Took the VCAP5-DTA exam today

.. and am totally spent ..

Lets talk about the good bits first..

- I think I'll pass. Always a good feeling eh?! I had 23 questions, of which I completely answered 18, 4 mostly and 1 I took a punt at.
- Great exam and dare I say easier than the other VCAP's I have done, though that may be due to the experience I have with vSphere (not VMware View though, of which I have zero professional experience) and the other VCAP's I have already passed.
- The exam has much better flow than the DCA exam. Each item nicely builds on the preceding one and there are multiple instances of things that makes accidental screw-ups less likely.
- The exam nicely lists things you should NOT do. For example, if they say dont delete a desktop, you dont do it because it's used later.
- The Pearson Professional Center was awesome, it was the first time I went there. Noise-cancelling headphones, really effective, though 2 hours into the test I was the only one still there..

The bad bits..

- The lag was ATROCIOUS!!! The rendering over the RDP connection was just shocking. I reckon I probably lost about an hour over the 3 hour period. At question 5, the clock had already ticked over 1 hour. Within my rights, I complained to the wonderful proctor lady about the problem and she got on the phone right away and somehow got the person on the other end to give me an additional 60 minutes. So I sat there, glued to the machine for more than 4 hours. Almost impossible to keep the urge to wee at bay, I was bursting at the end of it all.
- The documentation is impossible to scroll through, the best you can do is do a Ctrl + F if you know what you are looking for. The do a next > next to hopefully get to where you want.
- There was one thing missing from a sub-question. Not that big a deal if I pass the test.

I'll do a longer writeup over on my blog when I have some downtime. For now, the wait begins.. Some folks have got their results back overnight, while others have waited weeks on end though of late, VMware have picked up their game. Just wish they did something about the lag though, impossible to believe how bad it was. What makes it worse is you cannot do another task while the first one's in progress because the damned screen just freezes.

Thanks for reading!

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Comments

jibbajabba

Nice writeup - thanks. I hoped the lags are fixed by now. With all the current technologies you'd think they manage to have the test environment locally now rather than having to connect to the US no matter where you are.

Can't be that hard to spin up an exam environment in their local vCHS DCs.

You are a machine so yea - you very likely passed (wished I could get my a** in gear for the DCA)

kj0

I just love your motivation - I'll have to get back into it again - quick.

You would think there would be some way they could consolidate the gear so they could run it locally and cheaply .. If only something existed..

Essendon

Cheers guys! Yeah they should absolutely have something run locally in Australia or at least in the APAC region. You've got to believe me when I say that at times the lag was bad enough to just about make me smash the friggin' screen.

I've opened up a case with VMware Edu Ops too, lets see what they have to say about this. I hope Josh Andrews sees this thread too.

Essendon

Update: In case anyone's wondering, I have somehow failed this test. Bizarre. Retaking on the 31st.

GSXRules

I hope you didn't just get the results?

Note that vCHS just announced this week agreements to put a DC in APAC.

You were using the HTML docs on pubs.vmware.com or the PDFs copied into the kit?

FYI you have to say my name 3 times to make me appear. Or use Twitter.

Essendon

Thanks for responding Josh! Yeah they gave me a breakdown too, already working on the relevant areas. I used the pdf's in the kit, never knew you could go to pubs.vmware.com. I'll follow you on Twitter shortly.

Do you know if there's a timeline for the DC in the APAC region? I did glance on the subject when it was announced, but that was it.

GSXRules

When did you receive your score, I show the result was sent within a few hours of exam completion?

There are links on the desktop to the manuals and kb.vmware.com

I don't know of a date for a APAC DC.

ninjaturtle

Essendon wrote: »

Update: In case anyone's wondering, I have somehow failed this test. Bizarre. Retaking on the 31st.

Sorry to hear you didn't pass. I hate that feeling when you thought it was a good test out, and you felt that you passed, yet your met with those despicable four letters. Props on scheduling a retake right away to conquer it. I'm sure you'll pass the 2nd time around.

I had no idea you had to wait for VMware exams. I've only taken Cisco exams. Gosh that has to be brutal to wait for your results. Looking to take some VMware exams here soon, I'm not looking forward for the wait to see results.

GSXRules

VCP and VCAP-xxD are instant. DCA510, DCA550, DTA510 are 15min-5hours for the majority of candidates and normally next business day for anyone else. CIA510 is a couple days at least.
Prior to early March (at least) delays were 5-20 days.

ninjaturtle

Any reason why they have a delay, as opposing to Cisco. Possibly because of labs? That's the only reason I could think of, but regardless good to know.

Essendon

Yeah the delay is because of the script they run (and any hand scoring they do, if needed) after the test. My grading took longer than usual because of the issues I had on on the day. And your right, it sucks big time to have failed any test. But I'm back at it, with a vengeance. Thinking back, I think I know where I may have given incorrect answers, there may be a fundamental flaw in my understanding of a particular topic (on which I had 6-7 questions).

