I want to learn VMWare and earn a certification

doodguydoodguy Member Posts: 29 ■□□□□□□□□□
Can anyone please point me in a direction? IE: read this book, take this test?

I have looked on vmware.com and the sticky notes at the top of this forum, but I am very new to VMWARE and missing something. There i Vcenter, Vspher, ESXi, etc etc. I'm trying to learn this in a home lab and put everything into perspective.

If anyone can please point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. From what I gather on Vmware's site is I want to get the VCA-DCV certification.

Thank you in advance.

Comments

  • xenodamusxenodamus Member Posts: 758
    A few definitions that may be helpful in your search:

    ESXi - The vmware hypervisor that is installed on bare hardware to make virtualization possible.
    vCenter - The vmware management server that orchestrates the functions of multiple ESXi hosts.
    vSphere - The client console that is installed on an administrator's PC to connect to and manage the vCenter server.

    I don't have any book recommendations as I've never formally studied for a vmware exam. The VCA is a good place to start, but it doesn't cover much technically. It's more like an overview of the vmware components, how they fit together, and what vmware products are used to address various technical challenges. There's a free 2 hour course on vmware's site to prep for this. The VCP is where the technical meat is at. But that exam requires you to take a course beforehand. There are plenty of books aimed at the VCP, though, that will be a good read.

    ESXi is available for free, so your first step will be getting it installed on a physical box or VM and setting up a vCenter server to manage it.

    I'm sure others will have more detailed suggestions to offer. Good luck!
    CISSP | CCNA:R&S/Security | MCSA 2003 | A+ S+ | VCP6-DTM | CCA-V CCP-V
  • ReibeReibe Member Posts: 56 ■■□□□□□□□□
    VMware has free eLearning for the VCA level. VMware Certified Associate Real world experience also helps but VCA focuses alot on terms and capabilities; all of which is in the eLearning.
  • tstrip007tstrip007 Member Posts: 308 ■■■■□□□□□□
  • doodguydoodguy Member Posts: 29 ■□□□□□□□□□
    tstrip007 wrote: »
    Read this book: Mastering VMware vSphere 5: Scott Lowe: 9780470890806: Amazon.com: Books Sign up for this course ($180): VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage Build a home lab. Download blueprint and look at what you have to know: (VCP5-DCV) VCP-Datacenter Virtualization Take this test: (VCP5-DCV) VCP-Datacenter Virtualization

    Thanks! I am going to go through every step you provided. MUCH appreciated!

    PS: I read tidbits about free online test and also free online self paced learning? Did I mis read that?
  • BGravesBGraves Member Posts: 339
    Look for the Stanley CC VmWare course offering that is on the forums here, they offer a great rate for an online VmWare college course that allows you to sit the exam to earn your VCP5 cert. I think there is a waiting list, definitely worth looking in to!
  • tstrip007tstrip007 Member Posts: 308 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Actually seeing that the latest version of vSphere is 5.5. You may want to look at Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5: Scott Lowe, Nick Marshall, Forbes Guthrie, Matt Liebowitz, Josh Atwell: 9781118661147: Amazon.com: Books. Also what is your motive for wanting to learn this stuff?
  • SimonD.SimonD. Member Posts: 111
    I have put a couple of "Installing the Home Lab" articles on my site (installing SQL, creating DB's, installing Certificate Authorities, Installing vCenter, Storage etc) that you may find useful, have a look on Everything Virtual for those articles.

    The VCA is definitely the place to start but one thing you don't mention is your other skills, just walking in to virtualisation is rare, you're more than likely to have come from a sys admin role previously (experience on Windows and or *nix OS's).

    The three hour course on the VMware site for the VCA-DCV is well worth taking as well.
    My Blog - http://www.everything-virtual.com
    vExpert 2012\2013\2014\2015
  • kj0kj0 Member Posts: 767
    Scott Lowe/Nick Marshall Mastering vSphere 5.5 is what you want.

    Although, if I am reading your first post right, you want to start right from the basics. best way is to probably start with VCA to grasp the concept and components. Then look at the VCP courses.
    2017 Goals: VCP6-DCV | VCIX
    Blog: https://readysetvirtual.wordpress.com
  • jibbajabbajibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Agree with kj0 - learn to walk before attempting the marathon ..

    One thing you will need to do though - is labbing - that is essential, no matter what. This forums has tons of lab suggestions for people on a budget or not so budgety ...
    My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com :p
  • Danielm7Danielm7 Member Posts: 2,310 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Perfect timing with the thread, I was coming here to post the exact same thing. My only experience with virtualization is my own VMs at home for labs and such, using Virtual PC or VirtualBox. Now that I'm looking for a new job though it seems like most of the jobs I'm looking at also want you to have experience in wmware so I'm looking to dig into it on my own but mostly starting from scratch.

    Edit: Looking at the learning resources on WMWare's site, it looks like there are 4 different VCA certs. Am I just reading that wrong or do you pick a specialty now and go into that?
  • kj0kj0 Member Posts: 767
    DCV is probably the better one to start with as that covers your common infrastructure you might come up against. It also covers a broader scope of components.

    I'm currently writing up a piece for my blog for those wanting to get started in the Vmware cert track. Should be up within the week when I get some more time.
    2017 Goals: VCP6-DCV | VCIX
    Blog: https://readysetvirtual.wordpress.com
  • scott28ttscott28tt Member Posts: 686 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Danielm7 wrote: »
    Perfect timing with the thread, I was coming here to post the exact same thing. My only experience with virtualization is my own VMs at home for labs and such, using Virtual PC or VirtualBox. Now that I'm looking for a new job though it seems like most of the jobs I'm looking at also want you to have experience in wmware so I'm looking to dig into it on my own but mostly starting from scratch.

    Edit: Looking at the learning resources on WMWare's site, it looks like there are 4 different VCA certs. Am I just reading that wrong or do you pick a specialty now and go into that?

    There are different VCA certs:

    DCV on vSphere
    Cloud on vCloud Director (on top of vSphere)
    WM on View (on top of vSphere) plus other Horizon Suite elements
    NV - coming soon, but it will cover technologies that also sit on vSphere

    You might notice that vSphere is the common element for all of these, so DCV is the logical start point.
    VCP2 / VCP3 / VCP4 / VCP5 / VCAP4-DCA / VCI / vExpert 2010-2012
    Blog - http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com
    Twitter - http://twitter.com/vmtraining
    Email - vmtraining.blog@gmail.com
  • scott28ttscott28tt Member Posts: 686 ■■■■■□□□□□
    The logical start point is VCA-DCV, vSphere is the platform for most other VMware technologies and all the DCV certifications are about vSphere.

    Get that done, then look to VCP5-DCV, this is by far the most common VMware certification.
    VCP2 / VCP3 / VCP4 / VCP5 / VCAP4-DCA / VCI / vExpert 2010-2012
    Blog - http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com
    Twitter - http://twitter.com/vmtraining
    Email - vmtraining.blog@gmail.com
  • Danielm7Danielm7 Member Posts: 2,310 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Awesome, sorry for the thread hijack and thanks for the tips.
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