Sample VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [6.5] Course Outline

1. Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives
• Describe the content of this course
• Gain a complete picture of the VMware certification system
• Familiarize yourself with the benefits of the VMware Education Learning Zone
• Identify additional resources

2. Introduction to vSphere and the Software-Defined Data Center

• Describe the topology of a physical data center
• Explain the vSphere virtual infrastructure
• Define the files and components of virtual machines
• Describe the benefits of using virtual machines
• Explain the similarities and differences between physical architectures and virtual architectures
• Define the purpose of ESXi
• Define the purpose of vCenter Server
• Explain the software-defined data center
• Describe private, public, and hybrid clouds

3. Creating Virtual Machines

• Introduce virtual machines, virtual machine hardware, and virtual machine files
• Identify the files that make up a virtual machine
• Discuss the latest virtual machine hardware and its features
• Describe virtual machine CPU, memory, disk, and network resource usage
• Explain the importance of VMware Tools™
• Discuss PCI pass-through, Direct I/O, remote direct memory access, and NVMe
• Deploy and configure virtual machines and templates
• Identify the virtual machine disk format

4. vCenter Server

• Introduce the vCenter Server architecture
• Deploy and configure vCenter Server Appliance
• Use vSphere Web Client
• Back up and restore vCenter Server
• Examine vCenter Server permissions and roles
• Explain the vSphere HA architectures and features
• Examine the new vSphere authentication proxy
• Manage vCenter Server inventory objects and licenses
• Access and navigate the new vSphere clients

5. Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks

• Describe, create, and manage standard switches
• Configure virtual switch security and load-balancing policies
• Contrast and compare vSphere distributed switches and standard switches
• Describe the virtual switch connection types
• Describe the new TCP/IP stack architecture
• Use VLANs with standard switches

6. Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage

• Introduce storage protocols and storage device types
• Discuss ESXi hosts using iSCSI, NFS, and Fibre Channel storage
• Create and manage VMFS and NFS datastores
• Describe the new features of VMFS 6.5
• Introduce vSAN
• Describe guest file encryption

7. Virtual Machine Management

• Use templates and cloning to deploy new virtual machines
• Modify and manage virtual machines
• Clone a virtual machine
• Upgrade virtual machine hardware to version 12
• Remove virtual machines from the vCenter Server inventory and datastore
• Customize a new virtual machine using customization specification files
• Perform vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage vMotion migrations
• Create and manage virtual machine snapshots
• Create, clone, and export vApps
• Introduce the types of content libraries and how to deploy and use them

8. Resource Management and Monitoring

• Introduce virtual CPU and memory concepts
• Explain virtual memory reclamation techniques
• Describe virtual machine overcommitment and resource competition
• Configure and manage resource pools
• Describe methods for optimizing CPU and memory usage
• Use various tools to monitor resource usage
• Create and use alarms to report certain conditions or events
• Describe and deploy resource pools
• Set reservations, limits, and shares
• Describe expandable reservations
• Schedule changes to resource settings
• Create, clone, and export vApps
• Use vCenter Server performance charts and esxtop to analyze vSphere performance

9. vSphere HA, vSphere Fault Tolerance, and Protecting Data

• Explain the vSphere HA architecture
• Configure and manage a vSphere HA cluster
• Use vSphere HA advanced parameters
• Define clusterwide restart ordering capabilities
• Enforce infrastructural or intra-app dependencies during failover
• Describe vSphere HA heartbeat networks and datastore heartbeats
• Introduce vSphere Fault Tolerance
• Enable vSphere Fault Tolerance on virtual machines
• Support vSphere Fault Tolerance interoperability with vSAN
• Examine enhanced consolidation of vSphere Fault Tolerance virtual machines
• Introduce vSphere Replication
• Use vSphere Data Protection to back up and restore data

