Passed VCAP5-DCD!
Essendon
Member Posts: 4,546 ■■■■■■■■■■
Yep, it's done and dusted!
Stoked? Yes! Relieved? Very!!
For those who dont remember or havent followed along, this was my 3rd attempt at this brutal beast of an exam. Like Dave said in another thread, this is a speed reading and comprehension test. You have to be quick. I was very quick off the blocks, I was at question 30 after the first hour. I only had 1 Visio-esque question upto this point, which I believe I had correctly answered. With my confidence up, I was able to race through the multiple choice questions. Got to the end with about 30 seconds to spare. And strangely (albeit thankfully!) the score showed up instantly. When I failed the first two tries, the score takes a while to pop up as if the computer was commiserating!
What did I do differently this time? I ensured I spent more time on the Visio-esque questions because they carry more weight. 6 questions again, only 1 repeated from last time and one from the 1st time. But they were the easier ones. The other 4 were new.
How did I prepare differently? This time I focused more on the not-so-everyday bits such as RPO/RTO (DR type stuff, I mean), Metrocluster solutions, HA/DRS/StorageDRS/vMotion etc from a management perspective. I looked at the exam differently, is what I am getting at. Read more whitepapers this time, more best practices guides (some questions wanted a best practice solution - so read all those guides), more P2V related blogs/whitepapers.
I ended up with a 321, which I'll take very happily. I was confident pressing the Finish button and expected a slightly higher score, but who cares? I dont, for sure! Heading out for a few drinks to celebrate.
Thanks to TE and its members - you guys made this possible with the encouragement and motivation when I failed twice before. I didnt take the first 2 tries failures, they were just stumbling blocks. Passing this time just made it sweeter!
Stoked? Yes! Relieved? Very!!
For those who dont remember or havent followed along, this was my 3rd attempt at this brutal beast of an exam. Like Dave said in another thread, this is a speed reading and comprehension test. You have to be quick. I was very quick off the blocks, I was at question 30 after the first hour. I only had 1 Visio-esque question upto this point, which I believe I had correctly answered. With my confidence up, I was able to race through the multiple choice questions. Got to the end with about 30 seconds to spare. And strangely (albeit thankfully!) the score showed up instantly. When I failed the first two tries, the score takes a while to pop up as if the computer was commiserating!
What did I do differently this time? I ensured I spent more time on the Visio-esque questions because they carry more weight. 6 questions again, only 1 repeated from last time and one from the 1st time. But they were the easier ones. The other 4 were new.
How did I prepare differently? This time I focused more on the not-so-everyday bits such as RPO/RTO (DR type stuff, I mean), Metrocluster solutions, HA/DRS/StorageDRS/vMotion etc from a management perspective. I looked at the exam differently, is what I am getting at. Read more whitepapers this time, more best practices guides (some questions wanted a best practice solution - so read all those guides), more P2V related blogs/whitepapers.
I ended up with a 321, which I'll take very happily. I was confident pressing the Finish button and expected a slightly higher score, but who cares? I dont, for sure! Heading out for a few drinks to celebrate.
Thanks to TE and its members - you guys made this possible with the encouragement and motivation when I failed twice before. I didnt take the first 2 tries failures, they were just stumbling blocks. Passing this time just made it sweeter!
Comments
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Ivanjam
Member Posts: 978 ■■■■□□□□□□
Fall 2014: Start MA in Mathematics [X]
Fall 2016: Start PhD in Mathematics [X] -
kj0
Member Posts: 767
Excellent write up. Congrats. As I said, I look forward to reading your books! haha.
Time to finally update the Signature
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dave330i
Member Posts: 2,091 ■■■■■■■■■■
Congrats. Now you can attempt the fun filled experience known as VCDX.
2018 Certification Goals: Maybe VMware Sales Cert
"Simplify, then add lightness" -Colin Chapman -
Asif Dasl
Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
Congrats man! I knew you had it in you! You wanted it so bad..
Good luck with whatever you have lined up next! -
blargoe
Member Posts: 4,174 ■■■■■■■■■□
Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment.IT guy since 12/00
Recent: 11/2019 - RHCSA (RHEL 7); 2/2019 - Updated VCP to 6.5 (just a few days before VMware discontinued the re-cert policy...)
Working on: RHCE/Ansible
Future: Probably continued Red Hat Immersion, Possibly VCAP Design, or maybe a completely different path. Depends on job demands... -
Kinet1c
Member Posts: 604 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats on the pass!2018 Goals - Learn all the Hashicorp products
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity -
azjag
Member Posts: 579 ■■■■■■■□□□
Congratulations on the pass. Are you going to jump into the VCDX or take a break?Currently Studying:
VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Data Center Administration (VCAP5-DCA) (Passed)
VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 – Data Center Design (VCAP5-DCD) -
Essendon
Member Posts: 4,546 ■■■■■■■■■■
Thanks guys!
As for the VCDX, that is the ultimate goal - but it's beyond my reach just yet. I need more experience with the product, both design and administration. I've read many blogs out there about the marathon that is the VCDX, and have formed some idea of the amount of work that'll have to go into preparing for it. I reckon it's akin to Cisco's CCDE cert, another very elusive cert out there.
I gotto get the MCSE for work though first, will rebuild my lab with Hyper-v soon. Bit of change of pace will be good I reckon. -
Konflikt
Member Posts: 43 ■■■□□□□□□□
great job, congrats. well done!for 2013: [x] 3x VCA, [x] VCAP5-DCA, [-] VCAP-DCD - failed. PASSED in 2014
for 2014: [x] BACP, [x] SCP, [x] 70-409, [x] VCAP-DCD
for 2015: [x] VCP6-DCV,
for 2016: [x] upgrade VCAPs to VCIX6-DCV, [x] CCNA [-]
2019: NEW job, back to again to the datacenter area:)
My Virtual blog: vthing.wordpress.com
