At VMworld 2013, VMware announced their new training platform “Hands On Labs.” These are designed for the administrator who wants to brush up on their skills administering VMware technologies, or the administrator whose manager has asked them to take a look at a VMware product that the company is wanting to deploy. These labs are very convenient for those also wanting to study and gain a VMware certification, giving the user an opportunity to work through lab scenarios and get a feel for the environment to grow their understanding of virtualization.
HOL is for anyone who wants to learn, and know more about Software-Defined-Datacenters, Software-Defined-Networking, Mobility, etc. Each lab includes a manual on the side to step you through the process. I highly recommend thoroughly reading through the manuals as they cover a lot of content in depth. Most of the labs are multilingual and are easy to follow.
Once inside the lab, you are presented with a windows desktop with the applications pre-installed, ready to run. The web browsers are pre-loaded with a home page of the vCenter/vCloud Director/ etc. for which the lab is for. This is great to get the user involved straight away, no waiting to install any software. These labs are also very quick to load.
I highly recommend this to anyone who is wanting to get involved with anything virtualization.
You can check out the Hands on labs at: http://www.projectnee.com/HOL
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