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Dehry posted:I'm looking at going for an IT job. Preferably in the Support/Administration side of things. I have a BACS, but no internships or certs (I had to work through school and screwed up my GPA.) I was the Chief Engineer for the college's radio station which was nothing more major than fixing viruses and installing specialized audio hardware and software. I've been turned down from several interviews because I don't have any helpdesk experience and my network skills are almost non existent since I was focused on the programming side. Hello fellow Daytonian (oops, guess the secret is out now)! Even with A+, Net+, and Sec+ you won't get anyone interested in you without some sort of security clearance (I have tried for a couple years without success and everyone wants you to already have the security clearance so they don't have to pay for it). You might get a nibble from a company looking for a Helpdesk person if you have them - I know CGI had a posting on Dice.com for a Helpdesk position at Wright-Patt AFB, but it looks to have been removed since last night. If you had to choose, go with the A+ cert - it may not be much, but it at least gets you past the HR drones, and pretty much every IT employer wants you to have it - doors begin to open with the cert and some IT experience. Good luck!
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Dec 18, 2012 13:44
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DropsySufferer posted:I'm looking at starting on the VCP5-DCV cert from vmware as I'm told that would easier than a citrix certification. Just how difficult are vmware certs? Apart from the cost which I'll figure out how to deal with. Are they equal or harder than Cisco's? Less math I'm told which is a huge bonus for me but asking here. Have I got great news for you then. It appears that there is a community college in North Carolina - Stanly Community College, to be precise - that is offering the VMware vSphere 5: Install, Configure, Manage course for $250 (cost of class + books + shipping). The course is online over a period of 8 weeks and you can go at your own pace, and from the forums I've been visiting a lot of people are very satisfied with the quality of the instruction, but even more thrilled with the price. On top of all that, at the end of the course you get a 70% off coupon for the exam, so your total out-of-pocket costs will be less than 10% of what everyone else is paying just for the class. Next session starts in August, so you have a month or so before sign-ups.
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Jun 17, 2013 21:41
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Lareous posted:I think next will be Sec+ as I've heard it's one of the easier ones. I personally found the new exam a lot more challenging than when I took it three years ago. The new exam takes a lot of material from Network+, and the simulations are a pain in the rear end since absolutely no one has any study material specifically aimed at the simulations. I got the version of the exam that had 8 simulations, and from the people I've talked with who took Security+ before me that is the trickiest one of the bunch. If you only get 2-3 simulations you should just breeze through if you know the material.
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Jun 26, 2013 00:33
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Mthrboard posted:Can anyone tell me if it's still possible to renew an A+ cert from 2000 with CE courses? If I have to retake the tests I can do it, but if there's a way to just renew with CE I'd rather do that. Absolutely. Co-worker had his A+ from 1997 and when he passed the Sec+ it converted his A+ to A+ CE.
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Jun 26, 2013 00:40
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nescience posted:I've heard from other people that some of the questions don't count towards your scores (the simulations). The rest (definitions) should be pretty easy. PKI covers like half of the questions. There are some beta questions in the test that don't count towards your overall score, but I'm pretty sure the simulations are not it. You can generally figure out which ones are the beta questions because they come from left field and you are left scratching your head trying to figure out how the hell you're supposed to know the answer to it.
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Jun 26, 2013 22:50
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I'm sitting here trying to decide what to do next. I got my DoD required Security+ (or rather, I retook it because the DoD doesn't like us Certified-for-Life types), and I'm thinking of going for my MCSA 2012, but I'm waiting for some decent training materials to come out in July. It looks like the VMware class at Stanly CC is going to be full-up for August, so the earliest I can do that will likely be in January. So right now I'm leaning towards studying up for ICND1 and knocking that out before the September deadline, then I can take the brand new ICND2 within a year or two and have my CCNA. Not totally convinced on the path just yet - still got some thinking to do.
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Jun 27, 2013 02:45
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MJP posted:How does one get on the waitlist for the Stanly VCP course? I didn't see it on their course listing and there's no real contact info for it. https://vmware.stanly.edu/waitlist.php
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Jun 27, 2013 22:44
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Dilbert As gently caress posted:That has to be ironic... That's just... really? Dodged a bullet on that one - I was just about set to drop the $350 on the professional subscription for TechNet. C'est la vie!
