Knowledge

• Identify available vCenter Server editions

• Deploy the vCenter Appliance

• Install vCenter Server into a virtual machine

• Size the vCenter Server database

• Install additional vCenter Server components

• Install/Remove vSphere Client plug-ins

• Enable/Disable vSphere Client plug-ins

• License vCenter Server

• Determine availability requirements for a vCenter Server in a given vSphere implementation

• Determine use case for vSphere Client and Web Client

Knowledge

• Perform an interactive installation of ESXi

• Deploy an ESXi host using Auto Deploy

• Configure NTP on an ESXi Host

• Configure DNS and Routing on an ESXi Host

• Enable/Configure/Disable hyperthreading

• Enable/Size/Disable memory compression cache

• License an ESXi host

Knowledge

• Identify upgrade requirements for ESXi hosts

• Identify steps required to upgrade a vSphere implementation

• Upgrade a vNetwork Distributed Switch

• Upgrade from VMFS3 to VMFS5

• Upgrade VMware Tools

• Upgrade Virtual Machine hardware

• Upgrade an ESXi Host using vCenter Update Manager

• Determine whether an in-place upgrade is appropriate in a given upgrade scenario

Knowledge

• Identify common vCenter Server privileges and roles

• Describe how permissions are applied and inherited in vCenter Server

• Configure and administer the ESXi firewall

• Enable/Configure/Disable services in the ESXi firewall

• Enable Lockdown Mode

• Configure network security policies

• View/Sort/Export user and group lists

• Add/Modify/Remove permissions for users and groups on vCenter Server inventory objects

• Create/Clone/Edit vCenter Server Roles

• Add an ESXi Host to a directory service

• Apply permissions to ESXi Hosts using Host Profiles

• Determine the appropriate set of privileges for common tasks in vCenter Server

Knowledge

• Identify available vSphere editions and features

• Explain ESXi and vCenter Server architectures

• Explain Private/Public/Hybrid cloud concepts

• Determine appropriate vSphere edition based on customer requirements

Knowledge

• Identify vNetwork Standard Switch (vSS) capabilities

• Create/Delete a vNetwork Standard Switch

• Add/Configure/Remove vmnics on a vNetwork Standard Switch

• Configure vmkernel ports for network services

• Add/Edit/Remove port groups on a vNetwork Standard Switch

• Determine use case for a vNetwork Standard Switch

Knowledge

• Identify vNetwork Distributed Switch (vDS) capabilities

• Create/Delete a vNetwork Distributed Switch

• Add/Remove ESXi hosts from a vNetwork Distributed Switch

• Add/Configure/Remove dvPort groups

• Add/Remove uplink adapters to dvUplink groups

• Create/Configure/Remove virtual adapters

• Migrate virtual adapters to/from a vNetwork Standard Switch

• Migrate virtual machines to/from a vNetwork Distributed Switch

• Determine use case for a vNetwork Distributed Switch

Knowledge

• Identify common vSS and vDS policies

• Configure dvPort group blocking policies

• Configure load balancing and failover policies

• Configure VLAN settings

• Configure traffic shaping policies

• Enable TCP Segmentation Offload support for a virtual machine

• Enable Jumbo Frames support on appropriate components

• Determine appropriate VLAN configuration for a vSphere implementation

Knowledge

• Identify storage adapters and devices

• Identify storage naming conventions

• Identify hardware/dependent hardware/software iSCSI initiator requirements

• Compare and contrast array thin provisioning and virtual disk thin provisioning

