Although this is commonly a blog in German language, I decided to do this posting in English. Because it contains a lot of (imho) useful links that might be helpful for vcp5 students from everywhere.
Official sources (vmware):
This is the starting point for your learning journey. It contains all subjects und links to official documentation and whitepapers. For my (and your) convenience I listed all PDF Links from the blueprint guide in the list below.
VMware vSphere Basics guide
vSphere Installation and Setup guide
vCenter Server and Host Management guide
vSphere Upgrade guide
VMware vSphere Examples and Scenarios guide
Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager
vSphere Security guide
VMware vCloud: Requirements for a Cloud
VMware vCloud: Service Definition for a Public Cloud
VMware vCloud: Service Definition for a Private Cloud
vSphere 5.0 Licensing, Pricing and Packaging Whitepaper
vSphere Networking guide
vSphere Storage guide
VMware vSphere Storage Appliance Installation and Configuration guide
VMware vSphere Storage Appliance Administration guide
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration guide
Installing and Configuring VMware Tools Guide
OVF Tool User Guide
vSphere Availability guide
vSphere Resource Management guide
VMware Data Recovery Administration guide
vSphere Host Profiles guide
Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager guide
Reconfiguring VMware vSphere Update Manager
vSphere Monitoring and Performance guide
vSphere Troubleshooting guide
Mock Exam
vSphere5-Documentation-Center
Helpful blogs:
Simon Long Blog (SLOG): (http://www.simonlong.co.uk/blog/vcp5-practice-exams/)
Very good to check your knowledge.
vReference: (http://www.vreference.com/)
Provides excellent learning tools. Condensed down to the minimum as Reference Cards (Networking, Resources, Availability, VM, vCenter, Install, Hosts, and Storage). Thanks, Forbes – good work! 🙂 He also provides his notes on vcp5 exam preparation.
Dudley Smith’s Blog: (http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/DudleySmith)
Dudley Smith did a great job by putting together all information about Connections and Ports in an ESXi environment.
Jason Langer’s Blog: (http://virtuallanger.com/vcp5/)
Great learning resource. Jason put together all topics of the VCP5 Exam Blueprint and added extracts for each section. Very good to give you a quick overview. Some sections refer to his own blogsite and some to ValCo Labs which is a very good resource too.