Plain Virtualization

New changes are coming your ways for VMware certifications. A blog article just been release. 1. Prices of VCP, VCAP, etc. are all standardize to one single price, USD250. This is definitely beneficial for many especially those who are keen to persue the advanced level exam but having difficult to afford the exam fee which was much higher. 2. A mandatory course is no longer needed as an exam requirement. This will help many professionals who are experienced to get certified without having to go through boring course and spend to drag through the requirement.  Will this then bring down the certification value since course was required to ensure certified professional walk the talk as what they hold in credential? Answer to point 2, for people who are new and managed to pass the exam and get certified by other means, it can be identified easily. As the digital badges will be differentiated whether the exam was passed with a accompanied course or not. So during an interview, it can i...

I haven't been actively looking at VMware certification upgrade or into exam writing over more than a year. My certification has been at least 2 version back last was due to developing the initial vSphere 7.0 back in 2021. VMware has since remove the so call "expiration" of certification. Since due to Broadcom acquisition, was looking at my own certification making sure it is updated and all was dated 2021 version. Which means I would need to pass one exam which is current as documented  here . If your exam is just a year before, the requirement is just to attend a recommended course instead of an exam. So if you have not updated to the current year and is just one year before, a course would make the most sense. In my case, I would not have to take an exam if I have attend a course last year and to renew this year, would be another course. The good news is, if you own both VCP or VCAP of the same track and year, you only need to take the higher (in my case, VCAP) and do ...

Have you recently visited the VMware certification site? I was asked on the eligibility of getting VCIX for network virtualization recently. Previously it would take some understanding to understand what is the requirement. However, upon navigating after the revamp, it much easier. Let assume someone have a VCP-NV which was few years ago. But has passed both VCAP-NV for design and deploy recently. He has not received his any of his VCAP certification badges. If you head over to VMware certification site , click on Network Virtualization on the left panel and choose either VCAP-Deploy or VCAP-Design. Let's assume the person has no prior certification or any Cisco certification. It a new candidate who have an old VCP-NV. Let's just click on no VCAP certifications on the left panel. You will see the below: You will need at least VCP-NV 2021 to consider a pass in your VCAP-NV design or deploy. Since he has a VCP-NV few years ago, he will not be granted his VCAP certification. He wi...

If you happen to be learning how hyper-converge works and in this case, how VMware vSAN works, this is the post for you. Thanks to my team member, Kok Cheng Aw who shared this link . It is located under the TechZone section, Learn and Evaluate . If you choose under vSAN Demonstrations , you will locate the Infographic which is a bunch of animation that illustrate every single scenario on how vSAN works, how failure scenario happens, etc. This is really cool. In the past, we were to use heavy powerpoint animation to view such things (provided someone creates it). Now if all the information in TechZone and the Infographic at hand, you are now equip to take The VMware Specialist - vSAN certification. Wish I have that in the past, that makes life way easier to study and understand the technology. Hope this helps.

Without any announcement made, the VCAP-DCV Deploy 2021 based on vSphere 7 is now available! It available for booking now. If you are interested in the VCAP-DCV Design 2021 based on vSphere 7, it is available at the same time here . If you head over to VMware VCAP-DCV Deploy  exam, you will see you are given two options based on vSphere 6.7 or vSphere 7. Not sure how long the vSphere 6.7 exam will last but at least the vSphere 7 now made available. You can refer to the exam guide here to understand what the questions are testing you on with the resources provided. I am glad to be part of the team to develop this exam. And this is not an easy effort to burn off many midnight oils for conference meeting since I am only one based out in APJ. It was a wonderful experience to have work with members in the team to develop this exam and getting our hands dirty to also test out validating the exam. All thanks to these folks and not forgetting the exam project manager,  Lourdes Soler ...

 VMware just release a new start of certification targeted on operators, VMware Certified Techical Associate (VCTA). This is not a replacement of the previous VMware Certified Associate (VCA), but rather this is targeted someone with some knowledge of technical experience and running day 2 operations. As stated this is not a prerequisite for VMware Certified Professional (VCP) which is a higher level of certification. You can directly attempt to VCP. Before taking any VMware exam it is always good to check out the exam guide. Check out the VCTA exam guide . Check out the FAQ regarding VCTA and the tracks available. p.s. I am honoured to be part of this new exam development for VCTA DCV with a group of like minded individuals. Adding the number 11th exam to my bucket of contributions. Exam Content Contributors Adrian Lee Aman Arora Carla Gavalakis Frank Buechsel Gabi Faba  Harrison Sherwin Prateek Jain Oyan Johnson Ryan Patel Wee Kiong Tan Lastly, not forgetting the program m...

