Yes, its true, I passed the test. It wasn’t easy. In fact, I took the test 2 times.
The first time I went into the test I felt fairly confident. I had studied the admin guide and the maximum guides. I had taken the mock exams and done well on those. (Huge thanks for Simon Long and his great site of resources!!!) I thought that I had a fair understanding on how vSphere4 worked. I had taken the class and messed around with it a bit before the test. I wasn’t an vSphere admin day in and day out by any means, but I felt competent that I could successfully perform most tasks. Surely I’d be able to pass the test enough to get by right? WRONG! You really need to know your stuff on this test.
Now, I will argue that some of the questions that were asked were a bit nit picky. I can’t go into them, but let’s just say, asking me what a certain icon on a screen means when it is noted on the screen…seriously? You have to be freaking kidding me right?
So the second time, I studied my ass off. I spent hours reading through every manual that I could get my hands on. I spent even more time in the interface. Setting up things that I had rarely done before if at all. Guided Consolidation, Backups, Update Manager. You name it, I did it.
And the results paid off. The second time around, I easily passed it!
So is the test impossible, no. Is it hard, yes. Will you have to work in order to pass it, absolutely. But its called a test for a reason. You need to know your stuff!
A few tips that I can give you for the test :
- When reading through the guides:
- Anywhere you can find a recommended or best practice, memorize it.
- If there is a section in the guide that talks about X and it is recommended that Y is set or Z will happen. Well, assume that Y is not set and how you would handle Z or simply, identify Z is happening and why it is happening. Chances are if you can do that, you have come up with several of the harder test questions.
- Work with the interface as much as possible. Install things that you haven’t installed before. Use the demo licenses as much as possible! Burn into your brain what screens look like and what options you have presented to you.
- Read the sales and marketing pieces as well. There are a couple of questions on licensing and features.
Good Luck!