Category Archives: VMware

Feb 20

Passed VMware VCA-Cloud

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I took and passed the VMware VCA-Cloud certification this week. It was new in 2013 and VMware offered discount vouchers and I had one so why not take the test. It is an online test that you can take at home. It is 50 questions in 75 minutes, I think it was. You do not have a bunch of spare time. It is a base cert, mainly around product knowledge on the cloud offerings. You can download the exam blueprint and get more information here; VMware VCA-Cloud.

VMware VCA-Cloud

VMware VCA-Cloud

The questions were as expected. The exam is a full blown, complete exam that will take the full time mentioned. Questions were multiple choice. 95% of the questions had one answer (radio buttons) and a few had multiple answers (checkboxes).

This certification (VCA-Cloud) is kind of unique. One of the most burdensome requirements of VMware certification is the mandatory training, which generally will cost you (or your employer) about $3,000 – $4,000 per week. This test, however, has the training provided online for FREE. True, this is not a “Professional” level cert, it’s only an “Associate” certification but that still could be considered a way to get started for minimal cost, and something you can control without employer involvement. To get started here would be the steps required;

  • set up a VMware “mylearn” account at https://mylearn.vmware.com. This is NOT your “myvmware” account. MyLearn = training, certification. MyVMware = support, licensing, communities.
  • Log into your MyLearn account and go to this VCA-Cloud training link. It states it takes three hours, but I think that might be per module, and there are three modules.
  • After you compltete this training, you can use it as the requirement to schedule the test at Pearson VUE.
  • Remember, the test scheduling process is a bit clumsy. You have to go into MyLearn, then, well nevermind. It’s so clunky they made a FAQ about how to schedule a VMware certification test. Actually, they are just making it a requirement that you have completed the training. If you don’t have the code from the training, you can’t schedule the test.
  • Originally, this test was FREE with vouchers, but now it’s $120.00 which is still much cheaper than the VCP series tests.
  • The VCA-Cloud is a NON-proctored test. I.E., you can take it online from anywhere, including your home. The VCP tests are proctored, onsite only.
  • As always, the VMware exam BLUEPRINT is critical; download it and be familiar with all topics in it.

 

The next steps on my training now are;

This is the next test I need to take for Server 2012 http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam-70-417.aspx

The second shot (20% off, free second test if fail) is back, until May 31, 2014 http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/second-shot.aspx

70-417 links

This is the test I have the free voucher for; http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam.aspx?id=74-409

I think I could also pass the ITIL Foundations exam, so that’s in the mix somewhere.

Jan 23

What’s new in VMware vSphere 5.5

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What’s new in VMware vSphere 5.5

With the release of vSphere 5.5 it might be time to take a quick look at what is new, and determine if there are compelling reasons to pursue 5.5.  vSphere 5.5 is being called vSphere 2x because many of the configuration maximums have doubled.

  • Increased Maximum RAM and vCPUs per Host
    • Increased maximum supported RAM from 2TB to 4TB
    • Increased logical CPUs per host from 160 to 320
  • Increased vCPU per host
    • Increased from 2,048 to 4,096
  • Increased VMDK file size
    • Increased from 2TB to 62TB for both VMS-5 and NFS

vmware-wallpaper

Other advancements include;

  • Increased NUMA support
  • Support for CPU C-States
  • Scalability Enhancements for the free vSphere Hypervisor
  • Improved network performance
  • Expanded GPU support
  • APP HA
  • Latency Sensitivity
  • vCenter SSO
  • BDE (Big Data Extensions) to allow deployment and management of Hadoop clusters. Yayy!
  • Traffic filtering enhancements

 

For more detail on these enhancements, please refer to the following links;
Summary of what’s new from VMware Blogs
Windows IT Pro – top 10 features
VMware KB on 5.5 – what’s new

 

Jan 22

New VCP5-DCV Exam Based on vSphere V5.5

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VMware released a new exam to qualify candidates for the VMware Certified Professional 5 – Data Center virtualization (VCP5-DCV) Certification.  This new exam (exam code VCP550) is based on vSphere V5.5, whereas the existing exam (exam code VCP510) is based on vSphere V5.0/V5.1.  Passing either exam earns a VCP5-DCV certification.  The VCP550 also has a different EXAM BLUEPRINT, so make sure you are studying the correct one for the test you intend to take. There is also a SEPERATE “Install, Configure, Manage” training curriculum for each test now.

