Just enrolled in the VMware ESXi / Vsphere Udemy course

ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
I am mainly taking this because UC platform virtualization is becoming the norm, and am wondering if anyone has taken this and can attest to it's awesomeness? Not chasing a cert, but does this prepare you for any VCP cert tests?

I am a complete noob to virtualization, so any geekback is way appreciated guys, Thanks!

Comments

  • Asif DaslAsif Dasl Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
    If you are talking about the Infinite Skills one, then I have access to it on Safari Books Online. It's very dry, I never finished it as it was too basic. It rushes over too much in 6 hours to be useful for the VCP but it would get you up to speed with VMware enough to lab it up.

    The Pluralsight videos are much much better for VMware IMO. And they are pretty cheap too. But you still need to sit the course requirement to become a VCP, check the Stanly or Dallas County CC threads for more details on signing up for that, it's about $200 at either one. There is more spots on the waiting list at Stanly though.

    HTH.
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    Yes I enrolled in the infinite skills one, I did check out the plural sight one as well but it didn't seem as in depth from the preview video.

    Not worried at all about getting vmware certified at this point, purely learning for the sake of understanding, but another cert would be a nice to have. As far as dryness goes, I feel like after watching Mark Snow's Voice bootcamp videos, I could listen to Ben Stein read the entie encyclopedia series - that course is as dry as I have ever endured!

    Thanks for the input man!
  • tstrip007tstrip007 Member Posts: 308 ■■■■□□□□□□
    IMO reading the Mastering vSphere book along with building a lab will get you up to speed. Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5: Scott Lowe, Nick Marshall, Forbes Guthrie, Matt Liebowitz, Josh Atwell: 9781118661147: Amazon.com: Books I was going for the VCP and none of the video series prepared me for that but did give me a good foundational knowledge. I watched the trainsignal and cbt. I also bought this book, very good. VMware vSphere 5.1 Clustering Deepdive (Volume 1): Duncan Epping, Frank Denneman: 9781478183419: Amazon.com: Books BTW... earning my VCP and proving that I could perform some advanced tasks in our virtual environment netted me a 20k/yr increase in my salary. If your going to spend the time to learn this stuff, I recommend getting that VCP.
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    How long did it take you to study for the VCP? And did you work directly with it on a regular basis or just when maintenance was required for a virtual server?

    Given I have no background at all it seems a bit intimidating given there are so many other technologies I touch daily, however I need to see if there is any sort of partner perks for being certified, as thst kind of stuff carries a good weight at my MSP.

    Thanks for the input!
  • tstrip007tstrip007 Member Posts: 308 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Took about 9 months to complete the VCP (required course included in there). I had been working with it for about yr an half before I decided to study for vcp. Your MSP wanting you to be able to build virtual environments from start to finish? or be able to do admin and troubleshoot? If your not looking to certify, again, def. recommend the mastering vsphere book and a lab in workstation.
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    Actually almost all of our customers have their UCS platforms on vsphere servers, so when I have to rebuild a call manager server I have to know my way arojnd the client.

    Also my MSP is a VMWare partner, I did not even realize that til I did a partner search on their website, so I'm betting my work would actually pay for the VCP courses / material for me to get certified. The only big question in my mind is at what point it'd make snse to halt Cisco studies for vmware, as I work heavily in Voice / R&S / Security cisco tracks, so moving onto NP level with any or all those tracks would be way beneficial.

    Hoping to maybe do some vmware classes while studying Cisco, hoping it may be possible without my brain exploding :)
  • EssendonEssendon Member Posts: 4,546 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Yep, do the VCP and the CCNP and you should be golden. The two are a great combo and couple that with your experience - you'll be set.
    NSX, NSX, more NSX..

    Blog >> http://virtual10.com
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    Definitely will start looking into that, thanks for the input sir!
  • harrellharrell Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Hey guys... I'm really interested in becoming VCP certified, but I don't know much. All I know is that you have to attend a certified course in order to be certified. Is the udemy website good enough to verify you have taken an accepted course to be VCP certified?

    Also, I'm brand-spankin' new to virtualization... Is this a good place to start? If not, where should I go?

    thanks in advance..
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    I am really confused by all this as well. I signed into my Partner login for my company, and went to view a fast track course, and it said I can only access it til 5/11 this year (apparently I registered for it while looking at it).

    I signed up for my course on udemy just for quick videos I can watch to get up to speed for work, but after looking into it I am really interested in pursuing this cert next. Check out this link: VCP5 Exam - How to Study for and Pass With Ease - It looks like there are a bunch of recommended classes but you only need 1 if I read that correctly.

    If anyone has input on this I'd be interested as well, navigating VM's site for a class seems almost like a maze.
  • Asif DaslAsif Dasl Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
    @harrell - Sign up to Safari Books Online. That will give you access to the Mastering vSphere 5.5 book and the Infinite Skills vSphere video training course - get the 5 bookshelf to keep costs down. Then sign up to the Stanly CC or Dallas CC VCP course for the VCP course requirement - the threads are in the Virtualization sub-forum.

    Get VMware workstation and a PC with at least 16GB of RAM. Setup two ESXi hosts with at least 4GB of RAM each. Install Server 2012 R2 from the Microsoft TechNet Evaluation Center - create a snapshot from your freshly installed OS. Make one linked clone as a domain controller and an iSCSI target with 1 GB of RAM. Create a second linked clone from your Server 2012 installation and give it 4GB of RAM and install vCenter Server 5.5. That's the guts of a lab under 16GB of RAM. You can install Server 2012 on one of the ESXi hosts and do vMotion etc.


    @ande0255 - you need to take ICM or the fast track course for the course requirement. Fast track is meant to fulfill the most exam objectives. ICM (install, configure, manage) requires a good book like Mastering vSphere 5.5 in order to pass as it doesn't cover all of the objectives..
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    It's odd that the fast track would cover more exam ground than the ICM, given that it is a 'fast track'. Any suggestions on which course may be the best?

    I'm also debating on which test would be lighter material between 5.0 and 5.1, or if it even really matters. Hoping to skip the 5.5 if possible as I read that it is a lot more material / questions to cover on the exam, which given my current study load does not sound like anything I want to volunteer for :)
  • Asif DaslAsif Dasl Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Don't go by their names, both are intended to be 5 day courses. It's just community colleges do the ICM course over a few weeks which is better in my opinion for beginners. Also it costs much much less doing it that way. Nobody can learn vSphere in 5 days, there are so many moving parts to learn. Learn it slowly and you will get better retention.

    I think it's better to learn 5.5 because nobody knows how long the 5.1 test is going to be around for..
  • harrellharrell Member Posts: 18 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Thanks so much @Asif Dasi... I'll get to it.
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    If I understand the classes correctly, I could study for 5.0 or 5.1 exam, and if it's retired before I take it, I could just continue on with the What's new in 5.5? class to pick up the rest - does that sound correct?
  • Asif DaslAsif Dasl Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
    You can take either VCP510 or VCP550. VCP550 is longer and has more questions. But if you study for VCP510 then you don't need to take the What's New 5.5 class because you are already certified on vSphere 5. You only take the What's New 5.5 class if you were a VCP 4.

    Officially the 5.1 test is a 5.x test - you can get questions from 5.0 & 5.1
  • ande0255ande0255 Banned Posts: 1,178
    Thanks again for all that info, way appreciated!
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