#vcap-dca

I've been very slow to get this out so here it is.  I've been asked many times about the vTesseract homelab.  I've tweeted about the lab often and have received numerous recommendations.  My homelab is for personal use but while in operations I used it extensively for testing PowerShell scripts.  I've also used my homelab for various projects, blogging, and most importantly obtaining my VCAP certifications.  There is no greater investment in learning than a decent homelab.  TrainSignal subscription doesn't hurt either.

The vTesseract lab consists of 3 ESXi hosts, a small NAS, an old desktop, a managed switch, and a variety of useful VMs.  Like any good infrastructure design let's discuss the requirements.  The biggest point of discussion on twitter about my lab has been location.  The vTesseract Lab is required to be in my master bedroom.  As such the following requirements are largely driven based on this constraint.  Silly kids taking up all of my space!

Requirements

Space - Needs to be as compact as possible.

Power - Not trying to break the bank here.

Heat - Gear sits in master bedroom so this needs to be kept to a minimum.

Noise - Bedroom = Keep it quiet.

Compute - Do not need massive horsepower here.  Simple VMs

Storage - Size is primary but want iSCSI and NFS capabilities

Cost - Not a rich man so need it to be something that is relatively cost effective with a good ROI/TCO

Mrs. requires that all lights and flashy bits need to be covered...except the switch which is tucked away.

VMs

In the vTesseract lab I host a variety of VMs.  The primary ESXi installs and vCenter are vSphere 5.1.  Within the lab I host vSphere 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, and an undisclosed beta version.  I power these on and off on demand.  Supporting these VMs are:

 Active Directory server

CloudPhysics Observer

Veeam B&R Server for backup (in progress)

VMA,

VCMA iPad Interface :)

vCloud Director

vCO Appliance

Splunk server for logs (in progress)

Storage

At the core of the vTesseract lab is the Iomega IX4-200D NAS.  Right now I'm sitting with 4x1TB drives giving me 2.7TB usable space.  I split that up between iSCSI and NFS shares for hosting my VMware environment.  It's not the fastest storage on the planet and I truly wish I had a Synology but it's what I have.  This thing has been a great little NAS overall and with an 8"x8" base it has satisfied my requirements 1-4.  The only thing I come across is it can be noisy when doing operations.  I try not do these overnight because of that. 

I hope to upgrade in 2014 with a second higher performance array.  I want to splurge for a Synology but it will likely be another Iomega given discounting opportunities for that product.  Yes. I really want a small flash array. :)

I also have added an Iomega IX2 that I purchased from a co-worker who didn't need it any longer that gives me 2TB.  I'm configuring this to backup iPhone Videos and Photos as well as key VMs in my homelab using Veeam.  I've added it to the outline here because backup is important.  Especially if your house has been struck by lightning.

Storage Cost

Iomega IX-4 200D 4TB = $575

Iomega IX2 = $250

  Compute

This is the more controversial component of my homelab. I was inspired to use a Mac Mini when I saw William Lam @lamw made some posts showing how he was using one to run ESXi.  Truly the work he has posted, such as http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/04/installing-esxi-51-update-1-on-mac-mini.html, has made my lab possible given some of the time constraints I've had.

I use a trio of Mac Mini computers with 16GB of memory each.  Only 48 GB of RAM in what some of my peers call "overpriced servers".  I don't disagree about the pricepoint but I have specific requirements.  My homelab is located on a small desk in my master bedroom (see photo below).  This means that while my children have their own spacious rooms for their toys, my toys must fit in an 8"x8" square stacked 11" tall.  The Mac Minis met all of my requirements, save having to pay a slight premium for the form factor.  I'll talk on this a bit more in a moment.

I have the Mac Mini 6,1 with the i5 dual core processor.  I had considered splurging for the i7 quad core. I have found that the i5 has provided plenty of horsepower for my needs and as such saved me lots of money overall.

The Mac Mini 6,1 comes with 4GB of RAM.  I performed an in-field upgrade to the maximum 16GB of RAM on each.  This ran me an additional $100-130 for each system.  I also added the $30 Thunderbolt NIC adapter.  One of the complaints about the Mac Mini as a homelab solution is the lack of NICs.  In truth in our new converged network adapter world I have found that a 2 NIC configuration matches up nicely and has provided all the bandwidth I "need".

Final component to the Mac Minis is that I'm booting ESXi from USB Flash drives I have acquired over the years as swag.  Most of them are of the 2GB variety and have served well.  My primary reason for doing this is that it a) meets my needs and b) allows me to pull the flash drive, reboot and I have a fully functioning Mac Mini.  This has come in handy multiple times and I eventually plan to upgrade each Mac Mini.  This should make re-purpose or resell a bit easier. 

