MY VMWare Certified Professional on vSphere 4 VCP-410 Tips

Posted on May 31st, 2010

I know I have been pushing back my vSphere exam for a while due to the amount of projects I am working on this year. I have finally passed my exam two days back with a blazing score of 494(haha thought it would be quite lower than this, but I guess the elimination process of answers that does not make sense had worked out very well on this one). I would love to thank everyone in the VMware community who had posted tips for the VCP exam especially Kumaran, Brian, Scott Vessey.? As my return to the community I have decided to post some tips for the exam:

First Tip: VCP-410 is not only covering your? daily VMware work, its more than that. I have seen many questions in the VCP-410 exam, which I had never needed to use before in practice or have came across it once every few years. You will have to know the VMware material very well, do not show up to the exam only with your work experience. Read & read more of VMware vSphere Documentation.

Second Tip: The exam cover VMware networking in way more details, than most VMware enviornment require. Make sure you know VMware networking very well? & get familiar with terms like beaconing, Promiscuous Mode, vdistributed switch. Make sure you are familiar of how the traditional vswitches difference in functionality from VMware vdistributed switches as well the process of migrating between them. Don’t underestimate the networking part of VMware for the exam, as I have been suprised of how many question covering networking has popped up in the exam.

Third Tip: Make sure you know VMware features in and out & that you know which feature is available in which VMware vSphere edition.

Fourth Tip: Make sure you are familiar with VMware Storage structure. How does VMware operate in SAN, ISCSI & NAS enviornment. Get familiar with VMware datastore as well with the different type of Virtual disks & RDMs available in VMware.

Fifth Tip: Make sure you memorize the minimum & maximums limits of VMware. Memorize the numbers as they will show up. As a gift from me below is a small part of my study cheat sheet covering some of the numbers that can show up for the exam. Five of these had shown up on my exam, though I can’t point out the exact one due to VMware Exam Policy.

• The default swap partition size for VMware ESX 4 is 600 MB
• In order to upgrade to vsphere 4 an esx host must have a /boot partition of at least 100MB
• The Maximum transmission Unit (MTU) for jumbo frames in vsphere is 9000
• The maximum number of LUNs that can be assigned per ESX Host is 256
• The maximum number of VMFS datastore per ESX host is 256
• ESX 3.0 server support access to 128 LUNS during the initial installation process
• The maximum number of paths allowed in ESX 4.x for iscsi lun is 8
• The default port used by iscsi in vsphere is 3260
• The maximum number of NFS datastores per ESX/ESXi 4 server is 64
• ESX Server support NFS Version 3 over TCP
• cold cloning a physical server using vCenter converter require minimum 264MB of Ram
• vcenter converter require the following TCP Ports: 139,443,445, and 902
• Maximum number of systems guided consolidaiton can simultaneously analyze is 100
• The maximum available memomry for a virtual machine in vsphere 4 is 255GB
• The maximum numbers of characters that can be used when naming a vApp is 80
• The maximum number of hosts in a vmware HA cluster is 32
• The maximum number of VMware Data Recovery backup jobs that can run concurrently is 8
• Maximum # of Virtual CPUs per Virtual machine on vSphere? is 8
• Maximum # of Physical CPUs per Host is 64
• Maximum # of Logical Processors per Host is 64
• Maximum # of Cores per Cluster is 4096 cores
• Maximum RAM per host is 1TB

Tags: VCP-410, VMware Exam
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8 Things to Help You Pass CCNA Exa

Posted on May 29th, 2010

I’ve seen many people failed on their CCNA exam while CCNA is the most basic exam of the Cisco certification series.

This is because most of the exam candidates didn’t prepare enough for the exam, got nervous at the exam and failed due to minor mistakes.

I have my own successful way to prepare for the exam, I’ve collected many things to help me pass the CCNA exam.

You may or may not agree to me, yet I got a pretty good score at the exam, only got 1 false answer.

I don’t mean to show off or anything, but my point is anyone can get this score if you prepare properly, so here is my 8 things to help me passCCNA exam:

It is natural to get as many resource about the exam, but too many information can seriously damage your brain. The key is to get the right resource to learn from and focus on them before you decide they’re not enough and search for more.

1. BOOKS

I like the work of Todd Lammle, he explains the materials in CCNA exam with easy ways to understand.
Although books are good but the problem with books is that you can get tired reading them all day long, so I figure I need some other resources.

