Hello all,
I'm embarking on the journey to sit the VCAP5-DCD exam and have picked up a lot of good tips and tricks in this forum on how to prepare. Now it's time to actually start studying.
People mention the use of Case Studies and the first link in the Blueprint is for the "VMware Virtualization Case Studies" but when I click that link I see over 500 case studies. Now call me lazy but I can't see myself reading all 523 case studies so I'm somewhat flummoxed as to which ones (if any) I should read.
VDCD510 Section 1 – Create a vSphere Conceptual Design
Objective 1.1 – Gather and analyze business requirements
Tools: VMware Virtualization Case Studies (http://www.vmware.com/a/customers/product/10/VMware+vSphere)
Does anyone have a list of recommended case studies that they found useful or would it be best just to move onto the next item in the objectives?
TIA.
I have found Scott Lowe vSphere Design book very helpful , there is no way in earth you can complete the entire list of case studies. I have put my exam experience on my blog.
http://thinkingloudoncloud.com/2012/10/vcap5-dcd-exam-experainnce-study-tips/
Hi
I would recommend trying to read case studies that are fairly different from each other so that you see what different criteria means to a design. As for skipping any of the objectives i would highly recommend against doing that as every single objective is tested so if you skip it you wont be prepared to do it in the exam.
Gregg
Thanks for the replies. I'll have a look at a few of the case studies. I'm not sure why the Blueprint can't identify say 20/30/40 (or whatever) key case studies to read. I must say I'm not that impressed with the vagueness of the Blueprint recommended study documents. My favorite reference is "Product Documentation". Ummm.
I've read the VMware vSphere Design book, Scott Lowe's other one (Mastering vSphere 5), Duncan's and Frank's deep dive book, and Mustapha Khalil's Storage Implementation in vSphere 5.0 so I guess I'm on the right track. The problem is knowing what kind of question will be asked.
Are there any example questions that VMware provides (as they do for the VCP exam)?
It's honestly a hard exam to study for since it's all over the place and really weighs a lot of personal experience IMO.
Out of all resources I would say Scott Lowes book would be the best, it helped fill in many gaps for me. Moustafa's book is valuable just to read itself; however, goes FARRRRR too technical for intents of the DCD but will definitely cover storage design concepts as well as anything would.
There are no sample questions; however, there is the demo for the visio-style tool that I would highly recommend using prior to taking the exam so you're not blindsided.
Outside of that, I would just read the many DCD experience posts out there.
Good luck!
I am on the same track than you. I started to listen to Brownbag podcast.They have a series of podcast around every objective of the VCAP5-DCD test.
You can get them on http://professionalvmware.com/
Thanks for the further replies. I've also started the vBrownbag podcasts too having read previous posts recommending them. I guess it's just a matter now of covering all the material and then revising revising revising to let it sink in. Thanks for all the feedback and good luck to everyone else who is preparing for the exam.
Hi
If you're interested I've listed all the resources i'm using for each of the VCAp exams on my blog here: http://thesaffageek.co.uk/vsphere-5-study-resources/vcap5-dca-dcd/
Gregg
Thanks Gregg. Yes, your site was one which I used to organize my study preparation. Very useful it was too so a big Thank You for putting that together.
I sat the exam yesterday and scraped through with 310 so just 10 marks above the 300 passing mark. Close but I'll take it!
Some useful points to note:
So, as my days are free at the moment it's on to the VCAP5-DCA exam.... the study begins again.
Rosco, congratulations on passing. what method and materials do you use for the exam?
Cheers Desigan!
These were the resources I used:
Good luck to all looking to tackle this exam!
Gregg's experience is a also must: http://thesaffageek.co.uk/2013/01/22/vcap5-dcd-my-experiences/
Lot of useful information.
Thanks for the linkage Andrea :smileygrin:
My +1 to Greg's experience.
Congrats!