TL;DR: I have passed the VCAP6-DCV Deploy exam today. :) I want to thank Fred, Dominik, Frank and Jens-Henrik for kicking my ass. Without you, I would have taken the VCP 6.5 delta exam. Thank you!
As often, the whole thing started with a tweet. A tweet about my expiring VMware Certified Professional (VCP) certification.
Time to prepare the VCP-DCV 6.5 Delta. Otherwise my VCP expires in a couple of months.
A couple of days ago, I took the HP0-Y47 exam “Deploying HP FlexNetwork Core Technologies”. It was one of two required exams to achive the HPE ASE - Data Center Network Integrator V1, and the HP ASE - FlexNetwork Integrator V1 certification. It was a long planned upgrade to my HP ATP certification, and it is a necessary certification for the HPE partner status of my employer.
You might find it confusing that I’m talking about an HP ASE and a HPE ASE.
Last friday I passed the 1Y0-351 (Citrix NetScaler 10.5 Essentails and Networking) exam with a pretty good score. The exam was necessary, not only because I will do much more NetScaler projects in the future, but also because Citrix has made it mandatory to have a CCP-N in your company to to sell Citrix NetScaler.
Preparation My employer booked me a 5-day course (CNS-220 Citrix NetScaler Essentials and Traffic Management). Very nice, although I already had experience with NetScaler deployments.
Nearly a month ago, a tweet caught my attention:
New Blog Post: Discounted VCP7-DTM Beta Exam for a Limited Time https://t.co/IkwLTDdvO5
— VMware Learning (@VMwareEducation) October 4, 2016 These beta exams are a cost-effective way to achieve certifications. The last beta exam I took, was the VCP6-DCV beta. Because I already had the VCP6-DTM on my to-do list, the new VCP7-DTM beta exam was released just in the right moment.
This tweet from @JuniperCertify has caught my attention:
It's official...the Design track released today! Details: http://t.co/8Oz4ayOkMI Insights from a JNCDA developer: http://t.co/k8nTXGdwk1
— Juniper Networks Certification Program (@JuniperCertify) May 27, 2015 Later that day, I got an e-mail from Juniper with the same announcement. Juniper has launched its Design Certification Track inside the Juniper Networks Certification Program (JNCP) and the Juniper Networks Certified Design Associate (JNCDA) is the first available certification.
Today, I took my very first VMware beta exam. I took the 2V0-621D exam, known as the VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization Delta Beta Exam, at a local Pearson VUE test center. This exam is a possible migration paths from a valid VCP5-DCV, or any valid solution track VCP, to the VCP6-DCV certification.
The benefit of a beta exam is the low price (currently 50 US-$) and a chance to upgrade the associated certification, in this case the VCP6-DCV.
Originally the VCP5-DCV Delta exam (VCP550D) was available until 30. November. I passed it on 22. November, about one week before the planned ending of availability. Yesterday, VMware announced the extended availability of the delta exam. You can find the announcement on the VMware Education and Certification Blog. The exam will be available through 10. March 2015. Previously requested authorizations are still valid.
This delta exam is focused on the differences between VMware vSphere 5.
The clock is ticking… Current VCP5-DCVs who need to recertify their VCP can do this until 30. November 2014 by passing the VCP5-DCV Delta exam (VCP550D). The exam can booked online via Pearson VUE and it’s delivered as an online exam. This means, that you don’t have to visit a Pearson VUE test center to take the exam. The costs for the exam are 90,- € plus taxes (in my case ~ 107 €).
The Juniper Networks Certification Program (JNCP) consists of different tracks, which enable you to demonstrate your skills with Juniper products and technologies in the areas most pertinent to your job function and experience. There are three main areas:
Junos Support Product and Technology The Junos area consists of three tracks:
Service Provider Routing and Switching Enterprise Routing and Switching Junos Security The “Service Provider Routing and Switching” track focuses on service provider and telecommunication (M-, MX-Series, Routing with OSPF, BGP, MPLS etc.
This morning a tweet from Josh Coen (VCDX #129) shocked me a bit:
VCP certifications now appear to have an expiration date associated with them #vmware
— Josh Coen (@joshcoen) March 8, 2014 So far the VMware certification had no expiration date. If you had a VCP for ESX2, this was still valid up to today. I quickly checked my VMware Training account and noticed a tiny exclamation mark above my certifications.
