Bad experience of VCAP5-DCD Today at VMworld Barcelona

[SeanDA]

I took the VCAP5-DCD exam today at VMworld Barcelona and failed with 280. I had some horrendous issues with the design tool constantly crashing with script errors / flash errors, requiring me to change seats to new
terminals a couple of times. On at least 4 occasions this resulted in me losing all of the work I had completed and having to recreate the drawing from scratch.

Highlight each design tool question for review. I reviewed one of my design tool questions and all of the port groups had moved outside the vSwitch, some had moved off the side of the page, and some disappeared beneath
the text of the question, and I couldn’t move them back! Again the exam monitor tried to help but couldn’t and logged it as another issue.

This got me so flustered, angry and frustrated that I could not concentrate properly….Luckily the exam monitor was monitoring and logging all my issues and has indicated I will get a free retry, but I’m still seriously hacked off about the entire experience.

I’m hoping that when I return to the UK and retake the exam it’s not on a VDI as the latency whilst using the design tool was a joke. I would try and drag and click a number of times and nothing would happen, then
20 seconds later all the buffered up clicks etc would all happen at once and mess up the drawing!

My advice… If you have any issues with the design tool freezing up, or crashing, let the exam monitor know immediately. Keep focussed and keep calm. I know first hand that this is easier said than done when it’s still happening 3 hours in! but with hindsight I really let it bother me and I messed up the whole exam because of it.

This tool has had issues for a long time (I only found this out after speaking to peers about y experience), and I find it incredible that with all the resources available within VMware they cannot fix it .....

Good luck if you are taking this exam in the near future! HAs anyone else had a similar experience?

[JPM300]

Hey SeanDA,

Sorry to hear about your experience with the DCD.  At least you got a re-write voucher and knowing what you do now I'm sure you'll get it next time around

With that said I'm looking into how the scoring is actually done on the design questions as most of the people I have talked to experienced problems with the tool when they where shuffling things around to make sure they are scored properly.  I think if the instructions where laid out clearly on how the scoring will take place it would minimize some of the issues.  Sadly the tool is still code and there will always be bugs / crashes.  However I think if the instructions where laid out how scoring takes place and a note on the question warning people to not move multiple items as it could cash problems it would help a little.

I'm not saying this is a silver bullet to the problem but a place to start.  If I find anything out I will post it in these community forums.

Good luck on your re-write!

[SeanDA]

It does seem odd and far too coincidental that so many people score 275 or 280.

I haven't actually had confirmation that I will receive a voucher as yet, but will hopefully get sorted out tomorrow

Thanks!

[JPM300]

Even though you will probably get a free re-write voucher, I know in VMware in San Fransisco the study room next to the exam area was giving out 35% off re-write attempts as well.  However the voucher was good for only 1 week, so you had to book it before then, however you could schedule it I think up to almost 1 year out.

Just something to keep an eye out for as well encase your interested.

[florianrisso]

Hi Sean,

I had the exact same experience at VMworld.

I took it yesterday and had to switch computer 5 times :smileyalert:

Same feeling, gutted that the design tool created so many issues, I gave up after the 6th attempt when I got the usual script error that crashed the app.

The exam monitor was very friendly and confirmed that EVERY vcap-dcd had issues during VMworld Barcelona... Come on Vmware, sort it out!

I was also notified of the free re-take voucher, waiting for communication on it. I will update this thread when I get news...

[jonhall]

Hello all,

There were two versions of the VCAP5-DCD exam available at the event, the VDCD510 and the VDCD550. We did notice in San Francisco that there were some issues with the VDCD550 exam and the thin clients used for the VMworld event. We narrowed the issue to either a Flash version issue or a resources issue. I was on-hand in Barcelona, but over in the lounge. Unfortunately, no one at the testing center (which was located in a different hall) made me aware that there were problems during the event, so apologies to anyone who experienced problems at the event. Rest assured that this issue is isolated to the hardware and virtual desktops we used at VMworld. If you had an issue at the event and reported the issue to the exam proctor, you should already have a case assigned to resolve the issue. If not, email certification@vmware.com and we will help resolve the issue.

Regards,

Jon C. Hall

Sr. Manager, Technical Certification Developer

jonh@vmware.com

[LFC]

Hi John

I was assigned a case number whilst at Barcelona, and VMware having reviewed the exam, I have now been credited with a voucher to retake the test.

Whilst not ideal for it to happen in the first case, it has been dealt with relatively quickly and I now look forward to retaking.

I am still however (as are most people) a bit unsure as to what the exam simulator is actually asking you to do....just build something that works, or build it to accepted best practice.

Having researched this extensively since my return from Barcelona, the general consensus is that the simulator cannot deal with all the permutations that a best practice design would require, so I'm still in the dark!

Regards
Sean