2. VIDEO TUTORIALS

I highly recommend video tutorials from CBT Nuggets, especially the author Jeremy Ciaora, great video series.
The video is quite expensive US$ 399.00 for the CCNA Certification Package, but I’m telling you its worth the money.
In the video you can watch configuration of true Cisco devices along with the explanation, which Jeremy Ciaora did a great job in explaining the topics.
Video tutorials are great but sometimes they don’t cover everything about the exam – due to the limited time I suppose, that’s why you also need the books to complement each other.

3. BLOGS/SITES

Browse the internetnet, find free exam questions that you can try answering, find out how everyone did the exam, how they succeed, how they failed, this can be a very valuable lessons for you.
Visit my blog often at http://networking-newbie.blogspot.com

4. CISCO SIMULATORS

You can get many free or paid Cisco Network Simulator from the internet, some are good, some have limited functions:

Dynamips – free router simulator using command line interface (no GUI)
GNS3 – GUI version of Dynamips
Boson NetSim – paid simulator complete with labs samples
Cisco Packet – free simulator from Cisco

It is very important to get your hands on one of these simulators, you need to get yourself a hands on experience configuring cisco devices.
If you have more budget, build your own Cisco home lab.

As one of the readers commented on this post (thank you Robert Williams from certguard.com), I realized that using braindump softwares are illegal, I decided to empty the following two points:

5. QUESTIONS BANK

6. EXAM SIMULATOR

7. TIME

I can’t stress you enough about this, time is very important, you have to invest your time seriously to take the exam. The CCNA exam is not the kind of exam where you can cram yourself to study in the weekend and hope to pass in the following Monday.

When I talk about time, it also means that you have to practice yourself in answering questions as quick as possible, remember you have a very limited time and you can’t go back to previous questions you’ve answered.
So you need to know your self capacity and try to do the exam in a limited time and remember you’d be in a pressure when dealing with the real exam.

8. D-DAY PREPARATIONS

The d-day has come, you’re nervous as hell, plus you can’t bring anything to the exam class except for pens or pencils.
You’d be given a scrap of paper to calculate subnets or something else.

This is a good news, you do allowed to take notes on the paper when taking the exam. Before you get even more nervous, you can write down the keypoints in calculating subnets, for example 8th bit = 128, 7th bit = 64, 5th bit = 32, and so on.
You’d be presented with the exam rules, etc before taking the exam, you have to know well the rules before and take this time to write down your notes.
But remember don’t write down any configuration commands because they might think you’re cheating.

This method of writing notes can help speed your time in calculating subnets.
Why only subnets? I have to remind you that CCNA exam will test you heavily on subnetting, and in my opinion it will be the topic that is taking most of your time in the exam.

Tags: Add new tag, CCNA, CCNA exam, Cisco
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The Opportunities you will get with a Cisco CCNA Certification

Posted on May 28th, 2010

The following is a very good article I have read over at Buzzle.com. It talks about the various opportunities that a professional will acquire after passing the Cisco CCNA exam and obtaining this entry level certification.

Software industries are desperately in need of information technology professionals certified in the aspect of networking. You are almost guaranteed a job provided you possess an excellent working knowledge of protocols such as IP, IGRP, Serial, Frame Relay, IP RIP, and VLAN’s as well as installing, configuring, operating, maintaining, and trouble shooting LAN, WAN and other networks. One way to be sure you have such proper networking experience and knowledge is through obtaining your Cisco Certified Network Associate certification.

This CCNA certification is an entry level certification for all certified IT professionals who specialize in computer networking. This certification is just the first step towards even higher levels of training, such as Cisco Certified Network Professional or Cisco Certified Internet work Expert certification.

A CCNA certification is often the best option for field technicians, IT helps desk engineers, and other professionals of information technology based on overseeing the computer networking process. It is considered to be the basic qualification for installing, operating, configuring and troubleshooting a mid-sized switched and routed network. A professional with CCNA training is trusted to work with a networking environment which would include a group of switched networks. They can manage a host of computer routed networks connected through switches with the greatest of ease.

There is an ever increasing demand for networking specialists as businesses reliance on computers grow and with that the value of a CCNA certification is also finding itself to be a hot commodity among the information technology industry’s job market. It is a benchmark for discovering who are the best and the most efficient technicians are who aren’t in network management. Think of it as a way to filter out the cream of the crop from the rest.

The certification examination is structured around a set of questions with drag and drop options, multiple choice single answers, multiple choice multiple answers, simulations and fill in the blank type of questions. While at first glance, that may sound to be quite easy, to be truly successful and pass this test professional training is required. The examination is built so that your technical and special knowledge of computer networking environments and solutions are pushed to the limits. Basically, not everyone can pass this test.

