Presentation given at CloudStack Collaboration Conference in Europe 2015 / CloudStack Collaboration Conference in Europe 2015 の資料です

1. Apache
CloudStack
Examination
Introducing
how
we
developed
the
CloudStack
exam
-­‐ ACCEL-­‐ in
Japan.
CloudStack
Collaboration Conference in
Europe
Dublin,
Ireland
October
8,
2015

2. Who am I
Midori
Oge
@star76popin
Chairman
of
Japan
CloudStack
Users
Group
Systems
Engineer,
SolidFire Inc.

3. Japan CloudStack Users Group
Our
purpose
is
to
promote
CloudStack
through
sharing
experiences
and
information
using
CloudStack
in
Japanese.
events
appeared
on
radio
AdventCalendar
study meeting
book reading

4. What is ACCEL ?

5. What is ACCEL?
• ACCEL
Stands for
Apache
CloudStack
Certification
Exam by
LPI-­‐Japan
• ACCEL
is
provided
by
LPI-­‐Japan
to
promote
cloud
technology
and
develop
engineers.
They
distribute
“LPIC” which is
the
most
popular
IT
certification
in
Japan.
• Certified
people
have
the
skill
and
knowledge
required
to
build,
operate
and
maintain
CloudStack
based
IT
infrastructure
• Japan
CloudStack
Users
Group
supportedthe
development
of
this
exam

6. Why ACCEL?
The
following
issues
are
often
encountered
during
the
expansion
of
the
cloud
market.
• Development
of
engineer
resources
is
not
keeping
up
• difficult
to
ensure
high
level
cloud
engineers
• Showing
the
differentiation
with
other
companies
is
difficult
because
companies
can
not
prove
the
technical
level
of
employees
ACCEL
is
is
very
effective especially
in
Japan,
since
certification
is
an
importantelement in
various
business
fields
Linux
Job
Report
2015
by
Linux
Foundation
❝Forty-­‐two
percent
of
hiring
managers
say
experience
with
or
knowledge
of
OpenStack
and
CloudStack
are
having
a
big
impact
on
their
hiring
decisions.❞

7. Target
• Cloud
service
providers,
System
integrators,
implementing
and
operating
private
cloud
systems
• improvingskillin
developing
and
operating
infrastructure
of
internal
cloud
• people
in
charge
of
IT
systems
who
are
considering
migrating
IT
systems
to
public
cloud
services
• people
who
want
further
skills
as
cloud
engineer

8. Examination System
• 60
questionsin
90
minutes
• CBT
(Computer
Based
Test)
• Multiple
choice
(4-­‐5)
• Target
Apache
CloudStack
Version:4.4
• Passing score: more
than
60%
of
the
total
• Validity
of
the
certification:
3
years
• Pre
requirements:
none
(LPIC1
certified
level
recommended)
• Average learning
period
:
1-­‐3
months
• Price:
15,000
JPY

9. Once you are certified
Earning
certification
helps
you
gain
visibility
for
your
proven
experience,
such
as
• Using
the
functions
of
CloudStack
effectively depends
on
the
purpose
of
use.
• Implementing
CloudStack
systems
while
understanding
the
functions,
the
limitations,
and
choosing
the
appropriate
architecture
model
• Understanding
system
status
and
getting
the
information
needed
for
failure
isolation
methods
• Contributing
to
CloudStack’s
development
through
translation
and
reporting
bugs
Certificate
Certification
Card

10. How we developed

11. Development Flow
Plan
•Scheduling
•Deciding
on
team
members
for
developing
examination
•Preparing
communication
tool
Design
• CreatingGuidelines
and
glossary
• Defining JTA(Job Task Analysis), scope
of
targets, setting
priorities
Develop
ment
• Questions
writing
and
screening, technical
reviews
• Review of
neutrality
• Beta test and
reflection
on feedback
Prepare
for
release
•Registrationof
exam
•Press Release
※ Approved by
board
of
Directors
of
LPI-­‐Japan
April 2014
※
※
※
June
1st 2015 release
May 2014
June 2014
December2014

12. Communication Chart
• 問題レビュー
LPI-­‐Japan
Gen
Narui,
Makoto
Ono,
Kazuko
Itoda,
Toru
Nakatani, Takashi
Imoto
Management
LPI
Directors
Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC
Solution
Innovators
(alphabetical
order)
Inspection
Japan
CloudStack
Users
Group
Midori
Oge,
Tadashi
Mishima
Lead
of
developing
examination
Japan
CloudStack
Users
Group
Satoshi
Shimazaki, Go
Chiba,
Satoru
Nakaya,
Chihiro Hirata,
Ai
Onikata,
Takuma
Nakajima,
Kimihiko Kitase,
Masayuki
Hayashi,
Atsushi
Sasaki,
Natsuki Watanabe,
Mayumi
Koshimizu
Exam
CreatorPEARSON VUE
Distributor
Plan