The Mac Minis sit nicely on top of the Iomega IX4 array.  I use some rubber pot-holders between the Mac-Minis to provide some grip so they don't slide around.

Mac Mini Costs

3 x 750 = $2,250  | Best Buy 0% 18 months and on sale each purchase

Power Requirements = Low

Heat Output = Low

Space = Low

Resell Value = High

Performance = Reasonable

Compute p2

I also utilize my home desktop for my homelab running VMware  Workstation 9.  I was fortunate to get a free copy of Workstation 9 so that cost isn't being factored in.  The desktop is an old Dell Precision 690 Workstation with a quad-core Xeon processor.  I updated the memory to 20GB when pursuing my VCAPs and it serves nicely for side/non-critical VMs (think VMA, VCMA,etc).  Since it's a Xeon processor it requires fully buffered DIMMs which drove the cost up a bit.  This box served well but had some problems.

Only 20GB which I had to share with other applications

Had to shutdown entire lab in order to reboot the computer

Processor didn't support running nested 64-bit VMs which made deploying many appliances VERY challenging.  Inception is the only way to get by with 20GB of RAM.

Memory Upgrade = $400 | Amazon

Network

The core component of the my homelab network is the Cisco SG-300-10 Managed Switch.  This is a powerful little gigabit swtich that allows me to configure VLANs, which sadly I have done little of for a variety of reasons.

Since the lightning strike I discuss in the Power section blew up 2 ports on this switch I'll be looking to add a SG300-20 as my primary in the not too distant future.  I've also reached the port capacity on the SG300-10 even without having lost ports.  I'll then use the SG300-10 for redundancy, like a proper network design. :)

Cisco SG300-10 Switch  = $225 | Amazon.com

Cat6 Cables - Colored x 10 = ~$30 | Monoprice.com (I love Monoprice.com)

Coming Soon: Cisco SG300-20 Switch = $315 | Amazon.com

Power Protection

If there's one thing that can really destroy your homelab experience it is significant power issues.  I consider a lightning strike a significant power issue.  Last summer we got hit during a storm and the surge blew up my previous UPS and surge protectors.  This required me to replace nearly all networking gear and one of my drives in the Iomega IX4.

The best investment I've made in the entire homelab has been my APC BR1500G UPS.  Since everything is pretty low power draw this guy can keep things safe and running for quite a while.  I ended up purchasing 2 so I could protect my wireless router, the Iomega IX2, cable modem, etc. since they're located away from my desk.

UPS = $189 x2 = $378.00

Summary

The key to my homelab were my requirements and being realistic about my needs in order to run and test various applications.  I have received tremendous value out of my homelab.  It has allowed me to produce some interesting content, reproduce items, test scripting, obtain certifications.  While my lab isn't the most powerful, cheapest, or most flexible it does solve all of my primary requirements.

Cost Summary

Mac Minis - $2,250.00

Desktop Memory - $400.00

Iomega IX4 - $575.00

Iomega IX2 - $250.00

Cisco SG300-10 and Cables - $255.00

UPSs - $378.00

Total = ~ $4100 (over 2 years)

"Hello, and welcome to TrainSignal!!!"

LOL?  If so then you're probably a TrainSignal customer. 

WTF?  If so then you probably should consider being a TrainSignal customer.

Those five words are the well known intro of TrainSignal's David Davis.  When you hear those five words you had better hope you're in a comfortable chair and ready to learn.  A couple of months ago I was fortunate to get access to TrainSignal's vSphere TroubleShooting course led by instructor extraordinaire David Davis.

  I believe in full disclosure so I want to make sure I stage this post properly.  I have been a TrainSignal customer for many years.  I have had previous employers purchase TrainSignal courses on DVD for our teams.  Those experiences have made me a fan of their products and vocal with feedback.  When preparing for the VCAP-DCA I sought out discounts or promotions to purchase the vSphere Troubleshooting course.  As luck would have it, I was given an opportunity to access the training via a contact I had over at TrainSignal.   I also want it to be known that I was not asked to do a review in exchange but I thought it only fair that I share my experience.  This review is not really for them, it's for those of you considering their Troubleshooting course as part of your VCAP-DCA prep.  A huge thanks to them though and I hope they find some constructive feedback and some appropriate praise from this post.

The remainder of this post is going to go into some details about my likes and dislikes of this experience with TrainSignal.  I tend to write long posts so I do want to make a couple of points clear before continuing for those without the fortitude or general interest in a full review.

The people at TrainSignal are fantastic.  They have great instructors, great marketing, strong community supporters.  The people are a big part of the reason they have been so successful and why I recommend their products to my employers, coworkers, and peers.

