Where to begin?

zxbane

Hi all,

I am posting this because I am in the process of wrapping up CISSP studies and test in about a month.

After that I would like to get my feet wet with virtualization since it really interests me and I see it definitely continuing to grow. I have worked a little bit with Hyper V and VMware in current and past positions but nothing too intense or on a daily basis. My question is where do I begin as fair as Virtualization certs go and what are some of the various paths, most valuable certs etc?

I know with other certs you have CCNA into CCNP, MCSA into MCSE etc. What are the common paths for Virtualization?

phonic

With VMware, you have four levels: Association, Professional, Advanced Professional and Expert.

The Associate level, which for the most part only came out recently, isn't really worth going for unless you just have free time to spare. No one recognizes it yet, and I doubt they will much in the future unless it changes dramatically. It's more of a sales engineering cert, similar to already existing ones.

The Professional is the starter cert, but it's closer to a CCNP level of knowledge versus CCNA (relatively, and in my opinion). You need this to get higher level certs, but you do not need the Associate to get the Professional. In addition to passing the exam, you also need to take a VMware approved course. The official 5-day courses cost $3-6k - which turns many away. There are ways to meet this requirement for $185 though - read the forum. This is by far the most popular and known VMware certification, and is considered very good in the industry.

The Advanced Professional comes in two flavors, and I believe is most if not all simulations, where you need to meet objectives in a timed manner. I've heard it is quite difficult and requires in-depth knowledge of how to do everything quickly, not just correctly.

The Expert level requires you pass both Advanced Professional exams, plus put together your own design and defend it against a team of VMware judges.

I have no idea about Hyper-V, but I believe there is only one MS certification for it (could be wrong).

Essendon

@phonic is spot-on with the VMware side of things. As for Hyper-v, MS used to have this cert called the MCITP: Virtualization Administrator - this never really took off and I believe some of the exams that constitutued this cert cannot be taken anymore. Anyways, with the direction in which MS are moving their certs, the MCSE: Private Cloud comes closest to being a virtualization-centric cert. Other MCSE's will also have some Hyper-v content to varying degree. Check here for more info.

Dakinggamer87

VMware is the way to go for virtualization!!

I'm currently working on my VCP-DCV which I'm hoping to knock out before the end of the year!!

jonny72

The Server 2012 MCSA has a fair bit of Hyper-V coverage. Personally I think Hyper-V offers a better learning path if you're new to virtualisation but familiar with Windows. You can run it under Windows 8 (as well as under Server 2012 and as a standalone hypervisor) and as it uses a lot of basic Windows functionality, you've got a head start.