Hello,
I am looking for resources to prepare for the VCAP6.5-DCV Design exam. I was hoping to be able to blog about each section in the blueprint, but they are extremely vague and doing so would not be an easy task as compared to a "Deploy" exam. The blueprint can be seen here: https://mylearn.vmware.com/lcms/web/portals/certification/exam_prep_guides/Exam_Prep_Guide_VCAP6.5-D...
The Exam Guide just lists vague topics and then has links at the bottom, some of which are outdated and no longer pertain to 6.5:
Section 1. Create a vSphere 6.5 Conceptual Design.
Objective 1.1 – Gather and analyze business requirements.
Objective 1.2 – Gather and analyze application requirements.
Objective 1.3 – Determine risks, requirements, constraints, and assumptions.
Section 2. Create a vSphere 6.x Logical Design from an Existing Conceptual Design.
Objective 2.1 – Map business requirements to a vSphere 6.x logical design.
Objective 2.2 – Map service dependencies.
Objective 2.3 – Build availability requirements into a vSphere 6.x logical design.
Objective 2.4 – Build manageability requirements into a vSphere 6.x logical design.
Objective 2.5 – Build performance requirements into a vSphere 6.x logical design.
Objective 2.6 – Build recoverability requirements into a vSphere 6.x logical design.
Objective 2.7 – Build security requirements into a vSphere 6.x logical design.
Section 3. Create a vSphere 6.x Physical Design from an Existing Logical Design.
Objective 3.1 – Transition from a logical design to a vSphere 6.x physical design.
Objective 3.2 – Create a vSphere 6.x physical network design from an existing logical design.
Objective 3.3 – Create a vSphere 6.x physical storage design from an existing logical design.
Objective 3.4 – Determine appropriate computer resources for a vSphere 6.x physical design.
Objective 3.5 – Determine virtual machine configuration for a vSphere 6.x physical design.
Objective 3.6 – Determine data center management options for a vSphere 6.x physical design.
I would just start with the VCAP6.5-DCV Deploy exam and use the blogging strategy but that's not out yet. Below is the blueprint for the official training course. What trips me up about it is that each of these seem like common sense topics. When I try to click for more information on this online course the site just crashes, but I presume that I can't afford it and that it would also be more cost-effective to have multiple attempts at this $400-something exam rather than take the course once and pass the test on the first time.
Course Introduction
Introductions and course logistics
Course objectives
Infrastructure Assessment
Follow a proven process to design a virtualization solution
Define customer business objectives
Gather and analyze business and application requirements
Document design requirements, constraints, assumptions, and risks
Use a systematic method to evaluate and document design decisions
Create a conceptual design
Core Management Infrastructure
Determine the number of vCenter Server and VMware Platform Services Controller™ instances to include in a design
Choose the appropriate platforms for vCenter Server components
Choose the appropriate single sign-on identity source
Choose the time synchronization method
Choose methods to collect log files and ESXi core dumps
Design a vCenter Server deployment topology that is appropriate for the size and requirements of the data center
Virtual Data Center Infrastructure
Calculate total capacity requirements for a design
Create a virtual data center cluster design that meets business and workload requirements
Evaluate the use of several management services, such as VMware vSphere® High Availability and VMware vSphere® Distributed Resource Scheduler™, in the virtual data center
Evaluate the use of resource pools in the virtual data center design
Compute Infrastructure
Create a compute infrastructure design that includes the appropriate ESXi boot, installation, and configuration options
Choose the ESXi host hardware for the compute infrastructure
Storage Infrastructure
Calculate storage capacity and performance requirements for a design
Evaluate the use of different storage platform and storage management solutions
Design a storage platform and storage management architecture that meets the needs of the vSphere environment
Network Infrastructure
Evaluate the use of different network component and network management solutions
Design a network component architecture that includes information about network segmentation and virtual switch types
Design a network management architecture that meets the needs of the vSphere environment
Virtual Machine Design
Make virtual machine design decisions, including decisions about resources
Design virtual machines that meet the needs of the applications in the vSphere environment and follow VMware best practices
Infrastructure Security
Make security design decisions for various layers in the vSphere environment
Design a security strategy that meets the needs of the vSphere environment and follows VMware best practices
Infrastructure Manageability
Make infrastructure manageability design decisions that adhere to business requirements
Design an infrastructure manageability strategy that meets the needs of the vSphere environment and follows VMware best practices
Infrastructure Recoverability
Make infrastructure recoverability design decisions that adhere to business requirements
Design an infrastructure recoverability strategy that meets the needs of the vSphere environment and follows VMware best practices.