In today’s ultra-competitive job market, you need every advantage you can to market yourself. You need something to make yourself more attractive to a business compared to another IT professional. A CCNA certification, accepted and recognized all over the world, is the perfect tool to do just that. The CCNA examination is used as a tool for sorting out the best networking professionals who would be responsible for the management and maintenance of the networking environments.

Tags: CCNA, CCNA certification
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CCNP ROUTE Portable Command Guide

Posted on May 27th, 2010

Review & Description

CCNP ROUTE Portable Command Guide

All the ROUTE 642-902 Commands in One Compact, Portable Resource

Scott Empson

Hans Roth

Preparing for the CCNP exam? Working as a network professional? Here are all the CCNP-level commands for the Implementing Cisco IP Routing (ROUTE) exam you need in one handy resource. The CCNP ROUTE Portable Command Guide is filled with valuable, easy-to-access information and is portable enough for use whether you’re in the server room or the equipment closet.

This book helps you memorize commands and concepts as you work to pass the CCNP ROUTE exam (642-901). The guide summarizes all CCNP certification-level Cisco IOS? Software commands, keywords, command arguments, and associated prompts, providing you with tips and examples of how to apply the commands to real-world scenarios. Configuration examples throughout the book provide you with a better understanding of how these commands are used in simple network designs.

Use CCNP ROUTE Portable Command Guide as a quick, offline resource for research and solutions.

–Logical “how-to” topic groupings inside the front and back covers provide one-stop research

–Compact size makes it easy to carry with you, wherever you go

–Helps you review important commands before taking the CCNP ROUTE certification exam

–“Create Your Own Journal” appendix with blank, lined pages enables you to personalize the book for your own needs

This book is part of the Cisco Press Certification Self-Study Product Family, which offers readers a self-paced study routine for Cisco certification exams. Titles in the Cisco Press Certification Self-Study Product Family are part of a recommended learning program from Cisco Systems that includes simulation and hands-on training from authorized Cisco Learning Partners and self-study products from Cisco Press.

Tags: 642-901, CCNP, CCNP exam, sco certification
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Cisco CCNP / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: Configuring PortFast And BPDU Guard

Posted on May 26th, 2010

In your CCNA studies, you learned about PortFast and the trouble it can cause if configured on the wrong port! Suitable only for switch ports connected directly to a single host, PortFast allows a port running STP to go directly from blocking to forwarding mode.

A Cisco router will give you a warning when you configure PortFast:

SW1(config)#int fast 0/5

SW1(config-if)#spanning-tree portfast

%Warning: portfast should only be enabled on ports connected to a single host. Connecting hubs, concentrators, switches, bridges, etc… to this interface when portfast is enabled, can cause temporary bridging loops. Use with CAUTION

%Portfast has been configured on FastEthernet0/5 but will only

have effect when the interface is in a non-trunking mode.

SW1(config-if)#

Not only will the switch warn you about the proper usage of PortFast, but you must put the port into access mode before PortFast will take effect.

Now, you’d think that would be enough of a warning, right? But there is a chance – just a chance – that someone is going to manage to connect a switch to a port running Portfast. That could lead to two major problems, the first being the formation of a switching loop. Remember, the reason we have listening and learning modes is to help prevent switching loops. The next problem is that there could be a new root bridge elected – and it could be a switch that isn’t even in your network!

BPDU Guard protects against this disastrous possibility. If any BPDU comes in on a port that’s running BPDU Guard, the port will be shut down and placed into error disabled state, shown on the switch as err-disabled. A port placed in err-disabled state must be reopened manually.

BPDU Guard is off on all ports by default, and is enabled as shown here:

SW1(config)#int fast 0/5

SW1(config-if)#spanning-tree bpduguard enable

It’s a good idea to enable BPDU Guard on any port you’re running PortFast on. There’s no cost in overhead, and it does prevent the possibility of a switch sending BPDUs into a port configured with PortFast – not to mention the possibility of a switch not under your control becoming a root switch to your network!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

You can also join his RSS feed and visit his blog, which is updated several times daily with new Cisco certification articles, free tutorials, and daily CCNA / CCNP exam questions! Details are on the website.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, just visit the website! You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNP exam with The Bryant Advantage!

Tags: CCNA, CCNP exam
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Cisco Certification Matures As Industry Reflects Expert Technology

Posted on May 25th, 2010

Cisco’s main stalwart, the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Routing and Switching certification, also Cisco’s most popular training certification, recently experienced a major transformation, reflecting the technical advances in the field and incorporating job tasks most important to professionals employed today. The CCIE level of certification is the highest rated expertise level of demonstrated ability that Cisco currently provides, with the added distinction of being one of the hardest and most technically advanced certifications in the world, and generally reported as the highest salaried certification in the field. It was only natural that Cisco updated and revised the certification parameters to best resemble the technologies experts face on a daily basis.

