VCP 5 Exam Preparation

[Geekyr]

I registered to take the VCP 5 exam next month, while at VMworld in Vegas.

To prepare for the exam I have the following plan:

Use the TrainSignal vSphere 5 training

Read VMware vSphere 5 Clustering Technical Deepdive by Duncan Epping and Frank Denneman

Read Mastering VMware vSphere 5 by Scott Lowe

Read all the VMware official docs

Step through all the blueprint objectives and make notes / examples for each

I unfortunately have no access to a fully licensed vSphere environment.  I have to virtualize everything in my home lab, and have no SAN. 

Does this sound like a viable plan for studying?  What would anyone recommend to add on top of what I've got so far?

Thanks!

[scott28tt · Accepted solution]

I assume you have completed any vSphere training requirement to qualify you for the certification?

I would focus your efforts mostly on the blueprint, the official documentation, and use all those other resources as a reference in case you don't understand something or in the case of the TrainSignal videos you want to watch something happen.

I would recommend getting as much hands-on as you can - your virtual lab can run in evaluation mode for up to 60 days, and can still include some shared storage such as a virtual machine running as an iSCSI target (OpenFiler) or NFS share (FreeNAS), allowing you to setup and test vMotion, HA, DRS for example.

Take a look at the VCP5 tab on my blog for some other useful resources: http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com

Scott.

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - I second Scott's suggestion about hands on experience - also if you have taken the class I would use the course materials as a foundation for studying filling out the light spots with VMware's documentation

Good Luck

[Geekyr]

Thanks for the added information Scott.  Yes, I have taken the vSphere training and meet all prerequisites.

The added resources from your blog look like they will help alot.

Thanks!

[AnthonyChow]

Scott Vessey wrote:

I would recommend getting as much hands-on as you can - your virtual lab can run in evaluation mode for up to 60 days, and can still include some shared storage such as a virtual machine running as an iSCSI target (OpenFiler) or NFS share (FreeNAS), allowing you to setup and test vMotion, HA, DRS for example.

Take a look at the VCP5 tab on my blog for some other useful resources: http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com

Scott.

Yeah, OpenFiler and FreeNAS are great.  I have them running with WorkStation to create a shared storage environment.

Good Luck on the exam.

[Lehner1970]

My tip to anyone who reads this is  get lots of practice with the  actual kit. there are lots of new  sub-meus and option especially in the  HA and DRS settings in 5.0.

Unfortunately  I only have 1 ESXi host  to play with a bit limited to what I can do.  But get as much experience  from a lab as that is how i remember stuff.

Read all the pdf docs surround vsphere 5 http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-pubs.html

Do not spend too much time learning the maximum configs, I did not get any questions regarding those.

The following pratice tests helped me remember certain new feature in 5.0.i think this site helped me to pass the Exam Vcp-510

http://www.it-exams.com

[AndreTheGiant]

See also: http://vinfrastructure.it/certifications-on-virtualization/vcp/vcp5/

[scott28tt]

"Easiest way to pass any IT exams"

"accurate and updated materials"

"100% guarantee of success"

Those are the kinds of phrases often used by companies selling brain dumps.

Scott.

[domenicocaruso]

Hi Lehner, You are sure about the usefulness of the maximum configs?

My course trainer ever say that the maximum configs are very important because almost 15-20 questions on the exam are about it. He just advises us to memorize it!

[scott28tt]

I wonder if your instructor was basing that recommendation on the VCP4 exam - I passed the VCP5 exam today and didn't get a single question on maximums - here's my review of the exam:

http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com/2011/11/exam-review-vcp5.html

[domenicocaruso]

I renew my thanks for your review.

I hope that it's true, this mean that is not necessary remember all the terms and number of configuration maximums! :smileygrin: