Eric Siebert over at vSphere-land runs a poll on a regular basis for the top virtualization blogs, so you are reading what is unofficially the 64th best virtualization blog in the world!
It's always an honour to get praise such as that for the work that gets put in writing and maintaining the work done for the VMware community, I've been a vExpert for the last 2 years, and it's things like these that make it all worthwhile!
For the first time Eric also had specialist votes in certain categories, so here's the full placings for my blog:
64th in the Top Virtualization Blogs overall
4th in the Favourite News/Information Website category
17th in the Favourite Independent Blogger category
Here's the full results: http://vsphere-land.com/news/top-blog-2012-results.html
I'd like to say a huge THANKS to all those who took the time to vote for my blog!
Monday, 27 February 2012
Monday, 20 February 2012
VCAP5-DCD - now in beta!
A week or so ago VMware emailed all the current VCAP4-DCD holders inviting them to book their beta version of the VCAP5-DCD exam - this is the first sign of any of the advanced-level certifications for vSphere 5.
The invitation email also included the beta version of the exam blueprint, unless VMware change things drastically between the beta and final versions of the exam it looks as though the format, scoring and objectives remain the same as they were for VCAP4-DCD - although the exam content will have been updated for vSphere 5 of course!
The beta period runs for the next couple of weeks, it's normally then a 4-6 week period til the final version of the exam becomes available. There's no news as yet to report about VCAP5-DCA before anyone asks!
As and when I find them, I'll add links below with the experiences of those who take the exam:
Mike Brown
Jason Boche
Dave Convery
Tom Fojta
The invitation email also included the beta version of the exam blueprint, unless VMware change things drastically between the beta and final versions of the exam it looks as though the format, scoring and objectives remain the same as they were for VCAP4-DCD - although the exam content will have been updated for vSphere 5 of course!
The beta period runs for the next couple of weeks, it's normally then a 4-6 week period til the final version of the exam becomes available. There's no news as yet to report about VCAP5-DCA before anyone asks!
As and when I find them, I'll add links below with the experiences of those who take the exam:
Mike Brown
Jason Boche
Dave Convery
Tom Fojta
New email address
I've finally got round to doing something I should have done when I first created this blog - I have a new email account dedicated to my activities around VMware training and certification:
vmtraining.blog@gmail.com
I'm using this email address from this point forward as my primary address for this blog, and for my Twitter account, I've also updated the link in the "Contact Me" section to the top-right of all my blog pages.
vmtraining.blog@gmail.com
I'm using this email address from this point forward as my primary address for this blog, and for my Twitter account, I've also updated the link in the "Contact Me" section to the top-right of all my blog pages.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
New certification: VCP5-DT
VMware have now released the VMware Certified Professional - Desktop certification for vSphere 5 and View 5, shortened to VCP5-DT. The exam is aimed at those who are responsible for deploying, administering, and managing View 5 on top of vSphere 5.
There is no formal training requirement for View 5 to qualify for VCP5-DT, the View 5: Install Configure Manage course will be a big help, but you must hold VCP5 in order to qualify for VCP5-DT certification - and of course VCP5 does have a vSphere 5 training requirement.
So, if you're starting out with VMware certifications your minimum requirements to VCP5-DT look like this:
Attend vSphere 5 training > Pass VCP5 exam > Pass VCP5-DT exam
If you already have your VCP5 certification you will only need to pass the VCP5-DT exam. If you are a VCP3 or VCP4 you will need to gain VCP5 and pass the VCP5-DT exam.
VMware have not shortened the path to VCP5-DT for those that already hold VCP4-DT, and it now looks like there will be no VCA5-DT certification at all - VCP5-DT will be the foundation-level certification for View 5.
As usual, VMware have published a number of resources for the VCP5-DT exam - the exam blueprint, mock exam, confirmation of the various training/exam paths - here's the official VCP5-DT page:
http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=28343&ui=www_cert
There is no formal training requirement for View 5 to qualify for VCP5-DT, the View 5: Install Configure Manage course will be a big help, but you must hold VCP5 in order to qualify for VCP5-DT certification - and of course VCP5 does have a vSphere 5 training requirement.
So, if you're starting out with VMware certifications your minimum requirements to VCP5-DT look like this:
Attend vSphere 5 training > Pass VCP5 exam > Pass VCP5-DT exam
If you already have your VCP5 certification you will only need to pass the VCP5-DT exam. If you are a VCP3 or VCP4 you will need to gain VCP5 and pass the VCP5-DT exam.
VMware have not shortened the path to VCP5-DT for those that already hold VCP4-DT, and it now looks like there will be no VCA5-DT certification at all - VCP5-DT will be the foundation-level certification for View 5.
As usual, VMware have published a number of resources for the VCP5-DT exam - the exam blueprint, mock exam, confirmation of the various training/exam paths - here's the official VCP5-DT page:
http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=28343&ui=www_cert
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Moderately surprised...
