VCAP-DCA/DCD book overkill?

Asif Dasl

I am just wondering if my reading list for VMware VCAP is on target or not? I plan to read the items for both VCAP-DCA & DCD... has anybody read these books for DCA & DCD? Or is it overkill?

VCAP-DCA:

1. VCAP5-DCA Official Cert Guide: VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5- Data Center Administration: Safari Books Online

2. vSphere Virtual Machine Management: Safari Books Online

3. VMware vSphere Resource Management Essentials: Safari Books Online

4. VMware vSphere™ PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration

VCAP-DCD:

1. VMware vSphere Design, 2nd Edition: Safari Books Online

2. VCAP5-DCD Official Cert Guide: VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5-Data Center Design: Safari Books Online

3. VMware vSphere 5.x Datacenter Design Cookbook: Safari Books Online

4. vSphere Design Best Practices: Safari Books Online

5. Managing and Optimizing VMware vSphere® Deployments: Safari Books Online

6. vSphere High Performance Cookbook: Safari Books Online

I've numbered them just to make it easier to reference... Some of them are short 200 page books - is it too much to read all of these? Or should my focus be on labbing for VCAP-DCA and reading for VCAP-DCD?

Thanks!

QHalo

For the DCA I followed the blueprint. If I found something I didn't know I referenced the vSphere documentation first. Not that those books aren't great, I just went a different path. For the DCD, well what you have is what I'm reading.

Asif Dasl

Thanks man, yeah maybe the DCA books 2,3,4 are would-like-to-reads rather than necessary. I'll read DCA book 1 in like a day not labbing anything and then lab the hell out of the blueprint reading all of the supplementary reading listed on the blueprint. I think you might have offered the advice before of "blueprint, blueprint, blueprint" but I never used it for the VCP so I need to stick it in my startup to remind me to get started on it & to stick by it.

Essendon

While the books may be great (haven't read them), the official documentation + the blueprint + tons of labbing = Pass score on the DCA. You wont need to use any PowerCLI on the exam, note I said 'need', they only care about the end result and not how you arrive at the result. But if you are a gun at PowerCLI, use it by all means. Only 1-2 questions will need the use of PowerCLI or some esxcli commands and the like.. While I'm at it, PowerCLI is a great skill to have and a good admin should know some of it (though entirely possible to get away with no PowerCLI skills at all!).

DCA essential skill set = SPEED + TIME MANAGEMENT + TONS of LABBING/EXPERIENCE

Asif Dasl

I must admit I did wonder if there was any major PowerCLI on the exam, so I chucked a book in to the reading list just to cover my bases.

I can memorize GUI's better than command line but I'm trying to change that by learning PowerShell/PowerCLI for automation which is a little different I guess. Good to know there is not that much of it on the exam anyways.

Maybe I'll hit two birds with one stone and write a couple of book reviews for the blog, need to start fleshing that out a bit!

Much appreciated!

QHalo

The test is more about getting it done the fastest way. If you can do it via PowerCLI faster, then you have that option. If you can do it via the GUI, you can do it that way as well. It's about completing tasks. The process in which it's done doesn't matter as long as it's done according to the requirements.