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Jul 1, 2013 22:04
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insidius posted:Cheers. Looks like I am going to have to use this for now and find custom setups or something to hit the stuff introduced in the new line of exams. Nothing is yet updated for the revised versions and its looking like october at the earliest which will be too late. You have until September 30th to take the old exams, fyi.
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Jul 3, 2013 03:05
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There's some talk from the various team managers that our new contract could include requirements for MCSA/MCSE certifications and an accompanying boost in pay. I'm just a lowly server farm technician, even though my title is Systems Administrator, but I really want to knock out my MCSA. Which certification makes more sense - MCSA 2008 or MCSA 2012? I initially thought 2012 would be the way to go, but from the comments about the low quality of the training materials, the upcoming exam update, and the fact that we will not be introducing 2012 anytime soon where I work I'm leaning towards the MCSA 2008 R2 (especially since I already have that training material)? Also, when is the 2008 R2 exam going EOL?
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Sep 15, 2013 21:03
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Amphion posted:I think you're reading it wrong. That's just saying the MCTS cert you get for passing each individual exam is being retired. 70-640, 70-642, and 70-646 will still be around and give you MCSA Server 08 if you pass all 3, but if you pass just 1 of them you won't get the MCTS cert like you used to. See how when you expand the Windows Server section of that link there's no * next to 640 and 642. MS needs to clear that poo poo up - I was seriously convinced that MCSA 2008 was getting retired in the next year or so, but if it's just the MCTS poo poo getting shoved out the airlock then who the gently caress cares. Time to start hitting the books so I can get at least the 70-640 cert out of the way before Jan 1.
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Sep 16, 2013 01:46
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Just got my Stanly CC email for the VMware class. When it rains it loving pours - work also wants us to get our MCSA 2008 in the next 6 months. Oh well, I was getting bored of having any free time.
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Oct 1, 2013 00:16
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FISHMANPET posted:Checking in to say I got into the Stanly class, and it couldn't come at a better time. For those that have taken it, is this the correct textbook: I left my SSN off since it wasn't marked as a required field.
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Oct 1, 2013 23:56
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Just for the hell of it I'm taking the VCA-DCV exam tomorrow just so I can giggle madly and point to it when I feel like annoying a co-worker. I've already told them that I don't really consider it a good indicator of knowledge concerning vSphere or vCenter, so just to one-up the cert collector of our group I'm going to get it so I can lord over him that fact that I have more industry-relevant certs than he does.
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Oct 29, 2013 22:35
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Took the VCA-DCV exam and passed it. Spent all day today watching the video from VMware for the VCA-Cloud exam. Get home and sit down to take the exam, and it turns out the exam expired 11 minutes before I got home. I knew I should have just sat at work and taken the exam, but I thought I had 4 hours after I got home to take it. Oh well, I'll check on it tomorrow morning and reschedule it since it's an online exam anyways, but I really wanted to knock it out after spending 4.5 hours watching the video and taking notes. I may not know the actual details of how vCloud Director and all the rest of those applications work, but by God I will have the salesperson cert for them!
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Oct 31, 2013 23:41
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CrazyLittle posted:new promo code, exp 11/15: VCA13ICS VCA13GKN still worked when I tried it this morning VCA13BCN might also work, but I haven't tried it. I took the VCA-Cloud exam this morning and it was a copper-plated bitch because of all the drat products they throw at you. I had six pages of typed notes with extensive background information and detail (took me like six hours to watch a three hour video), and even then I only managed a 300 out of 500. My co-worker, who had even more notes, only managed a score of 283. It's not so much that they go into any depth about the products, it's just that there are so drat many of them that it's easy to get that poo poo confused. Oh well - a pass is a pass. And just to inflict more pain, I went ahead and signed up for the VCA-Mobility exam. The video is even longer than the Cloud one, and I have until Sunday morning to finish it.
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Nov 1, 2013 21:53
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My Team Lead unironically told me that my VCA's were certs worth having and that I should be proud of my accomplishment. When I asked him if he would go to my contract manager and ask him when I can expect a raise he was all "Whoa! Let's not be too hasty here..." What's scary is that two of my fellow junior sysadmins have tried multiple times to pass the VCA-Cloud and Workforce Mobility exams and failed miserably. Scarier even more is that one of them is in the running for a Senior System Administrator position for a large city nearby. Granted he only took the position with us because he was flat broke and needed an income, but you would think that with his multiple years of experience in the field that taking a simplistic, open-book exam would be child's play. I take keen delight in being the first to pass all three exams (which wiped the smirk off his face and warmed my black, dead heart) and rub his nose in the fact that I did them all in one try. For some reason he gets all pissy when I offer him my notes to use to study 
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Nov 8, 2013 03:29
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MJP posted:Anyone else finish the Stanly course material and glad as hell they didn't buy the textbook? I'm still waiting for them to open the last three modules up so I can finish the material.
