It was a long road to the VCAP 4 DCA exam, but not for the reasons most would think.
It wasn’t study or skilling up, It was because I was diagnosed with NHL at the ripe old age of 29. I basically put my life on hold as in my mind I was thinking why put the effort in if I find out I don’t have too long left or treatment doesn’t work. I was very negative which was a bit unusual for me, But I had a pregnant wife and a 4 year old boy to be there for so as my wife would tell me…. “eat some cement and harden the F**K up”
But now with the cancer behind me and now feeling better than ever I booked the VCAP4 DCA exam, I could have waited for VCAP5 but really wanted this one first.
Like most I have read other peoples exam experiences and was quiet scared thinking it would be really hard, I work with a huge VMware environment with all the bells and whistles but wasn’t sure if I would be ready.
Finally the test day came and I’m all pumped up for a 4 hour marathon exam, I start the exam and the next thing I know time is up.. I had an absolute ball doing the exam, If you enjoy this technology this exam is fun and the main thing I took away from it is that nothing can compare to hands on experiences, It literally felt like I was sitting at my desk at work doing the things I do every day.
There was a couple of hiccups, the display refresh really put me out I found most my time was spent waiting on the system to catch up, and the rest of the time was flicking between windows, 2 monitors would have been a god send, working on 1 15″ monitor doesnt really fly, But this would be down to the testing center tho im guessing. Also there were some pretty vague questions and in some cases was missing what should of been there.
Time Time Time, ill repeat what has been said many many times before time management is key I found myself short and that was knowingly going in there aware that time was a factor, The blue print is pretty spot on I think I had to do most of what was in there, I personally would recommend focusing on the core VMware technologies.
Now the good news I passed the exam which really surprised me because I thought I skipped quiet a few but being weighted score im guessing I got the main things right. But I really came out of the exam knowing which areas I needed to work on.
If you work with this technolgy everyday this exam really isnt that hard, but I can see that if your not in a position to dive neck deep into it, then a home lab is a must.
Cheers
Scott