Free VMware Training is available

Last night while searching the twitter-verse I saw this twitter post from VMware:

Got some free time? Advance your career with some free #VMware self-paced eLearning (40+ courses): https://t.co/J89cSiwIFR pic.twitter.com/n0pHvYV7yI

— VMware (@VMware) January 27, 2019

You can obtain this free training here or by following the link in the tweet above.

I hope you find post helpful, please check back for more content in the coming days.

After a Second read through…..

If you have read my previous post about this book found here you will know how much I liked this book. HOWEVER due to issues with needed to upgrade my VCP 6.0 to VCP 6.5 I needed to take a step back from my pursuit of the VCAP-DCD 6.5. Now that that is done with that,  I am now preparing again to sit for the exam. My first order of business was to reread this book again as I felt that it would be a better launching off point.

Like I said in my last review I really did like the book and how it was written. But on a second read through I found more mistakes than I did on my first go around. I have to say I am very disappointed in PACKT Publishing for allowing so many errors to make it to print. I am finding this more and more now with books that I read. It is as if they are more concerned with pushing the book out the door than actually putting out a quality product. Aside from spelling mistakes, there were a few instances with the book where a Diagram is supposed to be a certain color (which the author points out) but the picture is in Black and White, or the beginning of the chapter diagrams that are supposed to have a bold box around the section you are working on which is gray scale.

I used to see this a lot with Microsoft Press books back in the day. Which in my opinion was nothing more and a Sales Advertisement for other Microsoft Products.

As stated in my previous post, I do like that the publisher has a email link were you can send your issues to. I will definitely be using that to lodge my complaints and I will post an update if I get any feedback.

I still feel that this book is very well written and contains a lot of great information if you want to learn more about VMware Datacenter Design and I would still encourage you to pick it up if you are in the market for that.

VCP 6.5 Certified

I meant to post this sooner, like 2 months ago as this happened back in October, but I passed my VCP 6.5 Upgrade Exam.

Since then I have been working on the VCAP 6.5 – Data Center Design Exam. I am hoping to sit for it in the New Year!

Review of VMware vSphere: Design Workshop [V6.5]

I had the opportunity to attend the VMware vSphere: Design Workshop [V6.5]  which I took as a Live On-line class. The class was 3 days long and I took the class so I could sit for the VCAP 6.5 Data Center Design Certification. I am still in the process of studying for the exam and hope to sit for it within the next few months. I will probably have a few more reviews to do of some of the study material I used and hopefully I will be able to turn that into a Study Guide of my own that I will be able to share. 

The class began like any other with introductions and an overview of the class and course material. They even had a section to cover where I could get coffee .and find the restroom (which I found humorous since I took the class in my dining room, so hopefully I am well acquainted with were to find these services in my home). 

My class mates consisted of mostly VMware Employees (TAMs and Systems Engineers) and a few Sysadmins from Partners or clients of varying levels of experience with vSphere. In all I feel like I was in a good group. There was a great deal of discussions had on various topics in the materials and it was interesting to see everyone’s take on things based on their personal experiences. 

Our instructor was very knowledgeable and although at the time I took this class I don’t believe he sat for the exam himself he did have the VCAP – DCD 6.0. 

The modules themselves were very similar to a book I had ready called VMware vSphere 6.x Datacenter Design Cookbook. Which made me feel better for spending the money on this book before I took this class. Pretty much everything that was covered in the book was also covered in class which made it more of a review for me than anything else.

What was interesting about this class is that all the modules and the labs built off of each other. Meaning if you made a mistake on module 2 it would effect your results in module 7 which can be very frustrating if you do not double check your work. At the end of each day we had somewhere between 45 minutes to 3 hours of homework (labs) that we had to complete (otherwise you would not be able to complete the final lab).

At the end of the class you are presented with you own design which you should have been able to create by doing the labs, however VMware is also nice enough to give you the answers (the real design) for you to study for the exam. I would definitely suggest attending this class if you are going to pursue certification  or if you want to get a greater understanding of vSphere Design.

Okay, I think I have a plan…..

After some quick thinking and talking it over with my Family and my boss. I am going to upgrade my VCP 6.0 to a VCP 6.5 and then move forward with the VCAP 6.5.  As I already have a VCP 6.0 that is active I am eligible to take the Delta exam which I have done twice before.

More Information to come….

ARGH!!!! You have got to be kidding me here!

So I took the design class that I was registered for, only to find out on the first day of  training that I am not eligible to take the VCAP 6.5. Now I know I have been doing this for a while, but the last time I looked into it, you were able to upgrade to a higher tier cert on a newer version as long as you had an active VCP. Well it turns out that has been changed.

I will do a post in the coming days to talk about the class, and right now I need to regroup and figure out what I am going to do.

Say hello to my little friend…..

So this little baby came in with the Amazon guy today!

As part of my preparation for the VCAP – DCD 6.5 exam that I am taking, I purchased this book which came recommended by the author whose blog I follow and listed on my VCAP 6.5 page.

I must say I have read many IT books in my time in this field that this one is probably my favorite. It is very concise and to the point. The book is broken up into small sections or “recipes ” which are easy to digest and understand. Even the sections that I usually find boring or hard to get through was not as much of a struggle for me this time around. The author also left little nuggets of wisdom which I found helpful and fascinating.

I also loved the message in the beginning of the book from the publisher that said if there was any erroneous information or misspellings that you can email them to let them know so they can correct it in future revisions. This was so refreshing, I cannot tell you how many time I have read a book with misspellings or wrong information and it can really trip you up. You try to get in contact with the author or the publisher and nobody cares. I think more publishing houses should adopt this mentality.

I look forward to doing a full review of this book at a later time (depending on how well I do on the exam)

My VCAP 6.5 Journey Begins!

Today at work I got the approval from my boss to schedule training to upgrade my VMware VCP 6.5 to the VCAP 6.5.
I am so excited that I can hardly sleep. Although my training does not start until September I plan on going full force at this before the class even starts. I am seen several blogs online and I will be reading them all to prepare.
I look forward to detailing my journey here so please stay tuned.