NickBhavsar Posted: Thu, Mar 12 2009 3:56 PM

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Hi folks,

Great news! We've just reached a milestone in developing our certification program by opening up the exam to a small beta audience.  For those of you who did not receive notification to participate in the beta, please understand that we have had to restrict access to the beta exam to a very small subset of customers. 

Everyone will be allowed to take the exam when it goes live this summer.

For those of you participating in the beta, please use this forum to exchange comments/questions about the test, but please remember not to exchange actual test questions / answers. 

Also, feel free to private message me for any specific concerns.

Happy testing!

Nick

rtobin replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 4:27 PM

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is the training material available yet??

crwchief6 replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 4:35 PM

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Nick, Will the beta exam be multiple choice or essay style questions?

fluxeon replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 5:20 PM

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Tried to register for the exam. All the testing centers state the test is not available.

Is there something I missed.

Thanks

James

leicshis replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 5:40 PM

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Will the beta exam cover all Solarwinds tools or just NPM.

NickBhavsar replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 5:43 PM

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The test will be multiple choice, multiple answer on some questions.

NickBhavsar replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 5:45 PM

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Be sure to try March and April (on the next page) in the registration.  Unfortunately, there may not be a site available in your state for the beta as it's restricted to a smaller audience.  We'll have much larger availability when the program launches this summer.

-Nick

NickBhavsar replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 5:54 PM

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The exam will have the following breakdown:

NickBhavsar replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 5:59 PM

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rtobin,

Here are a few study resources:

* Orion NPM Admin Guide
* Orion NPM Online Demo
* Geek Central

We also recommend researching the five exam topics outlined above using additional online resources such as Wikipedia or Cisco.com. The beta exam has limited training materials available while the final exam will have additional materials available for candidates.

rsprim replied on Fri, Mar 13 2009 7:13 PM

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Nick,

I saw you mentioned that there will be 3 times more questions on the demo test than on the final test after the beta program.  How many questions will be on the demo?

Robert

NickBhavsar replied on Sat, Mar 14 2009 4:27 PM

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Hi Robert,

Well, you'll have to take the exam to find out :)  Just kidding, it's ~230 questions on the beta, while the final exam will have anywhere from 60-80.

GarethHassall replied on Mon, Mar 16 2009 1:36 AM

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Hi Nick,
I have registered for my exam. Is there more detailed coverage of study topics beyond your 5 points listed above?
Thanks,

Gareth (SCP-to be!)

NickBhavsar replied on Mon, Mar 16 2009 10:23 AM

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Hi folks,

I've received a number of questions about the beta, so I thought I'd answer them in one post:

1.       Test Time - While the testing time period indicates over 5 hours, I suspect that it won't take that long to complete the exam for most folks.  We simply did not want to put too much time pressure on the beta exam so we provided ample time for folks to take the test.

2.       Exam Results - The final cut score to determine if you have passed or failed the exam has not yet been determined for the beta exam.  This is really the primary reason we're asking folks to take a beta exam - so we can determine what the correct passing/failing score should be.  This is why we've indicated we potentially need 12 weeks to determine if beta candidates have passed the test.  After determining that score, we'll send out notification if you have passed or failed the exam, which maybe sooner than 12 weeks, but it very well could take that long. When the final test is live after launch, results will most likely be available immediately after completing the exam, but this is not possible for the beta.

3.       Training Materials - While I realize that there are few training materials for the beta, we are in the process of pulling together additional materials for the full SCP launch later this summer.  My suggestion is to familiarize yourself as much as you can with the topics listed above as much as possible. 

4.       Exam Availability - Due to the very tight testing window of 3 weeks, we're finding that a few testing centers are already booked for the beta.  This is partially due to other SCP candidates quickly signing up, but primarily because those specific testing centers are already booked up with testing candidates taking other unrelated exams during that time frame.

Unfortunately, my hands are tied when it comes to freeing up additional resources at testing centers, however I can assure you that when our live exam launches, scheduling in those testing centers will be less of a problem as we will no longer be limited to a small 3 week testing window. 

Thanks,

Nick

Dr Zoidberg replied on Tue, Mar 17 2009 4:20 AM

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Thanks.

I'm booked for the exam and have a few days set aside to study for it so this will be handy.

sotherls replied on Tue, Mar 17 2009 6:47 AM

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Nick, are there any sample questions so we can test our knowledge (or lack of) prior to sitting for the actual exam??

NickBhavsar replied on Tue, Mar 17 2009 9:27 AM

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I don't have any sample questions handy, but I can comment on the type of questions on the exam.  We set out to ask questions that test real-world experience in network management.  You'll find that most of the questions on the test reflect short scenarios where we ask what a network engineer should do or what caused a problem.

For example, users are complaining that 'the internet is down' and you find XYZ reported by your NMS.  What should you investigate first?

For the live exam, we'll provide a few additional sample questions.

NickBhavsar replied on Tue, Mar 17 2009 2:24 PM

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Many of you have requested additional details regarding the exam topics, so we've pulled together a more detailed outline of the exam topics.  Please use this as a guide for what the test will cover.  Hope that helps!

Network Management Fundamentals

• Use and  explain network management protocols (e.g. SNMP, SNMP Traps, Syslog, ICMP, NetFlow, ,etc.)
• Leverage MIBs, OIDs, and WMI performance counters to diagnose and troubleshoot network problems.

Network Management Planning

• Translate business requirements into monitoring needs, thresholds, and Orion NPM configurations.
• Design a reporting system that meets the needs of the various stakeholders.
• Determine monitoring scope and impact on the network.
• Determine the impact of network topology on monitoring.

Network Management Operations

• Enable devices for network management.
• Determine future capacity requirements.
• Define, monitor, and report on SLAs.

Network Fault and Performance Troubleshooting.

• Detect and verify network faults.
• Determine the scope of the network fault.
• Collect and analyze network monitoring data to determine the cause of a network fault.
• Detect and verify performance issues.
• Determine the scope of the performance issue.
• Collect and analyze network monitoring data to determine the cause of the performance issue.

Orion NPM Administration

• Manage accounts in Orion NPM.
• Discover and manage network elements (e.g. nodes, interfaces, volumes) using Orion NPM.
• Configure and use the Orion NPM Universal Device Poller (UnDP).
• Create and run standard and customized Orion NPM reports.
• Configure an Orion NPM alert and verify the logic.
• Configure and manage Syslog and SNMP Traps.
• Customize Orion web console.
• Customize Orion NPM custom properties, views, and menu bars.
• Create and maintain Orion NPM maps.
• Scale Orion NPM and optimize its performance.
• Identify the ways in which Orion NPM can integrate with other management products.
• Explain the technical capabilities and limitations of each Orion module.
• Leverage the expertise and custom resources on Thwack.

cnorborg replied on Mon, Mar 23 2009 2:56 PM

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So, has anyone taken the test yet?   Any hints for those of us who are going to be taking it in the coming weeks?

qle replied on Mon, Mar 23 2009 4:10 PM

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If I recall correctly, I thought the earliest scheduled date for the exam was March 25. If that's the case, you'll have to wait at least another couple of days to get any kind of feedback.