VCAP5-DCD - The study begins

[RoscoT]

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.

[kooltechies]

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/

[firestartah]

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

[RoscoT]

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)?

[slaclair]

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!

[Bartmosss]

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/

[RoscoT]

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.

[firestartah]

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

[RoscoT]

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.

[RoscoT]

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:

• Many people have mentioned the tightness of time to finish the exam and I must agree that it was very tough on that front. I finished the last question with 10 seconds remaining. I had to complete the final 15 questions in 15 minutes and there were a fair few drag and drop questions in there. Many questions require lots of reading including the multiple choice questions. I ended up having to skim read the questions for the last half of the exam.
  
• I had no option to mark ANY question for review. So that applies to the Visio like drawing ones, the drag and drop, and the multiple choice questions. I could not proceed without answering a question and there was no box to mark the question for review. After answering the final question the exam was over. Not sure if it was meant to be like that or some kind of error with the testing center here in London. As it turned out I would not have had time to review anything anyway.
  
• I received the "Congratulation you passed the exam" message immediately which surprised me (on two counts :smileylaugh:) as I thought it took some weeks before you were notified of the result. Anyway, a pleasant surprise.
  
• At least in my exam, there were no 5.1 specific questions. I checked the blueprint a few days before taking the exam and all the referenced documents were still referring to the 5.0 ones.
  

So, as my days are free at the moment it's on to the VCAP5-DCA exam.... the study begins again.

[Desigan19]

Rosco, congratulations on passing. what method and materials do you use for the exam?

[RoscoT]

Cheers Desigan!

These were the resources I used:

• The Forbes Guthrie VMware vSphere Design book.
  
• Scott Lowe's Mastering VMware vSphere 5
  
• Duncan and Frank's vSphere 5 Clustering Technical Deepdive.
  
• My study notes used for preparating for the VCP5 exam.
  
• The Brownbag podcasts: http://professionalvmware.com/brownbags/
  
• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Design [v5.X] free online training: http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrreg/courses.cfm?ui=www_edu&a=one&id_subject=31255
  
• All documents referenced in the Blueprint. Many of the referenced documents are actually quite long winded and only require a skim read. I opened every referenced document and concentrated on what I though was relevant from a design perspective. I ignored the documents I'd covered when preparing for the VCP5 exam as I felt my notes would be sufficient as I had studied for the VCP exam with one eye on the VCAP5 exams too.
  

Good luck to all looking to tackle this exam!

[AndreTheGiant]

Gregg's experience is a also must: http://thesaffageek.co.uk/2013/01/22/vcap5-dcd-my-experiences/

Lot of useful information.

[firestartah]

Thanks for the linkage Andrea :smileygrin:

[Techstarts]

My +1 to Greg's experience.

[Desigan19]

Thank you RoscoT

Passed VCAP5-DCD 🙂

[AndreTheGiant]

Congrats!