have a slight learning curve but I used to program so its coming back to me.