New to virtualization

Hey all,

I'm new to virtualization so I have just been googling around to see how i can get my feet wet. My friend suggested that I get a VTSP first to familiarize myself with the terms, which I did. And now I want to start learning VCP.

Could somebody suggest how i should approach this? I know most people here started out with quite a bit of IT experiences, and that's not me. I like to play around with computers, build them, but i'm NO where close to people here. So i need some suggestion, any, would be helpful.

Are there any books that I should get?

I know there's a lot of free training courses on VMware website, any suggestion which one i should start with? I'm willing to spend money to build a lab and study this. Once i have enough experience, i will then take the course so I can actually understand what the course is about.

So if you have some time, please kindly help!

Thanks!

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Essendon

Welcome to TE! Stick around and you may learn a thing or two (or a lot!)

Here are some threads people have created about the same topic:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/virtualization/92301-vmware-hands-labs.html << Great thread about resources!
http://www.techexams.net/forums/virtualization/91222-vmware-vcp-dv-resources.html << The sticky at the top of this sub-forum
http://www.techexams.net/forums/virtualization/90823-vmware-lab.html << Your home lab thread
http://www.techexams.net/forums/virtualization/93149-vmware-nested-lab-hardware-specs.html << Another one for a home lab

Books - The best book out there is the Mastering VMware vSphere 5 by Scott Lowe, by far the best IT book I've ever read. You really dont need anything else. If you understand what's in there AND you lab it up, the exam's not difficult.

It's good to start self-study, no doubt about it. It'll definitely help if you have experience working in IT, so while you pound away at the VCP focus on getting a job that'll get you a foot in the door.

If you have specific questions, fire away! And Good Luck!

kc73837

Thanks Essendon for your quick and very helpful response!

I just bought the book right now! Quick question, the book is about vSphere 5, do you know if that covers 5 and 5.1? Or there's not really a book on 5.1?

I looked on monster and everywhere, but companies that are hiring for IT talents usually want engineering backgrounds, which i have none. I've just started taking Networking and Linux courses at a community college, so not close to what they want. My plan is to familiarize myself with VCP, and half way through my studies, i then start applying for IT related jobs. Maybe at that time, I have enough knowledge of VCP and companies are willing to take a shot at me. Sounds applicable?

Thanks again!

Essendon

No worries mate!

The book's about 5 and the exam tests you in manner that it doesnt matter whether you've labbed up 5 or 5.1. There are a few changes in 5.1, that's all. There's no book on 5.1, books are generally released when the vendor does a major release. So there'll be book when 6 or 7, or whatever the next iteration will be comes out.

Apply NOW! You never know how long it'll be before you'll get a job, right? Not trying to discourage or anything but it took me about 8 months to find my first IT job after a Master's in Engineering (I didnt expect 6 figures anyway!) Get a Helpdesk/IT Support/ISP Support/NOC Support/PC break/fix or whatever entry level job you can find and go from there. It's pretty cut-throat out there, so begin today, begin now!

Good luck!

kj0

Scott is about to bring out his new book Mastering Vmware vSphere 5.5. It is on Amazon for pre-order. I'm not sure if this will cover just 5.5 items like vSAN, vFRC, etc. or if it will deep dive into vSphere like his 5 book does which cover from Storage (100 pages long - A long thorough read) through to specifics of the vSwitch and Distributed Switches and about Networking protocols, etc.

Check out my blog below. I only started it last week, but it's intended to cover my VCP journey. It has a little detail already in regards to setting up a nested Lab, there are many more blogs out there on setting up one. There is also one on the Hands On Labs.

Good Luck. I highly recommend using the Hands on Labs, and if you do, read them carefully, you will pick up so much information from them.

jonny72

kc73837 wrote: »

Could somebody suggest how i should approach this? I know most people here started out with quite a bit of IT experiences, and that's not me. I like to play around with computers, build them, but i'm NO where close to people here. So i need some suggestion, any, would be helpful.

My suggestion is to stop wasting your time studying for a VCP. It is not an exam for beginners and requires a lot of knowledge of other areas, which they don't go in to - they assume you know it.

Getting a VCP without having at least a good few years IT experience will do nothing for your CV and could even be detrimental.

There are far better routes for you to take, such as the Server 2012 MCSA which covers some virtualisation as well as lots of the basics.

ElevenBravo

I don't think it's a waste of time to study for the VCP but Jonny is correct that you'll need to be well versed in all things vSphere and other things. Shared storage technologies are a big part of the vSphere environment and the exam(s) will cover it as well as networking and other technologies that are not specific to vSphere but virtualization in general.

One thing to note: In order to receive your VCP you will need to sit in a VMware Certified course provided by a VMware Certified Training Partner, i.e. "Global Knowledge". These are generally pretty expensive ($2K-5K).

The new VCA exam(s) would be a good place to start and they are free until tomorrow with the code(s) provided in other posts on these forums.

Verities

Virtualization doesn't stop at servers and certainly doesn't stop with VMware, there's a few other major competitors, but they are by far the leader in server virtualizatin and have the most features of any competing firms. They also cost the most :P.

Anyways, I got started with VMware vSphere for Dummies. I suggest starting small by understanding what a Hypervisor is and what it does. Then download VMware Virtual Player, create some virtual machines to get a feel for them. After you're comfortable with VMs and how the hypervisor works, download VMware ESXi and familiarize yourself with why it can be more beneficial to install on a server than a regular OS (i.e. Windows Server) on a server. It may take you a while to familiarize yourself with virtualization so do not be discouraged; I work with people who have been in IT 10+ years and they have no idea how it works