This week I took the final exam for the BRS TA certification from EMC and managed to pass it the first time around. It is a very difficult exam, covering Avamar, Data Domain, Data Protection Adviser, and EMC Networker. This goal was asked of me by EMC earlier this year, and I found the time to knock it out despite everything else that is going on.
Next I plan to complete the VNX IE and TA certifications. Both should be straight forward for me because of my years of experience with the Clariion and Celerra arrays. In addition, I’ve been implementing VNX since EMC started to sell them earlier this year.
I also plan on finishing up the Exchange 2010 MCTS and MCITP certifications soon as well. I know big goals, but I’m starting to like Exchange 2010 now that I’ve implemented it a few times.
These last few weeks I’ve put in long hours at work. Not only have I done two deployments, but I’ve also needed to study on the EMC Backup and Recovery (BRS) TA Design exam, as well as Microsoft Exchange 2010. Its been busy, but I love to learn new things. My concern with the EMC BRS TA design exam is that two EMC employees that focus on BRS have failed the exam three times each. I’ve taken the practice exam several times, but I’m concerned that I’m just memorizing answers on it, and not really focusing on what the real exam need me to know. There is a lot of material, covering Avamar, Data Domain, Networker, Data Protection Adviser, and I’m hoping that I understand enough to take the test with a pass the first time around. I had to take BRS TA administration test twice to pass. Talk about a rough exam…
With Exchange 2010, I finally got off my butt and started to put some effort on learning it. I’ve had to material for months, but with the completing my Master’s degree and other work related studies, I haven’t had the opportunity to catch up.
After these two, I have Recover Point and VNX exams that I need to finish by end of year…
It has been a while since I updated my blog, and I thought I’d post what I’ve been up to. I recently completed my Master’s study, earning a Master of Information Systems from the University of Phoenix. Its been a long effort, but I believe well worth it. Now I have more than 20 hours a week I can use for other things.
My work is keeping me busy with all things EMC. I’m learning EMC Recover Point, and I truly love this technology. I’m also discovering more cool things I like about the VNX series arrays. FAST Cache is way cool.
I spent the last few days mentoring a new colleague of mine, passing along important information regarding deployment services with EMC. Its always a good thing to pass along information. Note to self, I need to write up a document of all of the EMC tools and procedures I’ve learned over the years to pass along to others…
I’m also preparing for vacation soon. I’m really looking forward to taking time off, and recharging.
This week I’m at EMC World. It is also my last week in my Master’s program. I’ve learned a lot at EMC World this week, and but I’m looking forward to getting back home and spending some quality time with my family. Its good to have my last week in school away from my family because there is a bit of work left to do, and I can focus on getting that final A.
I spent the better month of January working towards the coveted EMC Proven Professional Symmetrix Implementation Specialist certification. After two weeks of classes from EMC, and running through many class exercises, I finally took the exam and passed. This array is very advanced. Far more advanced than the EMC Clariion / Celerra arrays that I’m used to managing. I’m really looking forward to gaining more experience on this array in the near future.
This week was a nice week. With a two week break from my Master’s program, I was able to concentrate on passing Commvault Simpana 9 certification exams. I took the class in early December, but because of work and school responsibilities, I wasn’t able to focus on the core material until this week. To make a long story short, I worked through all of the class labs again, and then took all three exams, passing them all.
After that very long day, I was able to focus on the most important thing in my life, my family. With Christmas here this week, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any additional work, so that I could just focus on them for once. It was nice on Christmas and today when we as a family played Guitar Hero, with Kay and I on Guitar, and Amber on drums. It was awesome!
This up coming week should also be nice without school, and only two days of work. After that, its back to the grind, studying for three EMC certification in January, and working on completing by Master’s program. Fortunately my Master’s program is just about over. Only three more classes, with graduation scheduled in May.
In the past month, I had to re-certify on the Clariion array to be able to deploy it, as well as get certified on the Celerra array. Through many hours of study, I managed to do both, while still keeping my life some what stable, and completing and starting another classes for my Master’s program.
My new job is ready for me to start deploying so that I can finally earn my keep, and so am I. I’m looking forward to my first install in the next couple of weeks. I finally after nearly four years get to be technical again. Not that the last four years was bad or anything. I really enjoyed them. Its just I would rather be leading a team, or doing technical stuff myself. Since I wasn’t able to obtain a position in leadership, I decided to move back into a technical role.
I’m starting to really like my new job. Its very challenging and is forcing me to relearn what I have forgotten. Its quite fun too
This update is from my Android powered phone.
Moving WordPress is pretty darn easy. That is one of the things I like about it. I moved my site to Bluehost yesterday because I changed jobs and no longer have access to a free VPS. So far I’m impressed with the level of support I’m receiving. In addition, I shouldn’t have to manually support the server any more, which was fun, but also frustrating at times.