Practical Technology

Welp, passed with a 381.  I should note the only reason I passed is that I got a much better break on question esotericy (new word?).  Guessing that equates to either 70% or 76%, depending on how the grading scheme works. Third time's the charm, eh. I am pretty certain I won't be doing the DCD exam, but will still strongly consider the DCA.

Acronym-y title translation:  HP Onboard Administrator and Virtual Connect SSL and LDAP setup.  Although if you had to ask, you probably don't need to read the rest of this post. I was tasked with scripting the setup of SSL and LDAP authentication for the OA and VC modules in our blade enclosures.  This mostly just contains the settings you need, I will post up the script when done. DNS/NTP Ensure DNS server settings are correct for the enclosure IP config. Set up appropriate DNS records for the following: * Active OA module IP * Standby OA module IP * VC Domain IP * Active VC module IP * Standby VC module IP Ensure NTP is sync'd to your AD environment - AD auth won't work if there is a time discrepancy of more than a few minutes. OA LDAP Settings Directory Settings Directory Server Address: DCname.domain.local Directory Server SSL Port: 636 Search Context 1: OU=Users,OU=parentOU,DC=domain,DC=local Search Context 2: @domain.local (Check 'Use NT ...

Took it again today, and while the mark was much better, still a fail.  Disheartening, but I won't give up.  Booked for two weeks from now, earliest available date (past 7 business day VMware re-take policy). I studied really hard this time, but it seems the emphasis I place on topics (vCenter, resource pools, clusters, min/max document, managing hosts, host profiles, vDS) is the opposite of what appeared on the exam.  Bizarre questions that made sense only if you made a whole pile of assumptions.  Obviously I can't write them out, but honest to goodness VMware, whoever writes your exam questions gets sadistic pleasure in twisting the English language to new heights of obscurity.  The VCP-410 is really more of a word-game, and not something that grades you on being a 'VMware Certified Professional'.  For a junior-level exam, it sure doesn't cover things a junior person would be expected to know. Now, the VCAP exams, those I would expect to be ...

I will be taking the VCP410 this Friday and I am feeling pretty good about that (I came close to passing last time and didn't read any material - this time I've read/made notes on ALL exam curricula and done a ton of review/lab work).  Time to look forward! The lab has been treated with kid gloves thus far, same password across the board, no LUN masking, haven't taken the time to set up the FC switch and use multi-pathing, no CHAP for iSCSI, no strong backup plan in place (vDR the last few weeks), and no backup tests! This shall end after the VCP4 is done.  I will take my final backups and blow the entire thing out of the water. Details below, but I really want the lab to emulate a production environment as much as possible.  It will also be my primary aid for the VCAP4 exams.  In 2013 I'll be focusing on vSphere5, so the hosts will get that refresh at that point. Networking New VLANs and trunks will be put in place: DMZ (wiki, nagios, www site) Pre-Prod...