Many of you will know that for a long time now I've been a major contributor to the VMware community forum for Training and Certification, I'm currently "top of the table" on 5580 community points! I'm also a regular contributor and reader of the private Education areas that I get access to as a VCI that enables me to communicate with the folks at VMware about course materials and technical queries.
As of yesterday I became a VMware Communities Moderator, so now I have a Moderator badge against my forum profile to go with my vExpert badge! Moderators are elected twice a year, and whilst anyone can nominate themselves for election, I was nominated from within VMware and the existing moderators, so I was very surprised when I recieved an email inviting me to accept the role - thanks to those who nomintated an elected me :-)
Here's my profile on the community forums:
http://communities.vmware.com/people/scott28tt
Moderators are responsible for a number of different tasks on the forums, rather than copy and paste it all into this post, here's a list of the guidelines that I am now asked to follow:
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-12287
I'm always happy to contribute to the VMware community in numerous ways, and now I have a new way of helping too!
As of yesterday I became a VMware Communities Moderator, so now I have a Moderator badge against my forum profile to go with my vExpert badge! Moderators are elected twice a year, and whilst anyone can nominate themselves for election, I was nominated from within VMware and the existing moderators, so I was very surprised when I recieved an email inviting me to accept the role - thanks to those who nomintated an elected me :-)
Here's my profile on the community forums:
http://communities.vmware.com/people/scott28tt
Moderators are responsible for a number of different tasks on the forums, rather than copy and paste it all into this post, here's a list of the guidelines that I am now asked to follow:
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-12287
I'm always happy to contribute to the VMware community in numerous ways, and now I have a new way of helping too!
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
New course - vSphere 5: Fast Track
VMware have just released a new course for vSphere 5, and it's a big one, the Fast Track!
The list of topics covered is the largest yet of any VMware course I've come across, there are 17 course modules and 35 lab exercises covering a huge number of vSphere 5 features. Look inside the content and you'll find all of the material we cover in Install Configure Manage, a lot of the higher-level material from What's New, as well as new material not currently available in any other vSphere 5 courses.
I'm not going to copy and paste the full list of topics here, you can find those in the course datasheet, but here's the modules we cover in this course, the modules that contain material not found in Install Configure Manage are in bold:
- Course Introduction
- Introduction to Virtualization
- Create Virtual Machines
- VMware vCenter Server
- Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks
- Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage
- Virtual Machine Management
- Access and Authentication Control
- Resource Management and Monitoring
- High Availability and Fault Tolerance
- Host Scalability
- Network Scalibility
- Storage Scalability
- Data Protection
- Patch Management
- vSphere Management Assistant
- Installing VMware Components
This course is going to give you the best preparation for the VCP5 certification exam of any official vSphere 5 training available today, and you should definitely consider it instead of Install Configure Manage if VCP5 certification is a primary goal for you or your employer. The course does count towards the training requirement for VCP5.
Be prepared though, although this is still a 5-day course it will take place over extended hours - expect the days to run from 9:00am-7:00pm. If you're completely new to vSphere 5 you might find the pace and volume of material covered a challenge, consider the regular Install Configure Manage course instead.
Global Knowledge UK are running vSphere 5: Fast Track courses, there are a number of dates available now, additional dates will be added in the coming weeks.
The list of topics covered is the largest yet of any VMware course I've come across, there are 17 course modules and 35 lab exercises covering a huge number of vSphere 5 features. Look inside the content and you'll find all of the material we cover in Install Configure Manage, a lot of the higher-level material from What's New, as well as new material not currently available in any other vSphere 5 courses.
I'm not going to copy and paste the full list of topics here, you can find those in the course datasheet, but here's the modules we cover in this course, the modules that contain material not found in Install Configure Manage are in bold:
- Course Introduction
- Introduction to Virtualization
- Create Virtual Machines
- VMware vCenter Server
- Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks
- Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage
- Virtual Machine Management
- Access and Authentication Control
- Resource Management and Monitoring
- High Availability and Fault Tolerance
- Host Scalability
- Network Scalibility
- Storage Scalability
- Data Protection
- Patch Management
- vSphere Management Assistant
- Installing VMware Components
This course is going to give you the best preparation for the VCP5 certification exam of any official vSphere 5 training available today, and you should definitely consider it instead of Install Configure Manage if VCP5 certification is a primary goal for you or your employer. The course does count towards the training requirement for VCP5.
Be prepared though, although this is still a 5-day course it will take place over extended hours - expect the days to run from 9:00am-7:00pm. If you're completely new to vSphere 5 you might find the pace and volume of material covered a challenge, consider the regular Install Configure Manage course instead.
Global Knowledge UK are running vSphere 5: Fast Track courses, there are a number of dates available now, additional dates will be added in the coming weeks.
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