Today is the release of the new exam for VMware Certified Professional Data Center Virtualization (VCP DCV) for vSphere 7. You can now head over and make a date to take the exam. Upon passing this exam, you will be granted VCP-DCV 2020 certification. There seems to be a change to this exam pre-requisite.  There is no requirement to take the vSphere foundation exam as there are no vSphere 7.0 foundation exam. So after you attended any of the vSphere 7 required 5 days training, you are good to head over and take the VCP exam. There is a new feature in vSphere 7 also known as vSphere 7 with Tanzu. However, this is not tested in this exam. Maybe, VMware intend to have that as a separate exam since it itself is a big topic of it's own. Or maybe just like the VCP-NV, where CCNP or CCIE certification is exempted. They might use CKA as a exemption and have it as another certification when combined. Let's just wait and see what are the plans VMware have. Head over the certification  pa...

Recently I sign up for VMware vSphere Instructor Certification Workshop (ICW). I have never attend other instructor workshop so far but I must say, the one from VMware is not as easy as it is not just going through a typically training to be VMware Certified Instructor. You can check out more details of the requirements here . It is an intense 5 days workshop. I am fortunate to have two of our senior technical trainers from VMware, Habeeb and Murali . Together we have 6 candidates including myself. Some are having their second attempt while some like myself is attending for the first time. Everyone are from different background. Some candidates are also trainers for other products. We were given the course materials for vSphere 6.7: Install, Configure & Manage workshop including the instructor slides and student's notes and lab toget ourselves equipped. At the same time, we were given our first day module to present. We do have amble time for the first presentation treating ev...

Little and was I made known that VMware has release a new certification for vSAN specialist. Over here , it has listed as vSAN Specialist 2019. Not much has changed from the look as it is an update from the first vSAN Specialist certification based on vSphere 6.5 to vSphere 6.7. For those who are keen, this is a testing center exam. Just make sure you understand the required knowledge from the Exam Guide and have deep understanding of vSAN. Good Luck!

These few days there are many discussion regarding VMware Certification changes. If you are not aware here is a summary. Over the last two years, VMware Certification policy was made mandatory to renew a VCP certification once every two years to stay relevant and failure to do so, require you to re-do the whole five days course with a foundation exam and a VCP exam. With immediate effect on 4th Feb as announced here , VMware is removing this mandatory policy. So what is relevant is up to you. You can stay up to date or not, however, you will only be allowed to upgrade to a later VCP certification not more than three versions. Taking an example, if you are currently a VCP 5.0. You will be able to upgrade to VCP 2019 (which is based on either vSphere 6.5 or vSphere 6.7). This is less than three version from 5.0, 6.0, 6.5 or 6.7. Which also means if the next VCP is based on such as 7.0, then those who are still on VCP 5.0 will not be allowed to upgrade to it. VMware Education fina...

Recently VMware announced some of the new exams and naming for 2019 here . These exams have also gone live here . There is also some confusion since some of us have taken for example VCP DCV 6.5 which is now be awarded VCP DCV 2019 if you have taken it this year. For those who have earned the VCP DCV based on 6.5 last year, 2018, you will be granted VCP DCV 6.5. However, moving forward this year, for VCP DCV either based on 6.5 or 6.7, you will be granted VCP DCV 2019 on passing.

Recently I came across the sign-up form when you log into your myVMware account. This form is for those who are interested in being an education SME whether in developing the learning zone materials or as a certification development. One of the form requirement was to provide your VMW ID. This was something new to me as well. Doing a quick search there is a document here , which detail how you will find your VMW ID. Do note, this ID is the same throughout your certification path. With this ID, you will see all your certification ownership thus far. Head over to Certification Manager  (you will need your myVMware ID), you will see the banner which has a form link to sign up as an SME. Lastly, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone in the community.

There is three certifications release before VMworld 2018 announced here . Namely VCAP-DCV 2018 Deploy, VCAP-CMA Deploy 2018 and VCP7-DTM 2018. Here is something new is the naming convention. The certification is no longer tied to the version of the product. Though this is also mentioned in the article as well as in the certification page. This is a long awaiting certification since vSphere 6.5 was released more than a year ago and the Design exam was available since last year and Deploy was not till now. This applies the same for Cloud Automation exam too. For VCP-DTM, this is more of an update to match Horizon 7.5. I do welcome the naming convention as it also allows testers to know when they last took their exam especially VCP is valid for two years. As mentioned in my last blog on VCAP6.5-DCV Design, the difference between VCP and VCAP testing of capabilities is different. The way Design and Deploy testing criteria is also different for the different audience between an a...

There are two specialist certifications release by VMware, namely vRealize Operations and vSAN. Recently I took the attempt for vSAN Specialist Exam. Before we go into it, let see what is the requirement to take this exam. You need to have a valid VCP 6.x on any track. No course requirement but the vSAN Deploy and Manage is recommended. There is only a Digital Badge when you passed the exam and there is no certification for this exam.  The exam code is  2VB-601: VMware Specialist: vSAN 6.x Exam. Do check out the exam guide. However, the guide does not indicate the exam time and the number of questions. Total questions were 60 from what I encounter and the time is similar to VCP about 240 mins. Cost for me is SGD363 (this might differ for other countries). You are required to know everyone on vSAN from 6.0 to the latest now 6.6. Everything in these versions will be tested. It will be good to understand the concept and fundamentals of the technology as well all the fea...

