VMware VCP-NV Network Virtualization (NSX) Exam Experience with some Tips!

I hope this post is not in breech of the VMware exam NDA, having read this a few times I don't think it is. If you disagree please let me know.

VMware NSX has been on my radar since about September last year to get in the lab and play with it. After some visibility of my potential next few projects with SystemsUp (and VMware PSO) I thought I better get it up and going ASAP.

What better way to prove you have understood an entire new product than taking the certification exam? So I decided to have a go at the VCP-NV credential.

This post outlines some of my thoughts around the exam, and perhaps the most importantly for most what I used to pass the exam.

1. At least Cisco CCNA Routing and Switching is required (In my opinion)
2. Understand Layer 2 - MAC addresses, VLANs, broadcast domains etc
3. Understand Layer 3 - Routing, subnet masks, OSPF
4. Understand the Leaf/Spine architecture, and how its better over traditional 3-tier
5. Understand link state routing protocols OSPF, IS-IS
6. Understand what VXLAN is and how its used
7. Understand VPN and basic cryptography (diffie-hellman, sha etc)

You will find this exam very difficult if you do not spin it up in a lab, or at least do the free VMware Hands on Labs. I did a mixture of both.

I used the following snippets of training material to study for the VCP-NV exam.

1. VMware NSX Documentation (https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/nsx_pubs.html)
2. VMware NSX for vSphere Network Virtualization Guide (Google it)
3. VMware NSX for vSphere on Cisco UCS with Nexus 7000 Design Guide (Google it)
4. VMware NSX Install, Configure and Manage Courseware
5. Pluralsight VMware NSX Courses (Intro & Adv)
6. CBT Nuggets "ICND1" OSPF Videos
7. CBT Nuggets "CISSP" Cryptography Videos
8. INE VXLAN Videos (under the CCIE Data Center Courseware)
9. VMware Hands on Labs

If you do want to get it up and working in its entirety in your lab, you will need some powerful hardware and probably some decent Cisco switches to get VXLAN etc all working. I only got so far in my small lab and took to using the VMware Hands on Labs.

New VMware VCP-NV Credential: Learning VMware NSX

For the past week or two I have started learning VMware's new NSX Network Virtualization platform, as I am planning on getting the VMware Certified Professional (VCP) in Network Virtualization credential. As always VMware have their "training requirements" before you can get authorized to take the exam. Luckily if you are already a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) in Data Center Virtualization you can take the exam without any formal training. It also appears until February 2015 if you are a Cisco CCNA/CCNP in Data Center or Routing and Switching you can also request authorization without the formal course requirement.

The overview and blueprint is available from VMware(https://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=51111&ui=www_cert) and as always the exam objectives are not defined in depth. I have requested authorization for the VCP-NV exam, and have it booked for the end of October, because of the mess my Pearson Vue account(s) are in it authorized me based on my CCNA Data Center credential, and not VCP-DCV. The exam is set to cost $175, which is the same as the traditional VCP exam.

I have already read through all of the VMware documentation for NSX but have to give it a second read when I start to provision NSX into my lab (https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/nsx_pubs.html). I am currently building a clean vSphere 5.5 lab to accommodate VMware NSX, the required hardware for the NSX Manager seems a bit on the extreme side especially when only in a lab therefore I am hoping to get away with much less than it states is required.