VCP5

Learn more about the two certification exams available for VCP5-DCV.

Aug 01

Utilities used in VMware VCP5 Training

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In the VMware VCP5 training, we used several utilities.

Some of these I had used before, but some of these were new to me so I put them all in a list.

VCP5

  1. BGinfo was on all of the lab servers to easily show the information about what box you were on.
  2. TrapReceiver was used to set up test SNMP traps. http://www.trapreceiver.com/
  3. IOmeter was used. I’ve used this before. It’s dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. It can fill up a drive with gigs of test data in seconds. CAUTION!  http://www.iometer.org/
  4. CPUbusy – you see this talked about in VMware forums and online. You might have to dig for this on Google but here are some links; http://www.four2.org/cpubusy/ and http://communities.vmware.com/thread/58218?start=0&tstart=0
  5. EXTPART – the Dell utility for quickly expanding volumes. http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/driverdetails?driverid=R64398
  6. NEWSID.exe
  7. Also, here is the authoritative (from VMware) list of acronyms and definitions.
Jul 24

Target – VCP 510

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Targeting VCP 5.1 (510)

My resources are;

  1. Experience. I used 5.1 at ACCENT for about a year, and the design in place is mine.
  2. New Horizons training; I negotiated with my employer to pay for the previously purchased training at the corporate discount, paid out of my personal training budget. This is the class; Course Outline: VMware® vSphere Install, Configure, Manage v5.1. This is about a 3k class. You cannot sit for a VMware class without the classroom training. There is also a “boot camp” class of 5 days, but it costs 6k and qualifies you for the SAME TEST, so to me, I don’t see the point in that class if it’s my own money.
  3. I have the VMware books from the 5.0 class I bought them on eBay for about $200.00
  4. I will get the 5.1 books with the class above
  5. I also have the book “VCP5” from Brian Atkinson and like it a LOT.
  6. VCP practice tests – I’m not going to name any but they can help target weak spots.
  7. I have a very active profile on VMware user groups; http://www.vmware.com/my_vmware/overview.html, you can look up questions, see KB articles, and ask questions there.
  8. Also set up an account on http://mylearn.vmware.com which is their training site. From here  you can get free videos, free example tests, free downloads, etc. as well as tracking of your training history.
  9. Download and review the exam BLUEPRINT from the above training site.
  10. I’m in the training next week, so with the above resources I think I’ll be ready for the test.
  11. Oh, yeah, I have a stack of DL380 G5s in my basement running VMware 5.1 so that helps. I got most of them free, from disposed units. one I paid $150.00 for.

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Nov 29

VMware ESX and HOSTS files

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As I’ve dug into VMware, there seems to be a common thread suggesting that all ESX hosts should be available via IP, short name (machine name) and FQDN.

Here is a good excerpt from an article outlining that concept. This is from VMwarewolf, and he’s talking about 3.0, but this came concept still applies. I still see a lot of KB and forum articles still saying this is important, and in the 5.1 boot camp there is discussion about resolving by all three methods.

Excerpt;

Today I bring you VMware ESX users a valuable tip that I have picked up in the few weeks I have worked at VMware Tech Support . By this time next week I will have reached the end of my probationary period and will be a regular full time employee. Even though I’m still greener than daffodil sprouts in the garden, I have handled a number of cases that were easily solved with this small configuration change

LINK – http://www.vmwarewolf.com/my-number-1-tip-for-esx/

Nov 29

Boot VMware to USB

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I want to capture this page for my own use, and to share with others.

This is NOT my article and all credit goes to the original author.This is from “How to Geek” at http://www.howtogeek.com/97923/how-to-boot-a-vmware-virtual-machine-from-a-usb-drive/.

 

Here is an excerpt;

Do you have an OS installed on your USB thumb drive? Booting from it in a VM is now possible, you’ll just have to use a simple trick to get it to work.

Last week we showed you how to put Ubuntu on a USB drive in a separate partition, and we also discussed working with VMware Player (our favourite VM Client). But have you ever tried booting from a USB drive in VMWare? It doesn’t allow doing so, but we will force it to boot from a USB, with a bit of old geekery.