For anyone else thinking of this test or any other VCAP, they can ask you questions on anything in the blueprint. Anything and in any detail. When I was preparing for a particular topic, I was like - nah, they cant ask questions about everything in here. And that's precisely what happened - I had 2 questions from that topic. Damn..

Asif Dasl

Sorry to hear you didn't pass, I thought it was a bit of a long wait however you do seem to have a bit of a knack with this VMWare stuff so I fully expect to see you pass on your next attempt. Good Luck with it at the end of the month!

Thanks for the VCAP advice also, I've a gearbox full of neutrals with it being summer and all but I will get my ass in to gear in the next few weeks for VCAP-DCA.

dave330i

It's unfortunate that you didn't pass. On the bright side, it took less than 2 weeks to find out your result.

Essendon

Cheers gents, yeah it was a bit of a bummer that I didnt pass. Dave, they have picked up their game these days, like Josh said above VMware now provide score reports very quickly..

Asif Dasl

Any news?

Essendon

282. Gutted. Had a few issues, logged ticket with VMware.

Asif Dasl

Hard luck man, sorry to hear it - you were so close... You going to re-sit soon or think it over?

It was a hell of a challenge you took on in the first place.

Essendon

Cheers mate. It isn't a difficult exam, that's for sure. It's actually quite easy and the questions are straightforward, only problem is you need to have experience with those things out in the wild. Labbing at home isn't quite going to get me there.

Having said the above, I was quite confident pressing the finish button this time. I had the 'satisfied' feeling after thinking about it on the way to work after the exam, obviously I didnt do enough which is a bummer. I now know where I lack the knowledge and honestly, I'd expect a VCAP-DTA to know that topic well.

With me starting a new job in 14 days, this might just go on the backburner for a while. Or I might go in again like a wounded, raging bull and kick it in the guts next time. Dunno!

ehnde

Don't give up. You CAN do this. You have done it! You're just proving it now.

Essendon

Cheers bud! Yeah I know the cert's gettable, no doubt about it. It's just a matter of prioritizing things, I reckon the new job's more important. I might get just my motivation and confidence together for another attempt before the new job begins since I know what to focus on.

Asif Dasl

@Essendon - I'm a bit surprised to hear that it's an easy-ish exam, I was looking at your blog and there seems to be a lot of VMs / moving parts there. But it's the ol' experience before exam kicker which got me on some MS exams too over the years. You didn't have long to wait this time, which is something.

Good luck with the new job, contracting right? It should be some nice bank, a better way to reduce taxes than being a paid employee that's for sure...

Essendon

Thanks Asif. Yep, trying my hand at contracting for a while. Quite a few mate are into contracting and the kind of money they make definitely motivated me to go for it too. 6 months initially, then 2 x 6 month extensions likely. It's be absolutely amazing if it lasts the entire 18 months, would be awesome experience (and money)!

dave330i

That sucks. You were pretty close. Should have gone for the DTD. That wasn't too bad.

Essendon

Cheers Dave, the DTD's next.

Essendon

BIG Update: Turns out I did enough on the test to be able to pass it!! Upon review they've determined the issues I had prevented me from achieving a passing score. I passed by the skin of my teeth, but like they say a pass is a pass.

So yeah, the DTA's been achieved within 80 days. Anything's doable guys, all depends on the amount of effort put in. I start my new job on the 18th, so certs will take a back seat for a little while. But the VCAP5-DTD is next, I just cant get enough certs!

stryder144

Now that, Essendon, is freakin' awesome! Congrats! I am glad to hear that VMware actually reviews things, especially considering you put in a trouble ticket on it. Too many companies simply take your money and shrug their shoulders when things like that happen.

tstrip007

Congrats!

kj0

Excellent news bud. Congrats. How long do you reckon from starting your new job until you start tacking the exams again?

Essendon

Thanks guys! Yep, VMware are considerate provided the troubles you've had are genuine. Josh Andrews, Linus Bourque and their team members put in lots of effort towards these exams these days. If they did something about the terrible lag during these Administration exams, lots more people would take the plunge and do these exams.

@kj0 - Pretty obvious that my performance during the initial months of the new contract job will determine whether I get extensions or not, so I think my next cert exam could well be 6 months away. But I know I'm going to get the itch to study for a cert again soon enough

. Just cant get enough of the adrenaline rush that comes with passing a difficult exam!

I'd like to reiterate that the VCAP exams are awesome to study for, I highly encourage everyone here to throw procrastination out the window, study and lab real hard, get the damned VCP out of the way and start studying for the VCAP's. The knowledge I've gained over the past 12 months as a result of these exams helped me develop my skills and get me my new job.

Asif Dasl

That's awesome, awesome news!! Congrats! You've slayed 3 beasts so far, VCDX must be getting close on the horizon - but I guess the new job takes priority for the moment. Well Done!