Sean Crookston » VCDX

VCDX Defense Preparation

Sean Crookston — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:54:00 +0000

I have officially decided that I will target defending for the VCDX in May of next year in Toronto. This may or may not also be the first opportunity to defend for the VCDX 5, however I find it highly unlikely being I haven’t even heard of a beta for the VCAP-DCA/VCAP-DCD5 to date. Incidentally at this time this is also going to be the last change to defend a vSphere 4 design.

While doing a little browsing in the VCDX forum I found an interesting fact. Since November of 2010 there have only been 5 people who have achieved the certification.

The limited growth shows two things:

One the number of individuals defending is obviously going to be limited based on requirements for a VCP/VCAP-DCA/VCAP-DCD and financial restrictions of defending including travel. There are only approximately 400 VCAP-DCA and VCAP-DCD certifications issued, with what I gather to be a high overlap of individuals having both. If I had to guess you are probably only looking at 550-600 people who would be eligible to submit a defense.
Secondly they aren’t just giving these things out to everyone that does defend.

I see the fact that only 5 have been issued in almost the past year not as a point of intimidation but rather a challenge. I currently have a design picked out that I will be using for the defense and will be working over time to put my submission together. Luckily I have until March where anything needs to be submitted.

Over the next 7 months or so I will blog quite a bit about the process and in the end the result that follows.While I of course would like to see this process end in certification, I know that I will learn a great deal along the way regardless.

But don’t take that as a losing attitude, I am fully planning on passing the defense = )

Gap Analysis VCAP-DCD to VCDX

Sean Crookston — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:00:00 +0000

After now passing the VCAP-DCD now have to consider preparing for the VCDX. As I’ve started to think about it I’ve realized I’m going to need basically do a gap analysis of where I’m at now versus what constitutes a successful VCDX submission and then defense.

So what is the difference between someone who is a VCAP-DCD and a VCDX? A few critical things come to mind for me initially, but lets start out with what VMware defines them as on their certification page.

VCAP-DCD

The VCAP-DCD is directed toward IT Architects and Consulting Architects who are capable of designing VMware solutions in a multi-site, large enterprise environment. They have a deep understanding both of VMware core components and their relation to storage and networking, and also of datacenter design methodologies. They also possess knowledge of applications and physical infrastructure, as well as their relationship to the virtual infrastructure.

VCDX

VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) is the highest level of VMware certification. This elite group is comprised of design architects highly-skilled in VMware enterprise deployments and the program is designed for veteran professionals who want to validate and demonstrate their expertise in VMware virtual infrastructure.

One main difference of note above is consulting architects vs design architects, however this probably has very little bearing on differentiating between the two. Most importantly what stands out is that the VCDX program is designed for veteran professionals who wish to validate and demonstrate their experience. There is a clear definition here that according to VMware, they are expecting VCDX candidates to be those that are not only experienced, but can demonstrate their experience. Something we probably already knew here.

Now some things that come to mind when I start thinking about where someone goes from being a VCAP-DCD to preparing for a VCDX. These may not apply to everyone of course and these are just my opinions in some cases.

Every VCDX I know of is regularly participating in design exercises as part of their daily job and likely is a customer facing engineer. This is not to say that someone who is not the prior does not have a chance of successfully defending, but it means someone like myself who is an implementation engineer is likely at a slight disadvantage just based on not going through the motions of presenting and defending designs on a day-to-day basis. Additionally as Brian Rice has pointed out in his article on defending a fictitious design, it is important to think like an architect so throughout the process and up to the defense it will be important to play the role, even if you are not presently one.

Those who are regularly presenting to customers and in turn the VCDX panel need to be able to articulate their thoughts. They don’t just know things like the maximum number of servers in an MSCS cluster on vSphere or that you can’t VMotion these machines. They know that these things are constraints to any design and may either be acceptable or not based on the functional requirements of the customer. Additionally it is your job to justify your choices, just because you tell a customer or panelist your decision doesn’t mean it will not be questioned. In terms of the defense I have heard from many about your journey to the answer and not the answer itself.

Design Architects also know that all the information to a design is not going to be given to them. It is their job to meet the customers requirements, and to question and interview to get those requirements. Without doing so vital information will be left out and the design can be deemed a failure by the business.

There is obviously much more to it then that, so please share your thoughts below.

To Wait or Not ? : The vSphere 5 Certification Debate

Sean Crookston — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:05:29 +0000

One of the hard parts of getting certifications is when it comes time to renew them. As a consultant I have quite a few now and it seems like something is always out of date or on its way out. In fact I recently passed two EMC certifications to only get notifications of updates required only a few weeks later.