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Nov 14, 2013 03:34
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MJP posted:Really? Mine opened Monday AMish. I guess it's in different chunks? I emailed the instructor and when I checked this afternoon the last modules were open. Probably a case of being overlooked, so no harm.
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Nov 15, 2013 04:10
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Swink posted:Pearsonvue site is down right when I want to take that VCADCV test. Yeah - just wait until tomorrow morning and you can register for it again. Same thing happened to me, and it was all good the next day.
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Nov 17, 2013 03:53
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MJP posted:Yeah, I'm the same way. The Sybex book is full of stuff that was never even touched in the course. It's criminal that people would pay out of pocket for the level of education they get at any price of more than what a Stanly student paid. I'm crushing down on the book to crunch and homelab as much as I can before the new year, when people say that the 5.5 content comes in - I hope I'm misinformed on that, but still, bleh on the course now and forever. I think the instructor is very much hands-off other than the videos, but at least he responds (not replies) when you email him. I'm pretty sure I'm finished with everything, but he never answered my question about if it would be possible to reset the lab after I completed the whole thing, and what terrifies me is that he went ahead and reset it but never said anything, just like he opened the last couple modules after I asked him and never emailed me.
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Dec 4, 2013 00:02
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MJP posted:Just a heads-up for the Stanly alum - the VMware store has MASSIVE discounts on the exam. I took that deal on the practice exam and it feels braindumpy - I mean, yes, it's an official VMware cert store but it doesn't really cover context like the Sybex book. So should we be able to access the Stanly VM store now, or does it become available after the class is over? And how do I find the EDU vouchers for the reduced cost exam?
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Dec 12, 2013 00:47
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Yeah, I tried my username and password and it said that it wasn't correct. I thought that it was just something that wasn't available until after the class was finished.
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Dec 12, 2013 04:01
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Moey posted:Just gave 185 to Stanly CC. Should finally become a VCP soon! Very good choice, especially as one of the perks of the class is a voucher for 70% off the test. You also get a one year free trial of vCenter Standard, which can be extended for a second year. The voucher alone drat near pays for the cost of the class.
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Dec 19, 2013 01:46
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Just bought my VCP5 exam voucher - I love paying $67.50 for a $225 exam. The Stanly CC course basically paid for itself. I figure I'll sit the exam at the end of February, so that gives me 2 months to read Scott Lowe's book and lab the hell out of my system. I'm downloading the vCenter Standard iso that comes with a free 2-yr trial from the Stanly VMware store, so this should be lots of fun. Now I just need to set up a nested ESXi host so I can play with DRS, vMotion and HA.
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Dec 21, 2013 17:33
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FlyWhiteBoy posted:Does anyone know of a way to get enrolled in compTIA's continuing education program? I passed the tests and apparently missed the cutoff date to enroll in the program, I really don't want to spend the time going back to retake the exams. Unfortunately retaking one of the exams is the only way of getting enrolled. I had to retake my Sec+ exam because I missed the enrollment period, but after I passed the test all my certifications were switched over to CE from the Lifetime version.
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Feb 1, 2014 04:42
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Question about the CCNA lab setup - what would you put into the lab if you already have two 3550's as the basis from which to build out?
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Feb 4, 2014 23:36
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I'm still waiting for VMware to call me back about my voucher. Apparently the coupon that Stanly provides is only good for purchasing the VCP510PSE (Student) exam, which is exactly the same as the VCP510 exam except that there is an entirely different process for getting approval for it that is cloaked in mystery. I've been waiting a week for the VMWare IT Academy Program Office to get back with me via email (since they apparently don't have a phone number that the VMware Customer Support folks know about) so that I can get the link to register for the student exam. At this point I'm just about to say gently caress it and drop the $250 on a regular voucher so I can get it out of the way. Anyone know of any discount codes I can use?
