VCP 5

Just a quick post to highlight some great work being done by a fellow member of the VMware community, Simon Long (web/twitter). When I was studying for the VCP4 exam last year, I used Simon’s VCP4 practice exams quite a bit. I found it to be complementary to the official VMware practice exams, but also quicker and easier to access. They gave me the ability to focus on memorizing vSphere 4 maximums as well as general VCP questions.

Simon’s new VCP5 practice exams are based out of the same idea — general questions separated from maximums questions. The new general exam is broken out into two parts consisting of 60 total questions. The maximum exams are split into 11 different focus points consisting of over 140 questions!

So whether you’re working on attaining the VCP5 certification, or if you’d just like to keep your vBrain sharp, I highly recommend checking out Simon Long‘s site.

Tuesday July 12th was a big day for VMware. They announced the VMware vSphere 5 product suite, restated their plans for enabling and accelerating private & public cloud adoption, revealed a change in licensing, and announced the VCP5 beta exam.

I wasn’t surprised that VCP5 was announced, but I imagine that some of you (like me) might be feeling a bit overwhelmed at the announcement of another VMware certification when many folks are still knee-deep in studying for their DCA/DCD or VCP exams. Fortunately, this is only the VCP5 beta, which means that the final test hasn’t gone live. There’s still plenty of time to pass the vSphere 4 certifications and still have time to study for the VCP 5 exam.

There are a couple things to be mindful of, before we jump into comparing the VCP4 and VCP5 exam blueprints. First, the VCP5 beta exam is 180 questions versus the VCP4’s 85 questions. Because of the number of questions on the VCP5 beta, the time limit is increased from 90 minutes to 225 minutes of pure exam time. There’s additional time allotted for survey questions, and additional time allotted for those who might be taking the beta in a country where English is not the primary language. The beta, unlike the official VCP4 exam, is only available in English; I imagine that additional language(s) will be added once the VCP5 exam becomes finalized.

Simon Long’s VCP5 Practice Exams

VCP5 vs VCP4: Comparing exam blueprints