Cisco queried over 1,500 industry professionals working with networks in their current jobs, and collated the received information into a listing of relevant and crucial duties most important to qualified experts and highly proficient authorities in the know. Cisco first removed exam questions any professional level student should already know. The resulting exam now focuses on added material that concentrates on the expert level skill set, covering more detail in the area of new routing technologies (Internet Protocol version 6, Multiprotocol Label Switching), performance routing, optimized edge routing and troubleshooting. The most significant change to the exam is the addition of a troubleshooting section in the hands-on portion of the lab. Resembling a real world situation, one fourth of the eight hours in the new exam contains a simulated network environment with trouble tickets the applicant has to diagnose, locate the system imperfection, and repair it.

Lora O’Haver, product marketing manager at Learning@Cisco, stated, “We wanted to make sure that we weren’t just pushing our product, but that we were actually making sure that these certifications reflect what people are doing in their jobs.”

It has also been observed that the new exam and all future adaptations will be harder to make the grade if the networking professional does not possess a great deal of networking experience. This change has been implemented due to the occupational position and related obligations of the professional working in the field. A solid recommendation for candidates desiring to take the exam would be to have a good three to five years under your belt first.

Tags: Cisco，CCIE
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Tony Bradley, CISSP-ISSAP

Posted on May 24th, 2010

Tony is a respected information security resource and prolific author. He has written or co-written 8 different books, including Essential Computer Security. He has achieved the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) certification, and he is recognized by Microsoft as an MVP (Most Valuable Professional) in Windows Security.

Experience:
Tony is currently a Director with Evangelyze, providing expertise, training and written content in the areas of unified communications and VoIP, as well as a variety of technology and security subjects. Tony has worked in information security since 2002, driving security policies and technologies for antivirus and incident response for Fortune 500 companies, and acting as network administrator and technical support for smaller companies.

From Tony Bradley, CISSP-ISSAP:
In addition to this About.com site, Tony maintains his own information security blog, Essential Computer Security. He has also written for a variety of other Web sites and publications.

Tony is a CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and ISSAP (Information Systems Security Architecture Professional), and he is Microsoft Certified as an MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer). Tony has been recognized by Microsoft as an MVP (Most Valuable Professional) in Windows security since 2006.

Tony was also tech editor of PCI Compliance, and author of Essential Computer Security, coauthor of Hackers Challenge 3, and a contributing author to Winternals, Combating Spyware in the Enterprise, Emerging Threat Analysis, Botnets, and AVIEN Malware Defense Guide for the Enterprise.

If you have a question please visit the Forums as your first choice. If you still have a question you can email me

Tags: CISSP
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CCNA Certification: Reloading A Cisco Router Interface

Posted on May 22nd, 2010

Passing the CCNA certification exam means that you know how to configure and troubleshoot a Cisco router instead of using what I call the “hope method” – you know, “Let’s reload the router and hope that takes care of it.” The majority of Cisco router configurations take effect without the need for a reload, but every once in a while you just have to reload a router or shut and reopen an interface. Let’s take a look at three such scenarios.

The first is when you change an OSPF Router ID from its default. For the new RID to take effect, you must either reload the router or clear the OSPF process, which means that all existing adjacencies will come down. Cisco routers are kind enough to tell you this with the following message after you configure a new RID: “Reload or use “clear ip ospf process” command, for this to take effect”.

In a previous tutorial, I showed you how to configure an Etherchannel. You have to place each port into the Etherchannel with the channel-group command, and if you do so individually, some of the ports may go into error-disabled state, or “err-disable”. This can also happen as a result of port security enforcement. You can see this with the show interface command:

sw1#show int fast 0/1

FastEthernet0/1 is down, line protocol is down (err-disabled)

A syslog message putting that port into err-disabled state will look like this:

04:10:23: %PM-4-ERR_DISABLE: channel-misconfig error detected on Po1, putting Fa0/1 in err-disable state

If this happens during an Etherchannel configuration, just finish the config and then shut and reopen the ports in err-disabled state. They’ll come back up and be placed into the Etherchannel.

Finally, our old friend the SPID often makes us shut and reopen the BRI interface. If the BRI interface is open and you configure SPIDs on it, the SPID can be absolutely correct and you’ll still see this in the output of show isdn status:

spid1 configured, spid1 NOT sent, spid1 NOT valid

At least the Cisco router puts “NOT” in caps, right? It’s easier to see that way! With SPIDs, before you call the service provider or check the SPID you entered about 40 times, just shut and reopen the interface. That usually does the trick.