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Feb 6, 2014 01:43
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Amphion posted:He's only got 2 months to do it in along with 2 other certs. So, do all that but fast. I had a co-worker who studied for and passed the ITIL cert exam in a week. He said it was the most mind-numbing bit of idiocy he'd ever experienced and was just happy to get it out of the way.
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Feb 9, 2014 22:23
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:I'm planning on Sec+, then MCTS, then ITIL, in that order. Personally I would get the annoying one out of the way first simply so that it wasn't waiting in the wings as it were. As for Sec+, that test was just all kinds of hosed up when I took it. I read three books, took a dozen practice tests, and studied hard-core for about two months and I still just barely passed it. I can't remember specific parts (and can't tell you even if I did), but the questions in the exam came out of left field and covered things that were never mentioned in any of the books, or were briefly mentioned and then never covered again. And of course about 1/2 of the questions were on those parts. There were quite a few questions I just guessed at, because I had absolutely no loving clue what they were asking. It wasn't like the lifetime cert version, which had 40% of the questions coming directly from the Network+ exam, with another 40% so stupidly obvious that you didn't really have to think about the answer too hard. There is no way in hell that I am ever letting the Sec+ cert expire if I can help it. I shudder just thinking about re-taking it.
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Feb 10, 2014 03:13
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I booked my VCP5 exam for May 5th. Plenty of time for studying, but I'm still nervous about screwing up. Time to hit the books hard and lab some more.
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Feb 28, 2014 20:34
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Having a hard time focusing on reading my VCP books - rather be doing stuff hands-on, and reading snippets about stuff like VUM (and not having it, and not feeling like downloading the trial version) is a bit annoying. Are there any sites out there that have lab overviews so I can practice this poo poo rather than try to memorize it?
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Mar 22, 2014 16:08
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You should still be able to take the VCP5 exam up until a few months after the VCP6 exam becomes available, so I wouldn't sweat a hypothetical deadline at this point - you've got time.
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Mar 26, 2014 22:44
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Is there anyone else a bit daunted by the sheer amount of information you need to retain for the VCP? I just finished reading and writing my notes for two of the seven sections from the official blueprint and I'm sitting at 20 pages typed. Some of it is repetitive (not a huge amount of difference between vSwitches and dvSwitches, but still gotta keep track of them), but a lot of it is so broad that I'm beginning to doubt my sanity. Think I need to do some more labbing, but I don't feel like I have enough time between now and when I take my test in 3 weeks to get the reading, note-taking, and labbing done in sufficient quantities to make a difference and help out. Something is going to have to suffer, and I have a feeling it's going to be the note-taking, because it is taking a day just to do one part of a section with sufficient detail to make it useful as a study guide (and that's working on it at work with my team lead's blessing, so long as I keep up with my other duties).
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Apr 17, 2014 02:23
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Moey posted:Wow. I took the 201 a while back and I don't recall any sims. There are (I believe) three versions of the exam, and you either get 1 sim, 5 sims, or 8 sims. If you get the 1 sim then you lucked out and got what people have told me is the easiest of the three. The 5 sims are a bit tougher and throw in some poo poo you've never seen from the review guides. And if you get the 8 sims then just pray you pick the right questions. I had a couple other co-workers take the exam the both of them got the 8 sim exam - one bombed it completely and quit soon after rather than endure taking it again, and the other just barely passed. When I took it I also got the 8 sim exam and passed by the skin of my teeth. There were so many drat questions that were never even mentioned in any of the 4 study guides I used, so I was (I think justifiably) perturbed. Frankly, I don't ever want to have to take that exam again.
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Apr 18, 2014 02:23
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Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:That's kind of how I feel, and I got the 5 sim one. Depends, but RHCSA is popping up on more and more job postings I've been looking at, and a Linux Admin demands about $10-15k more than a Windows Admin from what I can tell. Personally I think I'm going to skip the MCSA/MCSE certs for now and focus on Linux because of the two points I just mentioned.
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Apr 18, 2014 12:23
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MJP posted:My notes are more or less drat near illegible and are just a lot of the critical points and stuff, more a transcription as I studied than anything else. There are big gaps because the other notebook is AWOL. I've got my own notes, plus I have like 4 review books I'm scanning. However, assuming I successfully pass the exam in 17 days I will be happy to post the entire mass of notes that I've typed up for anyone that wants them. If you only want the first two objectives I could definitely email what I have to anyone who asks - that's 20 pages in Word document format. You can either PM me here or send me an email to mguerns at gmail dot com. I'm not adverse to sharing my pain and maybe helping someone get ahead a little. Unfortunately for me I learn best by actively creating my notes, plus if something doesn't seem to make sense I can review them while working through the exercise and modify so that it sticks in my head.
