Compaq/HP Accredited Platform Specialist (APS)
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Thread: Compaq/HP Accredited Platform Specialist (APS)

  1. #1
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    Compaq/HP Accredited Platform Specialist (APS)

    Does anyone have this certification? What study materials did you use? We use Compaq/HP Proliant servers exclusively, so I thought this would be a good certification to get. I'm starting to look for resource materials. So far, I have not found a book on the subject. HP has a CD I can order, so I will call them tomorrow. I was hoping to have a choice of resource materials to use, but it looks like this certification may not be popular enough to have encouraged a variety of resources.

    Thanks.
    "Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones

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    Registered User silencio's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pinnacle
    Does anyone have this certification? What study materials did you use? We use Compaq/HP Proliant servers exclusively, so I thought this would be a good certification to get. I'm starting to look for resource materials. So far, I have not found a book on the subject. HP has a CD I can order, so I will call them tomorrow. I was hoping to have a choice of resource materials to use, but it looks like this certification may not be popular enough to have encouraged a variety of resources.

    Thanks.
    I'm not sure how the testing/training is done now but, I can tell you how it worked when I got my first ASE.

    1) Pretend it's like an MCP/MCSE and buy test prep software from Boson (or other vendor specializing in niche tests), buy a good book (if you can find one) read everything you can find on their website for free, fail test.

    2) Buy Compaq Training materials (expensive), buy/borrow hardware to complete the labs, read everything you can find and memorize it all, fail test.

    3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 spending $125/test until you pass.

    OR

    4) Sign up for an actual class with Compaq/HP (and pay out the a$$), get hands on training, teacher goes over class materials with special emphasis on actual test questions. You are virtually guaranteed to pass.

    The product specialist tests may not be as hard as the ASE tests so this model may not apply. I tried method 1-3 for my first ASE (NT/Proliant), went to class for my second (Storageworks), and went back to method 1-3 for my third (Clustering, which I never finished after completing two of three tests). All of these tests were HARD. The MCSE, including the Accelerated test from NT to 2000, and the Cisco CCNA were cake compared to the Compaq tests. The classroom training really is worth the money, and not just for the answers. The classroom training materials are very detailed but always leave out little bits. The classroom training fills in the little bits and also gives you some pretty good 'hands on'.

    One of the best ways to get something like this paid for is if you send one guy to training and that guy comes back to teach the other guys (managers love this). Half the cost of the classroom training is classroom materials (my cluster materials were over $800 for two books and a CD (for sale BTW, PM me)) http://hp.directedje.com/training/co...ate=course.txt HP also lists WBTs (windows based training) but this also leaves out critical information you need to pass the test http://hp.directedje.com/training/pr....txt&heading=2

    Whichever route you decide to go, you will gain some great insider knowledge and the Cert is a definite plus for employers who use your specific skillset. The ASP is a great launching point. From there you can move into a SANs, clustering, SQL, EBS, etc and you can make some good bucks by specializing in one of those areas.

    Good luck with it!
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  3. #3
    MegaMod DonJ's Avatar
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    This might be a good place to get you started: hp certified professional program. Select your area of main concern in the left-hand column and follow the bouncing ball. Should give you some good basic ideas on where to start...and, Good Luck!

  4. #4
    Registered User SLASH1's Avatar
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    There are actually 3 APS certs. Laptop, desktop and server. I recently got all three of these and I definately have some input. Wait! HP has no idea of what it's doing.

    I downloaded and used their latest and only training material on desktops that included the newest models only to go take a test that was all about Deskpros?!? Luckily, I knew these also and passed. Had I not passed I would have demanded my money back!

    For server it was a bit better and the material matched the test except for one thing. The server training material is filled with laptop instructions. Don't ask me why but it appears to have been thrown together from many sources of material.

    You must have a Server+ cert as a prerequisite. Trust me, if you pass the Server+ you will have no problem with the HP server APS exam.

    For test prep I went to www.mcsebraindumps.com

  5. #5
    Registered User dddwarp's Avatar
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    I passed the APS for servers and desktops with just studying their materials one night. I throught it easy with to much memorization. But I also am A+, Network+, Server+ and MCSE and I work on servers all the time. Allot of the questions I could guess. If you are not that comfortable, get Boson. I used Boson on all of the others certs to see what I had to study.
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    Thanks everyone for your input. I suspect this will be an easy exam to pass as I will only be going for the APS (Proliant Server version) and not the full ASE like Silencio did. I plan on ordering Compaq's training materials, but by the time I got around to calling today, they were closed. At first glance, I did not see any training materials for this exam (010-500) at any of the sites listed above, but I may have missed it. I will look further later tonight.

    Thanks again.
    "Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones

  7. #7
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    I just found a site that has brain dumps for Compaq's 010-500 exam. I have never heard of this company, so I do not know if the quality of the questions is as high as they claim.

    http://www.actualpaper.com/


    Hmm . . . Just found this too. Looks like all the same stuff. Even the testimonials look the same.


    http://www.it-exam.com/index.html
    Last edited by Pinnacle; December 16th, 2003 at 11:46 PM.
    "Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones

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