This training series definitely helped me with my VCAP-DCA preparation.  I do feel I should have been more selective of my lessons given my time constraints but I do think it was a key component to my preparation.  It is 14 hours long but if you coincide real home lab time expect to spend 20+ on this course.

The content is fantastic and the available online user experience is not bad.  I think TrainSignal has the best CBT on the market and I plan to be a long time customer.  I do personally like the DVD experience but my few experience issues can be resolved I am sure.

I did not view the full VCAP package but I have seen most of the PowerCLI training portion done by Hal Rottenberg.  It is well done and helpful in both your day to day work as well as VCAP prep.  If you have the time and money then the full package is  going to provide some serious value.

Thanks for reading so far.  Please feel free to continue on as I go into more detail.

Material

The vSphere Troubleshooting course concentrates on common troubleshooting techniques and situations readily seen in virtual environments.  Topics range from troubleshooting vMotion to locating and analyzing logs.  These items were well suited for my purpose of VCAP preparation.  In fact, this course is part of their overall VCAP-DCA preparation package.  I mention this primarily because the biggest limitation to this course in VCAP preparation is that it only covers Module 6 of the VCAP-DCA blueprint.  In my situation I had only given myself approximately 4-5 weeks to prepare for the exam and the 14 hour course was a great chunk of available hours to concentrate on a single module.

Tip:  If you are crunched for time in your VCAP-DCA preparation don't think that this means the course is not for you.  I probably would not have passed if it weren't for some of the gaps that were filled with course.  More on this later.

David Davis is a master computer based instructor.  He packs a ton of material and knowledge into the series.  Some of my favorite parts in the series are the times where things just do not work right in his environment.  I found this valuable because that's how life works.  Instead of presenting a perfectly polished set of steps, in this course you get to see how he troubleshoots issues that arise in his own environment during recording! 

My only issue with the content was really a non-problem but I want to bring it up to those of you prepping for the VCAP-DCA.  I was on a very limited time schedule so every five minute chunk of time needed to be optimized.  I chose quickly to start skipping some of the intro sections and the summary at the end.  I did listen to many of them but if you're feeling qualified to take the VCAP-DCA then this may not be necessary for you.  Instead I chose to go back over sections if I felt like I may have missed something or if I wanted to try to recreate the process in my home lab.  I highly recommend this BTW!

User Experience

My past experiences were strictly consumption through the DVDs.  This opportunity to view the Troubleshooting course was provided online only.  I definitely didn't have any complaints as I am happily converting to a "no physical media lifestyle" but it definitely deserves to be discussed.

I was pleased to see that the login experience was a piece of cake and quickly let me see the courses available to me.  Selecting that course meant I could view the list of lessons with descriptions for each.  The one thing I was disappointed to not see was where I had last left off.  This was really important to me because there was more than one evening where I just couldn't take any more and had to get  some sleep.  I was not always sure where exactly I had left off the next evening.  In this case it wasn't a bad thing to repeat some things but it is something I'd like to see in any future updates to the online access.

Another piece I was happy about was being able to view the videos from my iPad.  My iPad has become my certification sonic screwdriver.  I keep all the VMware guides, eBooks, study notes, and fortunately access to the Trainsignal course!  This was not a polished access as connection is made through the Safari browser.  This did not provide a perfectly sized window for video and links to lessons as an actual app might but it was certainly good enough. 

Being an iPad user you often get spoiled by the apps so just keep that in mind.  I will say that it worked well for me because I was able to play the videos on the iPad while I performed the steps in my homelab.  I do wish that it would have been a little easier for me to back up in places where I needed items repeated.  They do provide a "repeat 30s" button but access to that wasn't the most fluid process.  Again, it certainly worked but is a room for improvement.  Perhaps one day they may have an iPad/iPhone app that will allow you to access the videos on-demand.  I do know I have heard of folks using Handbrake to convert videos for the iPad but I did not purchase the DVDs so was not an option.  I do not know if this is something TrainSignal condones but they do provide AVI and WMVs so there's probably no issue there.  If you're not sure make sure you ask.

Value and Summary

Most TrainSignal packages run between $300-$400 and I'm pretty sure they're averaging around 14 hours or better.  The Troubleshooting course rings in at $397 with instant online access and free delivery.  That's a ton of bang for your buck at a price that most IT professionals could swallow even without employer support.  My situation had me on the backend of a homelab build and back to back VCAPs so my budget had already been taxed to the max.  I was prepared to spend the money needed to purchase this course and would not have had a regret.  I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to access the course in the last couple of weeks prior to my exam.  I am certain it had an impact in my successfully passing.

