Best route in to Virtualization and a career in IT

[satz]

Hello All

I been lurking about the forum and the internet but just get overwhelmed with all the information and options, like most people that post here I've got a bit of experience and looking in to getting some qualifications.

The problem is what's the best route and qualifications?? Just wondering where i should start MCSE MCITP ? Are workshops worth it or should I pace it out in my own time with home learning?

I'm particularly interested in moving forward in to the Virtualization side of things, deploying networks in citrix/vmware/hyper v etc. I think i read in one of the other posts its best to get familiar with Microsoft server first then move in to Virtualisation

I'm passionate about technology i been breaking and fixing computers since I was 12. (I'd do it for free if I didn't have to pay the bills!) So I think i'd be a quick learner and pick up things quite quickly.

Background:

My current situation is I'm working as an IT Systems Administrator which is a mixture of paid and volunteer role at a well established local community radio station. I've been there a year, I started out as a junior techy but i've taken over responsibilities, as the IT head left unexpectedly. So i'm left to manage a bunch of servers, one of them is a 2008 server with 40 clients. I know I have quite a few gaps with server management skills. So the only time I really learn about it when something goes wrong lol!

I'm 25 years old and poor i'm looking for possible funding (i'd ask the radio station but they have been hit by all the spending cuts).
Education = BSc Multimedia + NVQ3 AVCE IT

Look foward to what you think guys and girls

[glennda]

Tbh qualifications are over rated. If you can get hold of software's and play yourself imho you will learn quicker/faster.

[satz]

Yeh i know i deeply regret going to uni, my degree don't even make good toilet paper :'( But it seems as I look at job applications they are all asking for professional qualifications. Just trying everything and anything i've even started stalking the recruitment agents lol

But I got VMware Workstation and been messing around with server 2008 on that but recently been distracted by windows 8 developers preview

[glennda]

IMHO - if you are going for a entry level position to get a foot in the door i wouldn't say you need professional quals yet. Look for Junior tech jobs. The pays not always great but actually what you learn from experience alone can be very benificial. I started out 3 1/2 years ago with no IT quals (still don't! not even a levels) and now run a network on 900 desktop's and 30 odd servers in a secondary school.

You have to start at the bottom and then work your way up i'm afraid.

These are a few jobs which are around your area (as long as you are leeds in the north not south!) IT Technical Support Engineer/1st Line Support Analyst job
this one being more of a pc repair type role
PC & Desktop Technician - West Yorkshire job

[satz]

Cheers mate i've applied the the PC & Desktop Technician it looked quite appealing

[shenley]

Here's some opinions on qualifications Open Ballot: How valuable is a Computer Science degree? | TuxRadar Linux

[gshaw]

Get yourself a couple of PCs or 2nd hand servers and install VMWare and Hyper-V (not at the same time lol) and get used to creating \ managing \ changing virtual machines. The MS 180-day trials are great for this and VMWare have free versions and a trial of the full vSphere product.

See this for "whitebox" VMWare-compatible hardware you can have a play with...

ESX / ESXi 4.0 Whitebox HCL

Also Microsoft have their virtual academy which has some free training videos...

Microsoft Virtual Academy - Free Microsoft Cloud Technologies Training

When I look for people to fill a technician post I see if they've put the effort in to try something like this so they can come in and at least have an understanding of how the virtual environment works... doesn't cost anything to do apart from the time so reflects well on applicants if they've shown initiative and willingness to learn

[satz]

@shenley I agree qualifications ain't important. But recruiters and HR departments seem disconnected with us tech folks and they seem quite robotic with thier selection process.

@gshaw hehe I'd love to have a server I hope santa leaves a nice server under my Xmas tree I promise I been good all year lol. But it's certainly one of the things I been thinking about.

I wonder what the min spec would be for hyperv / Citrix set up

[glennda]

Hp microserver for esxi - £200 then £100 back

[Si2100]

Get yourself a couple of PCs or 2nd hand servers and install VMWare and Hyper-V (not at the same time lol) and get used to creating \ managing \ changing virtual machines. The MS 180-day trials are great for this and VMWare have free versions and a trial of the full vSphere product.

See this for "whitebox" VMWare-compatible hardware you can have a play with...

ESX / ESXi 4.0 Whitebox HCL

Also Microsoft have their virtual academy which has some free training videos...

Microsoft Virtual Academy - Free Microsoft Cloud Technologies Training

When I look for people to fill a technician post I see if they've put the effort in to try something like this so they can come in and at least have an understanding of how the virtual environment works... doesn't cost anything to do apart from the time so reflects well on applicants if they've shown initiative and willingness to learn

Thats Funny Cuz these are the exact two items, i'm using at the moment, Im running ESXi 5.1 on a HP ProLiant ML110 G7 Which is alright, But have had a few issues with it, But at the moment Its running Windows Home Server 2011, and a Ubuntu Media FTP Server, and soon i'm hoping to have a games server setup as well !

MVA - is a great resource, As it has helping with one of my college units, As i was reading up on Server 2012 /w HyperV and Live Migration, Which happened to briefly came up in a unit, Where i had to explain about Server Virtualization. So the MVA Helped my great;y