Cupfighter.net

Last week Schuberg Philis organized an internal (official) VMware troubleshooting training (VST). I had personally already followed this training two months ago. However, as I found the training extremely useful and very dynamic (the training is never quite the same) I decided to follow the last two days of the training again. Another very good reason for me to do so was the fact it was given by superstar Eric Sloof (aka @esloof on twitter). He adds a tremendous amount of value to the VMware community as a whole with his blogposts on ntpro.nl which, if you ask me, should be part of your daily reading material. He’s also given trainings for Schuberg Philis before. From my experience he’s a very knowledgeable and patient trainer who is able to explain the material in a very easy to comprehend form while keeping the pace high. Added bonus: a couple of days before the training he was awarded best freelance VCI (VMware Certified Instructor) of the quarter!

VST is a very good balance between theory and lots and lots of hands-on troubleshooting. Each part will start with some theory, followed by labs. Some labs are the typical ‘type this and see that’ but most value are those where ‘random’ things are broken which you then have to find and fix. Especially the last two days are mostly these kind of labs. The experience with VMware specific troubleshooting you gain here is invaluable and is something which would normally take up months if not years of your professional life. The most valuable lesson of all (as with everything): know the product and your setup and structure you troubleshooting accordingly. This will save you hours of random troubleshooting and creating new issues in the process.  Of course, it also helps having the trainer around who can sometimes give a hint and steer you back in the right direction. Don’t want the training to take weeks…

If you are thinking about doing your VCP, this training will allow you to do the exam. If you already have real-world experience with VMware I would advise you to skip ICM (Installation, Configuration and Management) and go straight for VST. One important note to make is that the VST training material only partially matches the exam material. Most training centers however will add an extra exam training as a package (Schuberg Philis arranged this with Eric as well). Combine the two and you get much more value out of your training budget. And, with a bit of luck, you get a training from a VMware celebrity .