If you are considering purchasing this course for your VCAP4 prep then I do highly recommend that you factor the time required to complete this and the other courses based on your target test date.  All training takes incredible amounts of time but I don't recommend choosing only one single source for preparation.  While the material presented in the Troubleshooting course was extremely useful, it only touched on section 6.  You are still left with 8 other sections of material that you need to address and the blueprint is truly daunting.  Fortunately TrainSignal does provide their full VCAP bundle which covers more of the published blueprint and can make you that much more prepared for the exam.

In the end I can't recommend TrainSignal high enough.  The quality of both their product and their people is top shelf.  It is an incredible amount of knowledge transfer for a great value.  In fact, I recently told my manager and teammates as much with respect to their vSphere 5 course and the newly released Implementing Cisco UCS course.  I'll make sure to let you know how they are if I get them in my hands.  I hope you found this useful.  Until next time, best of luck in your certification endeavors!

Links

http://www.trainsignal.com/VMware-vSphere-Troubleshooting-Training.aspx

http://www.trainsignal.com/VMware-vSphere-5-Training.aspx

Well I finally received my VCAP-DCA results and I'm very pleased to say that I passed!  The two VCAPs were a fantastic challenge but I'm definitely GLAD to have them behind me.  I'd like to put together a few things that I found in the VCAP4-DCA experience and share them with you.

My first piece of advice.  Taking both VCAPs close together stinks and is a royal time sink. Don't do it unless you really, REALLY have to do it or just hate yourself.

The DCA is like a customer engagement where they tell you they can only afford your rate for 3 hours to make their fixes and changes.  While you go they say "Oh yea, and I forgot about this"  When you're done they say "that's all, you'll have your check in 10 business days".  Then they'll make you wait 15 business days.

I got into the test and after completing the short survey I immediately went to work (This is a good tip. Tic-tock).    It wasn't difficult knocking out some of the low hanging fruit but there are some fairly involved tasks.  One extremely valuable tip I had received was to make a note on your "whiteboard" if you're not 100% sure on how to configure something and move on.  Time is your enemy.  I personally set a time limit of 5 minutes for each task on the first pass unless I was completely confident that I was completing the task.

ProTip: Don't dawdle. Keep moving forward but remember going back can be slow so leave yourself time if you can.

Per the VCAP-DCA blueprint the test does grade with partial credit so I kept going on a question as long as I felt I was not "fumbling" around on a task.  There were a few tasks where I didn't recall exactly how to complete the task and a couple where things simply would not work. I still feel quite confident that I had performed the task correctly and even replicated the steps in the lab.

ProTip:  Partial credit counts. If you know part but not all…quickly do what you know.

This leads to another important element of the exam.  They INTENTIONALLY have things configured incorrectly in the environment.  The intent here is to make sure you understand the requirements for enabling features and performing tasks. 

ProTip: Make sure you understand the requirements for enabling features and performing tasks.  The blueprint is an excellent guide as to what you need to know.

The test creators did a great job with making the environment easy to interact with and switch between question and lab.  One thing they did very POORLY on is being able to quickly go back to a previous question.  Please keep in mind that once you get to the end they give you a big heads up that you're on the last question but going back towards the beginning is a major pain in the ass. In future tests with live lab such as this I would really like to see some type of mechanism to choose which question you'd like to go back to quickly.

ProTip: Many tasks take time.  Do NOT sit there and watch and wait.  Keep moving forward!

If you're taking this exam then you're probably an administrator in some respect and you should be able to multitask. Keep in mind that navigating the questions can be a pain so expect some extra clicking.  Do NOT try to fix everything until it is needed.  It's difficult not to do this so be strong.

One of my strategies was to make sure I knew where some things were in the vSphere 4 documentation.  Most of this documentation is made available to you in the lab environment so knowing where things are can be a huge benefit if you're having small difficulties on a task.  I had a small issue with a document that I had expected to see but wasn't there.  I should have checked the blueprint more carefully since the documents linked seem to be the ones provided.

ProTip: READ THE BLUEPRINT. READ THE BLUEPRINT. READ THE BLUEPRINT

There are a ton of clues and strategies provided in the blueprint so READ IT!

ProTip: Use the products and perform tasks in the blueprint in a lab environment.  Simply reading will NOT give you the stuff you need in order to pass this exam.

That about sums up the experiences and ProTips so here's a list of resources I used to help prepare that were very helpful.  I only had about 30 days to prep for this exam so I was limited on how much material I was able to consume.  Building my homelab was a huge help but if you plan to do that give yourself a few weeks to get it built BEFORE starting your official study prep.

TrainSignalvSphere Troubleshooting Course

Mastering vSphere by Scott Lowe

VMware Troubleshooting course student materials

ProfessionalVMware.com Brownbags

http://www.seancrookston.com/vcap-dca/