Hi VCF and storage admins,
Following up on my last blog post, here is my exam experience and what I learned.
Let’s start right away with my first point of attention: time management. For VCP exams, I often need an hour to answer all the exam questions. That was definitely not feasible for me with this VCAP exam. The questions are quite extensive, and I recommend everyone read them at least twice. This is not only relevant for the questions themselves but also for the answers. Some answers seem very similar, but that’s not the case. An example is the difference between singular and plural.
Another point of attention is the type of exam questions. As I noted in my previous blog post, the exam guide describes various types of question for this VCAP exam, including multiple-choice, multiple-selection, build-list, matching, drag-and-drop, point-and-click, and hot-area. During my test, I answered many multiple-choice questions, some questions focused on matching, build-list, and one question that required adding parameters to a logical design.
Quality of the exam questions: I think the exam is definitely a good fit for the VCAP series. A lot of practical knowledge and hands on experience is expected of you, and that’s perfectly acceptable. I personally found some questions unclear, but based on the multiple-choice answers, you should be able to determine what is actually being asked.
Although this exam is based on the Role Based Framework, I recommend that you also pay sufficient attention to vSAN OSA/ESA requirements and sizing.
Okay, here’s a recap.
This exam is new, so not all recommended courses are available yet. This applies to the VMware Cloud Foundation Storage: Advanced Design course. As I mentioned above, I recommend that you pay close attention to sizing, and I expect this course will help with that. See also the Design and Operational Guidance.
VMware Cloud Foundation Storage: Advanced Configuration
This course is highly recommended, and the topics covered in detail include: vSAN Storage Policies, vSAN Encryption, vSAN File Service, SAN iSCSI Target Service, vSAN Stretched Cluster, vSAN Cross-Cluster Capacity Sharing, and SAN Data Protection. The exam questions are scenario-based. You’ll need hands-on experience to incorporate the above topics into your answers. For example, if you understand the concept of encryption, you should also understand why a specific error occurs when using this technology.
VMware Cloud Foundation Storage: Advanced Troubleshooting
This course is also highly recommended, and the topics covered in detail include vSAN Troubleshooting, vSAN Monitoring and Troubleshooting Tools, and Troubleshooting Attached Storage. Because this training focuses heavily on consulting troubleshooting tools and the GUI, I expected this exam to also include questions requiring you to, for example, use a screenshot to point out where you should actually troubleshooting, or define which CLI tool helps you identify a root cause. These types of questions were not covered during my exam.
So far my findings and preparation tips for this VCF VCAP Storage exam. I hope this blog post inspires many VCF administrators and architects to get certified and claim the awesome badge!
End of this post.
Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed in this blog are solely my own and should be treated as personal opinions. This content does not hold any legal or authoritative standing.