For vSphere 4 and vSphere 5, VMware released advanced exams testing the ability of a person to administer and design complex virtual environments. The exams for vSphere 5 are the VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5-Data Center Administration (VCAP5-DCA) exam, which focuses on administering a VMware vSphere environment, and the VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5-Data Center Design (VCAP5-DCD) exam, which focuses on designing a VMware vSphere environment.
The VCAP5-DCD exam tests your ability to design enterprise virtualized environments. To be successful, you must have an in-depth understanding of VMware's core components and the relationship they share with other components of the datacenter, such as storage, networking, and application services, along with a mastery of VMware's datacenter design methodologies and principles. All the exam objectives, including study resources, can be found in the exam blueprint. The exam blueprint can be found on the VCAP5-DCD page at http://www.vmware.com/go/vcapdcd.
Before you are eligible to take the VCAP5-DCD exam, you should have obtained the VMware Certified Professional 5–Data Center Virtualization (VCP5-DCV) certification. Besides the training required for the VCP5-DCV certification, there is no other required training that must be completed in order to sit the VCAP5-DCD exam. When you are ready to schedule your VCAP5-DCD exam, you must submit an exam authorization request to VMware. When you submit the exam authorization request, VMware will verify that you have met the certification prerequisites and provide you with the access necessary to schedule the exam. It typically takes less than two business days to receive the exam authorization.
The exam consists of 100 questions and is scored using a scaled scoring system. You have 4 hours to complete the exam, and the exam has a scoring scale of 100-500 with a minimum passing score of 300. The questions are comprised of a mixture of multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, and design scenarios. Once you have submitted an answer for a question, you are not allowed to return to that question. It is important to note that there is also no way to flag an item for later review.
The VCAP-DCD exam is one of the most challenging exams I have ever taken. Here are a few tips to help you prepare for and successfully sit the VCAP-DCD exam:
Study the material on the exam blueprint: The exam blueprint lists all the objectives of the exam, along with links to documentation related to each exam objective.
Schedule your exam: Scheduling your exam sets a goal date for you to work towards. Setting the date can provide motivation to help you stay on track with your studying efforts.
Watch the APAC vBrownBag DCD5 Series: The APAC vBrownBag did a series of podcasts focusing on the VCAP-DCD exam for vSphere 5 exam objectives. These podcasts are very helpful and provide a valuable study resource. The podcast can be found at the following link:
Get familiar with the exam design interface: On VMware's VCAP Certification page for the DCD exam, there is a UI Demo that will help get you familiar with the design interface that is used on the exam.
Practice time management: It is very important that you are aware of the amount of time you are taking on a question, and how much time remains. If you get hung up on a multiple-choice question, take your best guess and move on. Conserve time for the more complex, drag-and-drop and design scenario questions.
Answer every question: A question left unanswered will be marked incorrect and will not benefit your score in any way. A guess has some chance of being correct.
Study the material on the exam blueprint: I know this has already been mentioned once, but it is worth mentioning again. The exam blueprint contains all the testable objectives. Study it!
For up-to-date information on the VCAP-DCD certification, to download the exam blueprint, to view the Exam UI Demo, and to book your VCAP-DCD exam, visit the VMware VCAP Certification page at http://www.vmware.com/go/vcap.