Hi Tom.
You're not out of place at all. I have been out of pocket on some large projects and have not had the time to swing back to this forum.
Sorry folks... :smileyblush:
I did take the VCAP5-DCD exam back about 2 weeks ago. I unfortunately missed by just a few points. I actually ran out of time with roughly 12-13 remaining unanswered questions (one of which was of course, a diagram-based Design Tool question :smileyangry:). However, one more correctly answered question would likely have passed me. I found the entire exam experience to be very different than any exam I have ever taken before. Raw memorization and last-minute cramming WILL NOT help you with this exam. You must know and understand the foundations of the Design Methodology that VMware follows.
I found the biggest set back I had personally was the use of the Design Tool. I had 6 questions of this type. I found that not only was I struggling to read the scenario really fast, but I was also struggling to figure out what exactly the scenario wanted me to create in the diagram and where/how to lay out the objects in the way that was expected. In my humble opinion, there should be a bit more than a basic (and very short) overview and simulation or the Design Tool (available here https://mylearn.vmware.com/register.cfm?course=149330). The simulation was helpful, but not enough to help you understand what the required layouts are of the objects and where on the page to place the objects. There should really be a resource available that outlines how to use this Design Tool as it relates to the exam. I honestly had no idea where to place the objects, what objects needed to be inside other objects, and if the objects I was placing were being placed where they were supposed to go.
The rest of the exam was fair and did not need complex deciphering. The questions were based on the content as exactly outlined in the exam VCAP5-DCD Blueprint. KNOW THESE OBJECTIVES.
After taking the exam, I have found that there are key resources I had already had that would have helped me significantly for this exam. These resources are as follows...
- Pluralsight's (used to be Trainsignal) Scott Lowe's training video entitled Designing VMware Infrastructure. Hands-Down, this is the best resource in my opinion that I used that aligned perfectly with the content I was tested on during the exam
- Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Design [v5.X] was a great course to run through to help with absorbing the concepts and foundations of vSphere Design
- The infamous vBrownbag Podcasts. There is a VCAP5-DCD set of 15 Podcasts all around the content of this exam. There are guest presenters that are well versed in the topics covered. A great resource!
- A book entitled VMware vSphere Design by Forbes Guthrie, Scott Lowe, and Kendrick Coleman. This book has been in my hand since I started studying for the VCAP5-DCD exam. Great book, well written, aligns with the exam blueprint
- A book entitled VMware vSphere 5.1 Clustering Deepdive by Duncan Epping and Frank Denneman (this helped me significantly with getting my head around the specifics of HA, DRS, sDRS, and Stretched Clusters (yes, be prepared to answer questions on Stretched Clusters)
- A book entitled Networking for VMware Administrators by Chris Wahl and Steven Pantol. Great for filling in gaps on design and practices for everything networking in vSphere (VSS, VDS, and 3rd Party). Great book!
I will be rescheduling this exam very soon. There is a 14-day wait period to retake. So, I will be back to tackle this one!!!!
Best of luck on the exam folks.
John