• Describe zoning and LUN masking practices

• Scan/Rescan storage

• Identify use cases for FCoE

• Create an NFS share for use with vSphere

• Connect to a NAS device

• Enable/Configure/Disable vCenter Server storage filters

• Configure/Edit hardware/dependent hardware initiators

• Enable/Disable software iSCSI initiator

• Configure/Edit software iSCSI initiator settings

• Configure iSCSI port binding

• Enable/Configure/Disable iSCSI CHAP

• Determine use case for hardware/dependent hardware/software iSCSI initiator

• Determine use case for and configure array thin provisioning

Knowledge

• Define Storage Virtual Appliance (SVA) architecture

• Configure ESXi hosts as SVA hosts

• Configure the storage network for the SVA

• Deploy/Configure the SVA Manager

• Administer SVA storage resources

• Determine use case for deploying the SVA

• Determine appropriate ESXi host resources for the SVA

Knowledge

• Identify VMFS and NFS Datastore properties

• Identify VMFS5 capabilities

• Create/Rename/Delete/Unmount a VMFS Datastore

• Mount/Unmount an NFS Datastore

• Extend/Expand VMFS Datastores

• Upgrade a VMFS3 Datastore to VMFS5

• Place a VMFS Datastore in Maintenance Mode

• Select the Preferred Path for a VMFS Datastore

• Disable a path to a VMFS Datastore

• Determine use case for multiple VMFS/NFS Datastores

• Determine appropriate Path Selection Policy for a given VMFS Datastore

Knowledge

• Identify capabilities of virtual machine hardware versions

• Identify VMware Tools device drivers

• Identify methods to access and use a virtual machine console

• Identify virtual machine storage resources

• Place virtual machines in selected ESXi hosts/Clusters/Resource Pools

• Configure and deploy a Guest OS into a new virtual machine

• Configure/Modify disk controller for virtual disks

• Configure appropriate virtual disk type for a virtual machine

• Create/Convert thin/thick provisioned virtual disks

• Configure disk shares

• Install/Upgrade/Update VMware Tools

• Configure virtual machine time synchronization

• Convert a physical machine using VMware Converter

• Import a supported virtual machine source using VMware Converter

• Modify virtual hardware settings using VMware Converter

• Configure/Modify virtual CPU and Memory resources according to OS and application requirements

• Configure/Modify virtual NIC adapter and connect virtual machines to appropriate network resources

• Determine appropriate datastore locations for virtual machines based on application workloads

Knowledge

• Identify vApp settings

• Create/Clone/Export a vApp

• Add objects to an existing vApp

• Edit vApp settings

• Configure IP pools

• Suspend/Resume a vApp

• Determine when a tiered application should be deployed as a vApp

Knowledge

• Identify the vCenter Server managed ESXi hosts and Virtual Machine maximums

• Identify Cloning and Template options

• Clone an existing virtual machine

• Create a template from an existing virtual machine

• Deploy a virtual machine from a template

• Update existing virtual machine templates

• Deploy virtual appliances and/or vApps from an OVF template

• Import and/or Export an OVF template

• Determine the appropriate deployment methodology for a given virtual machine application

Knowledge

• Identify files used by virtual machines

• Identify locations for virtual machine configuration files and virtual disks

• Identify common practices for securing virtual machines

• Hot Extend a virtual disk

• Configure virtual machine options

• Configure virtual machine power settings

• Configure virtual machine boot options

• Configure virtual machine troubleshooting options

• Assign a Storage Policy to a virtual machine

• Verify Storage Policy compliance for virtual machines

• Determine when an advanced virtual machine parameter is required

• Adjust virtual machine resources (shares, limits and reservations) based on virtual machine workloads

Knowledge

• Describe DRS virtual machine entitlement

• Create/Delete a DRS/HA Cluster

• Add/Remove ESXi Hosts from a DRS/HA Cluster

• Add/Remove virtual machines from a DRS/HA Cluster

• Configure Storage DRS

• Configure Enhanced vMotion Compatibility

• Monitor a DRS/HA Cluster

• Configure migration thresholds for DRS and virtual machines

• Configure automation levels for DRS and virtual machines

• Create VM-Host and VM-VM affinity rules

• Enable/Disable Host Monitoring

• Enable/Configure/Disable virtual machine and application monitoring

• Configure admission control for HA and virtual machines

• Determine appropriate failover methodology and required resources for an HA implementation

Knowledge

• Identify VMware Fault Tolerance requirements

• Configure VMware Fault Tolerance networking

• Enable/Disable VMware Fault Tolerance on a virtual machine

• Test an FT configuration

• Determine use case for enabling VMware Fault Tolerance on a virtual machine

Knowledge

• Describe the Resource Pool hierarchy

• Define the Expandable Reservation parameter

• Create/Remove a Resource Pool

• Configure Resource Pool attributes

• Add/Remove virtual machines from a Resource Pool

• Determine Resource Pool requirements for a given vSphere implementation

• Evaluate appropriate shares, reservations and limits for a Resource Pool based on virtual machine workloads