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Apr 18, 2014 22:38
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xertrez posted:Preparing to take the comptia A+ exams at my vocational school. About the only HR wall that you would get past with the S+ is for a company that will be using you as a contractor with the Department of Defense. I have yet to see any company other than defense contractors require employers to have S+, and even then you will have six months to earn the S+ after they hire you. I have a feeling your efforts would be better spent on either Net+ or CCENT/CCNA (CCENT should be possible even without lab equipment, and I would advise it over the Net+). Of course, another option would be to look at Linux+ if you want to get into the sysadmin lifestyle (or hell, better yet RHCSA - if you have a beefy enough desktop you can buy VMware Workstation and run a virtual environment on it without having to change Operating Systems). This brings me to some general advice for everyone just starting out. You stand a better chance of getting noticed if you have actual experience with different OS's. If you have a desktop with a quad-core processor and 8-16 GB of RAM and an SSD then by all means bite the bullet and either buy VMware Workstation or download Oracle's VirtualBox for free. Set up the virtual environment and start playing around with the enterprise-level OS's. Windows Server comes with a 180-day trial license, and you only have to download the ISO once and then you can install it and re-install it as many times as you want with no repercussion. And get your hands into Linux - there are three major distros out there that hold a lot of enterprise cred - Slackware, Red Hat, and Debian. Slackware is free for anyone to use, but it's also considered to be not quite user-friendly since it is extremely customizable so doesn't come with a lot of options pre-configured (and loading a GUI of any kind was a major accomplishment up until a few years back, but hey - you got lots of CLI experience). I personally use Slackware on my home server, and it's smooth, stable, and easy to use. Red Hat is an enterprise-level OS and you get the source code only after you purchase a support contract. However, you can download CentOS and use it since it uses the same source code. In fact, the CentOS developers by-and-large work for Red Hat, so everything they do is with Red Hat's blessing. And finally Debian - if it sounds like a problem then you've probably heard of the community port of this distro - Ubuntu. Get them and go to town, so that you can legitimately state that you are familiar with multiple OS's. Set up your virtual environment, play around with the VM configuration settings, then go to town installing, configuring, breaking and re-installing. When you get to a part that you don't understand then pop over to Google and search - your searching may take you to some really weird places, but no effort is ever wasted. Sorry this is so long-winded, but inspiration hit while I was reading the posts and things resonated with me.
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Apr 19, 2014 12:48
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I've just finished typing up my notes for Objective 5.1 of the VCP, bringing me to a grand total of 51 pages thus far. I've still got 5.2-5.5, 6.1-6.4, and 7.1-7.2 to finish up, and I expect I'll have 75 pages of notes at a minimum. Christ, I don't remember my Praxis exam being this involved when I took it to get my teaching certificate, and the potential subject matter was the entirety of human history (for some reason I remember getting questions on the history of Jazz and ancient Greek architecture - weird). Anyways, my pace has been slowed because I just can't sit for 10-12 hours straight working on reading the review guides and writing up my notes without breaks of a couple hours. Plus I have to get into vCenter to double-check myself to see if what I wrote makes sense. I know I've reached a limit when I can't decipher what the hell I wrote. So even though I planned on taking the exam two weeks from tomorrow I think I would be better off delaying another two weeks so I have sufficient time to finish my notes without a huge time crunch and still have sufficient time left over for labbing. Someone once mentioned that they were told it takes 80-120 hours to adequately prepare for the VCP5 exam and that sounds about right from my perspective. I pity those people who don't have the opportunity to deal with VMware at work, because unless they have a kick-rear end home environment they aren't going to be nearly as prepared as they could be.
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May 5, 2014 03:01
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Tab8715 posted:Is there really none? How do all linux shops manage user identity and rights? Probably a script that someone put together, but if memory serves you can use something like LDAP, although there's nothing equivalent in Linux that I'm aware of to do Group Policies. To get the wide utility of something like AD in Linux you'd need to combine a number of different services like DHCPD for DHCP, Bind for DNS, CUPS for print spooling services, and a few others. AD has the advantage in these areas in that they've got all that and more combined under one simple GUI.
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May 11, 2014 01:29
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