The Microsoft Azure Fundamentals certification (AZ-900) is an entry-level exam, introducing Azure to technical and non-technical people. The test covers a range of general cloud concepts and Microsoft products. This exam gives students a firm foundation to continue learning Microsoft Azure and to participate in the infrastructure shift from on-premises to the cloud.
The Azure Fundamentals exam is about 35 questions with a 60-minute time limit. They are a mix of drop-down, drag and drop, and multiple-choice questions.
2020 will go down in history as the year that changed the world. A global pandemic forced everyone to stay indoors, employers were forced to embrace work-from-home, and companies that supported employees had to respond. One industry that responded quickly was certification. Pearson Vue had already allowed some certification to be taken at home, but now most major technology vendors got on board. This opens up a new world of opportunity and a degree of accessibility that benefits everyone in the IT industry.
The end of the calendar year brings family, travel, and performance evaluations. A big part of mine is training and tech development. It’s never too soon to start thinking about what is new and where your are interested in strengthening your skill.
I asked some tech experts what skills are the stuff to learn for 2017. Keith Townsend @ctoadvisor responded with
Scripting (ie Cloud Formation, Powershell, Python)
Hybrid infrastructure networking (AWS VPC>VPN integration)
I have publicly committed to submitting a design to the VCDX committee. My design is due in March 2017. I’m very glad I signed up to submit because it has kick started my motivation. Today I wanted to talk about my progress.
I am using an actual design for a project I worked on. It’s a fairly complex system with many moving pieces. It mostly meets AMPRS requirements (Availability, Manageability, Performance, Recoverability, Security) so I shouldn’t have to do much tweaking to make it pass muster.
As I’ve stated before, I highly value certification. I think they provide a good goal and can encourage someone to dig deep and learn features of a technology they may have never looked into otherwise. I recently had a discussion which started with the question “can certifications make a career?”
The even split came down to “yes, they prove your knowledge” and “no, it’s too easy to cheat for them to be valuable”.
I sat the VCAP6-DCV Beta last night. First off the test was extremely fun, much like the VCAP5-DCA. In a live lab your skills are really tested. The new interface provided some challenges but is overall better than the legacy interface. The console is faster and it’s a lot nicer to be able to open the manual over the interface. It is very cramped though. My center maybe had an 18 inch monitor so I was still minimizing my manual a lot.
As I prepare to take an advanced test on a version of VMware I had never touched prior to dropping my $100 I knew I needed a strategy. I searched the blueprint for what was new and hoped my notes from the DCA were enough to patch me through.
Plenty of articles exist to study by. I used many of them to prepare myself. When the time comes for me to take my seat here is how I’ll prepare:
VMware recently announced a 2 week availability for the VCAP6-DCV Deploy beta. After some debate I signed up to sit the exam on June 28, 2016. They provide a beta version of the blueprint so I started there to see what had changed from my VCAP5-DCA 5.5 blueprint and notes. I made some quick notes and want to share them here.
As a disclaimer my list is quick first pass.
On March 29th I posted about VMware’s announcement regarding the retirement of the VCAP5 exams. Passing these exams have always been a bucket list item for me. I feel that they confirm a technician’s ability to actually use and conceptualize VMware more beyond the typical multiple choice exam. The VCP has become required for many job so having the next level up should set me apart from the competition.
So after my March 8th pass I started gathering material to sit the DCD.
On March 23rd VMware officially announced the retirement of their VCAP5 Datacenter exams. Read the official information here: 4 Exam Retirements in June
It’s an interesting move as the VCAP6-DCA and DCD exams aren’t even available to book right now. You can still book and sit the exam up until the expiration dates (June 4th for DCA, June 24th for the DCD).
I expected this but am a little disappointed. I booked my DCD for May 27th with the backup plan of taking a second shot at VMworld should I need it.
