Passed VCP 6.5 DCV

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Hi all, I have been so busy in work of late but I knew my VCP was going to expire at the end of February, so I have been studying for this in what little spare time I’ve had since November. The exam was pretty tough but a pass is a pass. I’ll post what materials I used tomorrow but for now it’s beer time

 

Thanks mate, I did as I realised it would of taken me until now at the quickest to attempt the AWS. You get email reminders that your VCP is about to expire and if you let it, you then need to sit the week long course in addition to passing the exam to be certified. Passing the exam before it expires means you don't need to do a formal course, although it definitely helps

 

Good stuff mate - congrats

 

Thanks all, so to business. The VCP exams are only as hard as you make them for yourself, in that, if you work with the technology and get your hands dirty in the labs or work environments, you should be fine. Overall I found the 6.5 DCV exam to be pretty tough. I've failed VCP exams in the past through a lack of preparation so here's what I did and in what order as an existing VCP:

1) Download and study the blueprint here. VMware tell you everything you should know to pass an exam so the classic mistake any of us make is to get too caught up in things that are not on the Blueprint. Admittedly there is a lot to learn and some subjects are fascinating, but if it's not on the blueprint, make a note of that for the moment and come back to it when you've passed your exam.

If you are a VCP 6, I found this useful to show what has changed in the blueprint from 6 to 6.5

2) Read the "What's New in vSphere 6.5" whitepaper from VMware here

3) Read/print the VMware Exam Prep Guide for this exam. I found it really useful to print this off and tick each item off to boost my confidence. It also helped me identify areas where I focus on and where I could skim over.

4) CBTs. This time around I used Plurasight as we get a free subscription in work. Pluralsight do not have a VCP6.5 section so you have to piece together the videos that will support you in your studies, namely:
VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6.5]
VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale [V6.5]
VMware vSphere: Install Configure Manage plus Optimize & Scale Fast Track [V6.5]
VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale plus Troubleshooting Fast Track [V6.5]

5) VMware Hands on Labs the above which can take some time if you do it properly. It is essential that you do your lab work as while I cannot break NDA and tell you any questions, I can assure you there will be some along the lines of, you've just done X, what would you would you choose next to achieve Y. If you can't visualise the window you'd be in at this point you're stuffed. The labs are free and most excellent so having servers at home is no longer a barrier to getting your hands dirty, although obviously you should be working with the technology in your career to attempt an exam like this, likely you are as you need to have attended an official VCP course or be an existing VCP to become certified.

6) I always watch CBTs at least twice with a gap in between of two weeks preferably works for me. I feel I take the information in initially but that HOL cements my knowledge so that on the second viewing, the penny really drops for me (hopefully! I've never got anywhere near 500 out of 500 I might add!)

Optional 7) If you have the budget I hear the practice exams are really good to give you an idea of what to expect. Being a VCP4,5,6 prior to this I decided to skip this on this occassion

This may not sound like a great deal but I spent months covering the above. Any questions please don't hesitate to ask. On a side note I felt great pressure on this one as I actually started to work for VMware in January, so you can imagine my relief at passing

Thanks
Jim