13. Communication Tool
• We
used
REDMINE
to
provide
information
and
manage
exam
data
• Exam
Creator
issues
a
ticket
on
REDMINE
to
submit
exam
data, after
that
Exam
Developer
checks
it
and
send
back
some
comments.
• Inquiry
• Submission
of
exam
data
• Provide
Information
• Provide
guidelines
• Arrange
schedule
• Request
for
correction
• Meeting
agenda
Exam
Creator Lead developer
• Guideline
• JTA
• Glossary
• Schedule
• Examinations
• Meeting
note
Plan

14. Create the Guidelines
Create
Guidelines
to
clarify
certification
objectives
• Why
get
certified?
• What
is
the
value
of
certification?
• Who
is
the
target?
• What
kind
of
exam
should
we
create?
Design

15. Define JTA
• JTA
(Job
Task
Analysis)
make
a
list
of
skill
sets
needed
to
have
field
experience
for
implementing
and
operating
cloud
systems
using
CloudStack
=
prove
the
certified
people
have
enough
work-­‐ready
skills
and
experience
After
the
skill
set
was
defined,
we
sorted
the
skills
into
sections
and
decided
on
the
ratio
for
each
section.
Design

16. DesignJTA
No Major
Items
No. Sub Items No. Key knowledge area Keyword Required Skill Ratio
1
General
Knowledge
1.1
Overview
Apache
CloudStack
1.1.1 Apache CloudStack
・Whatʼ’s Apache CloudStack?
・License of Apache CloudStack
Understanding the overview Apache CloudStack and
license system
10％
2
The
architecture
of
CloudStack
2.1
The architecture
of components
and functions
2.1.1
Composition of
components
・Cluster
・Pod
・Zone
・Region
Understandingthe role of components
40%
2.1.2
Management Server,
Host, Storage
・Hardware and OS requirements
・Hypervisors(VMWare vSphere, KVM, XenServer, Hyper-‐‑‒V)
・Management Server
・Database Server
・Host
・Primary Storage
・Secondary Storage
・Usage Server
Understanding the functions and architecture of
Management Server and Host, Storage
2.1.3
System VM, Virtual
Router
・Console Proxy VM
・Secondary Storage VM
・Virtual Router
・DHCP, DNS. StaticNAT, VPN, LoadBalancer
・Firewall, PortForwarding
Understanding the functionsand architecture of
System VM and Virtual Router
2.2
Designing
system and
implementing
2.2.1
Whole design, Definition
of requirements
・Sizing – Zone, Pod, Cluster, Host, Storage
・Over Provisioning
・Host Tag, Storage Tag
・VM allocation algorism
Ability to design and define the requirements to
implement cloud systems
2.2.2 Network Design
・Network Model
・Physical Network
・Network – Public, Guest, Management, Storage
・Designing IP Address
・Traffic Label
・Connect to existing environments
Understanding the Network Model and ability to
design networks
2.2.3 System Reliability
・Availability of Management Server
・Availability of Database Server
・Fault Recovery and Disaster Recovery
Understanding the reliability of cloud systems and
ability to design redundancy and backup
2.2.4
Installation and
implementing
・Initial settings – Management Server, Host, Database, Storage
・Preparing System VM Template
Having the knowledge for installation and initial
settings and customization for own environments

17. Design
No Major
Items
No. Sub Items No. Key knowledge area Keyword Required Skill Ratio
3
How to use
CloudStack
3.1 Web user interface
3.1.1 VM and Volumes
・VM
・Volume
・Template, ISO
・Snapshot
Ability to operate VM and Volumes
30%
3.1.2 Network
・Guest Network
・Security Group
・VPC
Ability to customize networks as needed
3.1.3 User
・User
・Account
・Domain
・Project
Understanding the structure of managingusers and ability to manage
the required resources
3.1.4 Monitoring
・Dashboard
・Event
Understandingthe status of resources and event logs
3.2 Admin user interface
3.2.1
Difference of Web UI
behavior by privilege
・Difference of Web UI behavior by privilege Understanding the difference of Web UI behavior by privilege
3.2.2 Global Settings ・Global Settings
Understanding the effect of the settings and parameters on all of the
systems and ability to set them
3.2.3 Service Offerings
・Computing Offering
・System Offering
・Disk Offering
・Network Offering
Ability to define and manage the necessary resources usingservice
offerings
4
Oparation,
Monitoring,
other
utilization
methods
4.1 Operation, Monitoring
4.1.1 Operation, Monitoring
・Start and Stop
・Maintenance mode
・Backup
・Version UP
・Usage monitoring
Ability to operate self-‐‑‒built cloud systems properly
20%4.1.2 Troubleshooting
・log
・case study of troubles
Ability to isolate the cause of troubles and find out the recovery action
4.2 API 4.2.1 API
・privilege of executing API
・how to use API
・synchronize/asynchronize command
Ability to do a range of operations using API
JTA