When you earn your CCNA certification Feature Articles, that means that you know what you’re doing instead of hoping that you do – and part of that is knowing when a simple reload or open/shut will take care of the issue.

Tags: CCNA, CCNA certification, Cisco
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Cisco CCNA Certification Exam- Get Certified Now

Posted on May 21st, 2010

And the first bit of good news is that you have plenty of time to take and pass the current CCNA exams. In this article, I will outline several advantages to taking the CCNA plunge now before these changes take effect.

The current CCNA exam (640-801) will not be phased out until November 6, which gives you more than enough time to get CCNA certified before then — even if you haven started studying yet! Those of you who want to take the two-exam path to CCNA certification should know that the 640-811 ICND and 640-822 INTRO exams will be phased out on that same date.

Cisco taking the approach that the CCNA certification is no longer an entry-level certification, and this is a welcome change for CCNAs and CCNA candidates alike. I have been writing CCNA ebooks and teaching CCNA courses for several years, and I抳e always refused to call this an entry-level certification.

The new CCNA exam (640-802) looks to be even more demanding than the current exam, which is another reason to pick up the pace and get certified now! Here are just some of the new topics you抣l find on the 640-802 exam:

* Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol
* Switch security
* IP Version 6
* Router security
* Virtual Private Networks
* Wireless routing and more

Add these to the topics already found on the current CCNA exam, and you can see that the new CCNA exam will be even more demanding than the current version.

If you choose the two-exam path for the CCNA certification after November 6, you need to take two ICND exams ICND 1 (640-822) and ICND 2 (640-816). This is much tougher than the current path because the INTRO exam will be a thing of the past after November 6! (Passing the ICND 1 exam will earn you the new Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician certification, Cisco new entry-level certification.)

The CCNA will be even more valuable with these changes, so again, even if you even been thinking about earning the CCNA now is the time!

The new CCNA exams will actually be available on August 1, but again, I want to emphasize that the current CCNA exams will be available through November 6. My advice to those who want to get CCNA certified before the change is to book your exam nowBusiness Management Articles, make sure you choose the right

Tags: 640-816, 640-822, CCNA exam
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Passing Cisco’s CCNA and CCNP Exams: Traceroute

Posted on May 20th, 2010

In preparation for your CCNA and CCNP exam success, you’ve got to learn to troubleshoot Cisco routers. And while ping is a great basic IP connectivity tool, it doesn’t give you all the information you need to diagnose network connectivity issues.
Let’s say you have six routers between CityA and CityB. You send a ping from A to B, and get this return:

R1#ping 172.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 172.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:

…..

Success rate is 0 percent (0/5)

The five periods indicate that there is no IP connectivity to CityB. Problem is, that’s about all ping tells you. You can have 5 or 50 routers between the two points, so how can you tell which downstream router has the problem?

That’s where traceroute comes in. Traceroute sends three datagrams with a Time To Live (TTL) of 1. Those datagrams will timeout once they hit the first router in the path, and that router will respond with an ICMP Time Exceeded message.

In response, the sending router sends three more datagrams, but these have a TTL of 2. This means that the next router in line will send back ICMP Time Exceeded messages. This process continues until the final destination (CItyB) is reached the output of the command shows us the path the data took:

Router1#traceroute 271.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Tracing the route to 271.1.1.1

1 20.1.1.1 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec

2 30.1.1.1 20 msec 16 msec 16 msec

3 271.1.1.1 16 msec * 16 msec

How does this help troubleshoot a problem? Let’s say that the second router in this path, 30.1.1.1, doesn’t know how to get to 271.1.1.1. The output would look like this:

Router1#traceroute 271.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Tracing the route to 271.1.1.1

1 20.1.1.1 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec

2 30.1.1.1 20 msec 16 msec 16 msec

3 * * *

This indicates that the router at 30.1.1.1 doesn’t know how to get to the final destination. Now you have a better idea of which router has an issue!

Now here’s the bad part: you’re going to get 30 lines of three asterisks, and until you abort this traceroute, you’re going to just watch those asterisks go across the screen. There’s an abort sequence that the router mentions in the first line of the console output, but the router doesn’t tell you what it is! So I will – this top-secret sequence is TWICE, one right after the other.

That keystroke takes a little getting used to, but a CCNA or CCNP can do it! Add this command to your Cisco skill set, and it will serve you well both on the CCNA and CCNP exams and your real-world networks. And you’ll impress your friends by knowing how to stop a traceroute!

Tags: CCNA, CCNP
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