10. vSphere DRS

• Describe the functions and benefits of a vSphere DRS cluster
• Configure and manage a vSphere DRS cluster
• Work with affinity and anti-affinity rules
• Describe the new capabilities for what-if analysis and proactive vSphere DRS
• Highlight the evolution of vSphere DRS using predictive data from VMware vRealize® Operations Manager™
• Perform preemptive actions to prepare for CPU or memory changes
• Describe the vCenter Server embedded vSphere Update Manager, VMware vSphere® ESXi™ Image Builder CLI, and VMware vSphere® Auto Deploy capabilities
• Use vSphere HA and vSphere DRS together for business continuity

11. vSphere Update Manager

• Describe the new vSphere Update Manager architecture, components, and capabilities
• Use vSphere Update Manager to manage ESXi, virtual machine, and vApp patching
• Install vSphere Update Manager and the vSphere Update Manager plug-in
• Create patch baselines
• Use host profiles to manage host configuration compliance
• Scan and remediate hosts

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [6.5] Certification Information

Certified Virtualization Expert® 6.5

Certification can lead to better visibility, opportunities, and jobs. In today’s increasingly complex and highly-specialized economy, credentials are everything. Sure, the student knows that he/she has the skills to do the job, but how do they convince potential customers and employers? For many career-minded professionals, certification is often the answer.

For IT professionals, it is recognized as a valuable way to prove professional credentials to employers and the general public. For others, the topic can generate a puzzled response. Why become certified? Isn’t a college degree and/or years of practical hands-on experience enough to establish one’s credentials? Either response of yes or no is correct, depending on your clientele and colleagues.

Certified Virtualization Expert Objective

The objective of the Certified Virtualization Expert designation is to confirm upon the certificate holder the best of breed of virtual infrastructure professional certifications. The CVE conveys that the individual who achieves the certification not only has the certificate, but more importantly possesses the in-depth knowledge related to virtual design, maintenance, and infrastructure management, is a subject matter expert in the field of virtualization, and that his/her training is current, relevant, and complete.

Certified Virtualization Expert Candidates

Candidates for this exam typically work in a Virtual Infrastructure environment where they are responsible for the implementation and configuration of virtualized servers using VMware ESXi Server and VMware vCenter Server. Their organizations use VMware vSphere to reduce the number of physical servers required to run their business through the virtualization of existing servers, reducing space requirements and the cost of electricity and cooling, due to the reduction in the number physical servers.

Candidates should have six months to a year of experience in monitoring, analyzing, and planning the use of VMware vSphere in a medium-size to enterprise-size computing environment.

The qualified candidate for this exam will have learned all aspects of planning, architecting, installation, configuration, deployment, analyzing, backing up, monitoring, and securing a VMware Virtual Infrastructure consisting of ESXi Servers and the virtual machines created on them. Candidates become qualified to take this certification exam by attending one of the VMware Ultimate Bootcamps worldwide.

Why Should Individuals Get Certified?

Certification can lead to better visibility, opportunities, and jobs. In today’s increasingly complex and highly-specialized economy, credentials are everything. Sure, the student knows that he/she has the skills to do the job, but how do they convince potential customers and employers? For many career-minded professionals, certification is often the answer.

How to Get Your CVE Certification

• Attend an Official Ultimate Bootcamp prior to taking the test
• Purchase an Exam Voucher
• Pass the CVE exam with a score of 75% or better
• A certificate suitable for framing and a letter explaining certification benefits will arrive 8-10 weeks after receiving a passing score on the exam

The CVE exam is 2 hours in length, consists of 80 questions covering critical virtualization technologies in use today, and is offered every Friday at the conclusion of qualifying classes and bootcamps. Each student is given a 3 hour window to complete it on Friday. Usually, the instructor wraps up the class on Friday around 2pm, gives the students a break, and from 3pm-6pm students take the exam.

Once the exam is completed the student learn on the spot if they passed the exam.

“Second Shot Free” policy

A second chance to pass the exam is only offered to students who take the exam on Friday of the class. If a student elects to take the exam at a later date, they get one shot at it.