18. Exam creation and screening
• Exam
creation
policy
create
exam
questions
while
assuming
the
knowledge
that
is
required
when
working
in
the
field
• The
following
are
examples
of
undesirable
questions
- Asking
for
knowledge
which
is
not
related
to
CloudStack
- Asking
about
commercial
version
specific
features
- Including
the
vender
names
and
product
names
(the
hypervisor
name
is
excluded)
- Asking
about
the
possibility
to
be
changed
in
the
future
- Asking
only
about
sentence
structure
rather
than
about
the
content
,
or
trap
questions
- Questions
with
subjective
answers
e.g.
Why
is
CloudStack
better
than
OpenStack?
e.g.
What
are
the
points
to
be
most
careful
about
when
set
to
XX?
develop
ment
Create
Review
Update
Review
Complete
• Questions
were
created,
updated
many
times
through
screening

19. Improving the quality
1. Set
the
difficulty
level
of
each
questions
2. Beta
test
(several
times)
3. Modify
the
difficulty
level
based
on
the
result
of
beta
test
e.g.)
Raise
the
difficulty
level
if
more
than
90%
of
people
answered
correctly
e.g.)
Reduce
the
difficulty
level
if
more
than
90%
of
people
answered
incorrectly
e.g.)
Replace
easy
questions
that
many
people
answered
correctly
and
difficult
questions
that
many
people
answered
incorrectly
e.g.)
Change
easy
questions
to
multiple-­‐selection
from
single-­‐selection
e.g.)
Change
difficult
questions
to
single-­‐selection
from
multiple
selection
4. Compare
with
the
difficulty
level
which
was
set
before and
re-­‐set
the
difficulty
and
re-­‐place
5. Discuss
with
the
stakeholders
based
on
the
survey
results
of
the
beta
test
develop
ment

20. Registration
• Changed
the
format
for
distribution
the
exam
• Developed
the
tool
to
change
the
format
Prepare
for
release
item
1.123
cardinality
=
“single”
correct-­‐response
=
B
min-­‐response
=
1max-­‐response
=
1
presentation
=
[Which
of
the
following
is
the
valid
operation
that
can
be
done
thru
Web
User
Interface
by
Domain
Administrator
?<choice
ident =
“A”>Create
sub
domain<choice
ident =
“B”>Change
the
number
of
the
resource
to
be
allocated
to
Sub
Domain<choice
ident =
“C”>Assign
the
dedicated
host
to
the
account<choice
ident =
“D”>Add
the
LDAP
accounts]

21. Finally released!!

22. Highlights and Lowlights
• Highlights
- Our
ties
were
deepened
through
this
project
- Since
all
members
had
to
create
exam
questions
in
their
free
time,
we
saved
development
time
by
using
the
chosen communication
tool
and
glossary
• lowlights
- Since
it
was
our
first
attempt,
it
took
much
more
time
than
expected
in
the
“designing”
and
“preparing
for
release”
stages
This certification was released through our communityʼ’s efforts.
It also was a very valuable experience for all of us.

23. Next steps
• Preparing
the
next
revision
• Considering
frequency
and
management
method
of
revision
• Publication
of
educational
books
and
planning
training
courses
• The
English
version
will
be
released
this
month!!
=>
Please
give
us
any
feedback
and
comments

24. Sample Question
From
Objective:
3.2.1
-­‐ Web
UI Difference
by
privilege
Which
of
the
following
is
a valid
operation
that
can
be
done
through
Web
User
Interface
by
Domain
Administrator
?
A. Create
Sub
Domain
B. Change
the
number
of
resources
to
be
allocated
to
Sub
Domain
C. Assign
a
dedicated
host
to
the
account
D. Add
the
LDAP
accounts

25. Thank you !!