VCAP6-DCV Design Exam Experience

Experience

For the last few months i’ve been on a bit of VCAP journey completing the deploy VCAP for DCV, NV and DTM tracks. Now it was time to try my hand on the design exams, first up DCV. There are some good resources out there for this exam which I will mention, if you are looking to sit this exam hopefully my list and experience can add to what you have already.

This exam is not easy by any means, some people will find it easier then others but it is still a tricky exam. I did fail this exam before eventually passing which in itself wasnt an issue I have failed exams before in the past but this was the first time i’ve ever left a test centre wondering how I could possibly revise and do better on the next attempt. There wasn’t any topic I didn’t understand but the questions are very open for interpretation, for instance you will be given vague requirements and you need to link those requirements to design characteristics such as availability or recoverability. Some of these questions can be linked to more then one characteristic and you get docked points if you select the wrong ones, so it can be a bit of mine field where you will second guess yourself.

My advise here will be to not to over think things, stick to you what you first select and dont dwell on things. I even marked some questions for review but decided to stick with my initial thoughts.

You do still get technical questions around certain feature on the products and the Visio drawings are around there products. The layout of the drawings are key, if you had too many components or connections you will lose points. The last paragraph in the question will give you clear instructions on how to layout the drawing, you must stick to this even if you think the drawing isnt tidy remember this design isnt yours or for your client.

The following is the resources I used but you will need to real life experience to call upon as well good luck! I now have a nice VCIX6-DCV badge.

Resources

Book - IT Architect: Foundation in the Art of Infrastructure Design: A Practical Guide for IT Architects.

Scott Lowe’s PluralSight - https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/designing-vmware-infrastructure

Gregg Robertson has some more resources - https://thesaffageek.co.uk/vsphere-6-x-dcv-study-resources/vcap6-deploy-design/

Function vrs non-functional - https://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadBody/17409-102-2-22494/Functional%20versus%20Non-functional.pdf

Some example dependency diagrams - https://virtualizingkim.wordpress.com/dependency-diagrams/

HIPAA security guide - http://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/product-applicability-guide-hipaa-hitech-technical-guide.pdf

Study group - https://plus.google.com/wm/1/communities/103910393937429082483

Example test - http://virtualtiers.net/

Another example test - http://vmusketeers.com/blog/vcap6-dcv-design-quiz/

Security guide - http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-60-security-guide.pdf