Few months back, I wrote on how you can enrol to help in contributing VMware certification exams. If you are interested do just head over and sign up. Now, VMware has announce the availability of VCP 6.5 for Data Center Virtualization.  This include the full exam with foundations and the delta exam. It was lots of effort to get this exam going live and been part of developing the exam, hope that what we ask for are the required knowledge based on the product and your experience. To those taking or renewing your certification, all the best.  Follow the blueprint as always and understand what you need to know and understand what you need to improve on. Good Luck!

If you have been following the exam news that has been release, starting from 1st April, the price of the exams for all level starting from Foundation, Associate, Professional, Advanced Professional and Expert have all increased.  You can read up the official post here . I will skip the Foundation and Associate exam since these are just entry level exams. Looking at Professional (VCP), Advanced Professional (VCAP) and Expert (VCDX), each has increased from $225 to $250, $400 to $450 and $300 + $900 to $995 + $3,000 respectively.  If you look at it its a gradually increase in tier except for the Expert level which one would think twice attempting with an increase over 130%.  With this increased, this exam will be a company sponsored exam moving forward and not meant for one to self sponsor himself at close to $5,000.  Though these prices are affecting the developed countries. Not sure why the move but it seems like VMware it controlling the number of people atta...

I got lot of ask and question regarding the new VCIX certification from VMware. So how do I get qualified? What do I need to do? Do I need to upgrade VCP first? I am confused which VCAP to take as I have already had one? The proper way to get to VCIX certification is stated here . The scenarios for VCP certification is stated here . So in the past, passing a VCAP allows you to upgrade your VCP.  However, with the expiry program and VCP certification article above on inheritance, only the expiry of existing VCP will be extended. No inheritance of VCP when passing a VCAP of the same track. Example: Hold VCP5-DCV, passing VCAP6-DCV Design, does not upgrade VCP5-DCV to VCP6-DCV.  Only VCP5-DCV expiry period is further extended. In order to attempt VCDX of any track, you will need to attain VCIX for that track.  Below is how you can attain your VCIX using Data Center Virtualization track as a scenario. Scenarios: For one who has valid VCP5-DCV, VCAP5-DCV D...

Have been a long and hectic week for me.  Doing WebEx and call over 5 hours each time in the middle of the night.  Will talk about that in a later post. Took the VCAP6-DCV Design beta exam back in 16th Feb 2016 this year.  Results was a fail for me. However received an email from VMware Certification in Nov 2016 give me some hope. Seems that the marking system has some errors that need to be check on and through this the exam score might change.  It can be better or worse.  On 20th Nov, did a check and see that my status is still a fail. Just this week, I got this! A quick check in my VMware Certification Manager, is a Pass! I am glad I passed this time round.  But the purpose of this post was not about if I managed to pass or fail. What VMware could have done, they can well, keep quiet and let those who fail to remain failing so they will attempt the full VCAP6-DCV Design exam at a full cost (Beta is discounted as more ques...

If you head to VMware Certification site, you will be able now to book the following VCAP6 exams at USD400 each and USD100 for the beta exam: Data Center Virtualization VCAP6-DCV Design  (GA) VCAP6-DCV Deploy Network Virtualization VCAP6-NV Design (pending release) VCAP6-NV Deploy Cloud Management and Automation VCAP6-CMA Design  (GA) VCAP6-CMA Deploy Desktop and Mobility VCAP6-DTM Design VCAP6-DTM Deploy Apparently only VCAP6- NV Design is not yet release.   During this period, passing VCAP6-NV Deploy will give you direct access to be VCIX6 waving the two VCAPs requirement.  So if you are keen, do be fast.   This is also stated here . As for the rest of the track, well you will need both VCAPs in Design and Deploy to be VCIX unless you are upgrading our certification from VCAP5.  Read more about it in my previous post . Update One of our VMUG SG Member pointed this out.  Apparently only the VCAP6-DCV Design and VCAP6-CMA Design...

Wasn't aware till my colleague mention about it here .  Design VCAP exams for the threes tracks namely: Data Center Virtualization, Cloud Management and Automation, Desktop and Mobility has been release. You can register for the beta exams while seats last.  So if you are keen to do the VCAP6 for any tracks, head over to the page.  At the time of writing, only the Data Center Virtualization and Cloud Management Design is available at USD100.  The date for the exam starts on 15th Feb 2016 onwards. You will of course need to meet the following requirements.  Using Data Center Virtualization VCAP6 as example, you will need:VCP6 or VCAP5 DCD/DCA. Upon passing, you will be granted VCAP6-DCD and if you are holding existing VCAP5-DCA, you will be also given VCIX6-DCV if the new certification roadmap announced earlier still applies. I will head over and register for it and update once again after I taken the exam.  Wish me luck! Update 8th Feb 2016 App...