Virtualistion and where to start?

sharpy56

Hi All,

We have lots of sites that run Vsphere and pretty much all our clients are going virtual these days - probably the most is 5-6 servers within Vsphere even for the largest clients. I was just wondering which exam is best to look into? The VCA-Cloud or VCA-DCV? To me data centers have always been huge like 100's of servers but not sure about which exam is the best to go for.

Also how long does it take to do this exam? On the Vmware website it has a 3 hour course - is this enough or just the beginning?

I have used VSphere for a while and have setup servers just simply and also performed basic tasks. Just looking at the way everything is going it seems like this is the path to start heading down - to have a basic understanding at least!

kj0

There's a few options.


Unfortunately, the exam is not all that is required. You will also need to sit the VCP course through an authorised training company. ie, Stanley CC, or here in Australia DDLS, etc. It is generally a 2 month Course.

I'm currently working on the VCP-DCV even though my workplace only has 3 Hosts, 2 SANs via iSCSI serving 18 VMs. The best starting place to study is to get a hold of "Mastering VMware vSphere 5 - Scott Lowe. " It's very indepth, and I don't think you will need any other study material, although I am also using Trainsignal and CBT nuggets here and there as I personally can't study just reading.

Basic knowledge is all you need.

AS for exam time, I think it's only 2 - 3 hours. (Don't have it sitting in front of me) - The course however, takes some time, However, if you're good at staying on task, shouldn't take you more than 2 months to be ready for the exam.

Essendon

The VCP-DCV is the one you want to take if you work on vSphere. The VCP-Cloud is intended for folks that work on vCloud Director (something that provisions clouds for people).

The exam isnt easy (not difficult either!), it isnt entry level. But you appear to have some experience with the product, so you have a start there. There are countless threads about the VCP on this website and on the hundreds out there on the internet, but you need to do a training course and take the exam. Check out the Inexpensive VMware training options threads in this sub-forum for lots of info. I'm not sure of this 3 hour course your referring to but it's most likely just a primer, at best.

Sounds Good

Keep in mind the VCA-DCV or VCA-Cloud are brand new certifications. But yes, they are the most entry level VMware certifications available.

sharpy56

Thanks for your help here. I saw that site but couldn't find any information on the VCP-DCV (unless its name something else?) guessing if its just come out that not many people know how to teach it as of yet? Pretty much what im wondering is does the VCP-DCV come up as a different name in AUS?

Zartanasaurus

I've been thinking about VCP5-DCV for a little while. How long do you think it would take if:

1) I have no prior VMWare experience.
2) I have extensive Hyper-V experience.
3) I have a very good understanding of networking and storage networking.
4) I could build myself a very impressive lab using spare equipment at work.

Basically, how quick is the transition from taking what you know in Hyper-V and figuring out how to turn the same knobs in ESX?

Essendon

About a month Zartan. Maybe less, given your calibre.

dave330i

sharpy56 wrote: »

Thanks for your help here. I saw that site but couldn't find any information on the VCP-DCV (unless its name something else?) guessing if its just come out that not many people know how to teach it as of yet? Pretty much what im wondering is does the VCP-DCV come up as a different name in AUS?

VMware renamed VCP to VCP-DV then changed it again to VCP-DCV.

Essendon

I see you referred to the exam as VCA, that's the latest exam VMware have come up with. The VMware Certified Associate. This thing is probably no use, no one knows about. Almost like Comptia's N+. You'll be better served by doing the VCP-DCV.