• Clone a vApp

Knowledge

• Identify ESXi host and virtual machine requirements for vMotion and Storage vMotion

• Identify Enhanced vMotion Compatibility CPU requirements

• Identify snapshot requirements for vMotion/Storage vMotion migration

• Migrate virtual machines using vMotion/Storage vMotion

• Configure virtual machine swap file location

• Migrate a powered-off or suspended virtual machine

• Utilize Storage vMotion techniques (changing virtual disk type, renaming virtual machines, etc.)

Knowledge

• Identify snapshot requirements

• Create/Delete/Consolidate virtual machine snapshots

• Install and Configure VMware Data Recovery

• Create a backup job with VMware Date Recovery

• Perform a test and live full/file-level restore with VMware Data Recovery

• Determine appropriate backup solution for a given vSphere implementation

Knowledge

• Identify patching requirements for ESXi hosts and virtual machine hardware/tools

• Create/Edit/Remove a Host Profile from an ESXi host

• Attach/Apply a Host Profile to an ESXi host or cluster

• Perform compliance scanning and remediation of an ESXi host using Host Profiles

• Install and Configure vCenter Update Manager

• Configure patch download options

• Create/Edit/Delete an Update Manager baseline

• Attach an Update Manager baseline to an ESXi host or cluster

• Scan and remediate ESXi hosts and virtual machine hardware/tools using Update Manager

• Stage ESXi host updates

Knowledge

• Identify general ESXi host troubleshooting guidelines

• Troubleshoot common installation issues

• Monitor ESXi system health

• Export diagnostic information

Knowledge

• Verify network configuration

• Verify a given virtual machine is configured with the correct network resources

• Troubleshoot virtual switch and port group configuration issues

• Troubleshoot physical network adapter configuration issues

• Identify the root cause of a network issue based on troubleshooting information

Knowledge

• Verify storage configuration

• Troubleshoot storage contention issues

• Troubleshoot storage over-commitment issues

• Troubleshoot iSCSI software initiator configuration issues

• Troubleshoot Storage Reports and Storage Maps

• Identify the root cause of a storage issue based on troubleshooting information

Knowledge

• Identify HA/DRS and vMotion requirements

• Verify vMotion/Storage vMotion configuration

• Verify HA network configuration

• Verify HA/DRS cluster configuration

• Troubleshoot HA capacity issues

• Troubleshoot HA redundancy issues

• Interpret the DRS Resource Distribution Graph and Target/Current Host Load Deviation

• Troubleshoot DRS load imbalance issues

• Troubleshoot vMotion/Storage vMotion migration issues

• Interpret vMotion Resource Maps

• Identify the root cause of a DRS/HA cluster or migration issue based on troubleshooting information

Knowledge

• Describe how Tasks and Events are viewed in vCenter Server

• Identify critical performance metrics

• Explain common memory metrics

• Explain common CPU metrics

• Explain common network metrics

• Explain common storage metrics

• Compare and contrast Overview and Advanced Charts

• Configure SNMP for vCenter Server

• Configure Active Directory and SMTP settings for vCenter Server

• Configure vCenter Server logging options

• Create a log bundle

• Create/Edit/Delete a Scheduled Task

• Configure/View/Print/Export resource maps

• Start/Stop/Verify vCenter Server service status

• Start/Stop/Verify ESXi host agent status

• Configure vCenter Server timeout settings

• Monitor/Administer vCenter Server connections

• Create an Advanced Chart

• Determine host performance using resxtop and guest Perfmon

• Given performance data, identify the affected vSphere resource

Knowledge

• List vCenter default utilization alarms

• List vCenter default connectivity alarms

• List possible actions for utilization and connectivity alarms

• Create a vCenter utilization alarm

• Create a vCenter connectivity alarm

• Configure alarm triggers

• Configure alarm actions

• For a given alarm, identify the affected resource in a vSphere implementation