When it comes to VMware certification I now have to consider not only what I need to renew, but how much further I want to go down the vSphere 4 track. It was recently announced that the last chance to defend for the VCDX 4 will be early next year, making me question whether it is worth taking the VCAP-DCD now, which I currently have scheduled.

What and How to Renew?

VCP

For my VCP the upgrade track is fairly simple, take the VCP 5 exam before February 29, 2012
After February 29th, take the what’s new course and then pass the exam.
Also since I am a VCAP-DCA4, if I pass the VCAP-DCA5 that will renew the VCP.

VCAP-DCA

It is my understanding that taking the VCAP-DCA5 will renew the VCAP-DCA4

How Much Further Should I Go Along the vSphere 4 Track?

As I have passed the VCAP-DCA4 and would eventually like to seek VCDX certification, I previously had booked the VCAP-DCD exam. At a cost of 400$, it is important to know for sure that this certification will provide a meaningful benefit.

My current concerns are if I take the exam and pass, what renewals will be necessary to present a VCDX submission and defense. Will I need to take both exams again, and at a cost of 400$?

There still has been no announcement on the availability of the VCAP-DCA and VCAP-DCD exams for version 5, and until then we will likely have to just wait and see what happens and hope for the best.

Share your concerns,questions, and answers on the next version of certification here.

VCAP-DCD VCDX Discussion or Study Group?

Sean Crookston — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:54:05 +0000

I’m currently brainstorming where to devote my time and attention to the VCAP-DCD section of this blog. For the VCAP-DCA I created a landing page and a PDF, and while I plan on continuing to do so for the VCAP-DCD, I’m not sure if there is as much value in reading through a study guide as there is in going through design scenarios with an active audience.

So I am asking those out there looking to obtain their VCAP-DCD, VCDX, or just looking more to talk about VMware Design the following questions?

Is their an interest in mock scenarios similar to what I did for the VCAP-DCA?

Is their an interest in a regularly meeting group discussion?

Please let me know if you have interest in the above or any other thoughts you may have.

VCAP-DCD Objective 1.1 – Gather and analyze business requirements

Sean Crookston — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Skills and Abilities

Determine the relevant data set required to understand the current customer environment.
Given a design requirement and data set within a multi-site environment, determine which components would be included in a design.
Given results of a requirement gathering survey, identify the business requirements.
Given one or more business requirements, analyze and determine the impact of the requirements on the design.

Tools

VMware Virtualization Case Studies
Virtualization Assessment Tool
Five Steps to Determine When to Virtualize Your Servers

This is the first section I will be posting notes for from the VCAP-DCD blueprint. Talking about design is certainly not a concrete thing and everything may do things a little differently. The important thing to realize is each situation is unique and one design never fits all. I encourage your comments and hope that these notes can be the start of some good discussion regarding designing an infrastructure for virtualization.

This objective focuses on the topic of gathering and analyzing the business requirements. When we think of gathering the business requirements it is important to gather a baseline of the customer’s current environment. VMware’s capacity planner is a good tool to gather information on the systems the customer provides. There are other such tools to gather such as PlateSpin’s PowerRecon however I am most familiar with using VMware’s Capacity Planner myself.

If you leave the identification of the environment up to a manual process you will likely find a few things:

· Systems missed in their entirety

· A misperception of which systems are the heavy hitters

· Overall view of the environment that may not reflect the reality of the situation

Some design constraints from the design workshop are Usability, Manageability, Security, and Cost. A customer may have business requirements for some of all of these and your design must take these into consideration even at the earl stages of the design. Usability refers to usability from both an internal and customer facing perspective. Usability concerns itself with the performance, availability, and scalability of the systems. Manageability, Security, and Cost are more self-explanatory.

It is best to use some form of requirement gathering survey to find what the customer is truly requiring. Later on it will be important to take these initial requirements and transfer them into something that is a measurable and attainable goal that can be associated with a deliverable.

Now you will be left with a list of requirements, but initial requirements are likely to not be the final set of requirements. Why? Well sometimes the scope of the project will change, and by sometimes I would say almost always. Other times meeting all of the requirements at once may not be feasible from a time constraint. Or perhaps there is only so much money in this year’s budget and the cost of the implementation may far outweigh the monetary resources.

It is in these first stages of design that a lot of guidance may be necessary from us engineers. I have an example below that believe it or not is true. At a former employer one of the first things I was tasked with doing was deciding a virtualization solution for the branch offices. They wanted to use two Dell boxes that were about 6k a piece at each site. They also had requirements for it being as cheap as possible; in fact they wanted the whole solution to cost under 10k per site. They made no mention of backups, no concerns over remotely administering the machines, and blatantly ignored the fact that the two servers in total were already 2k over the budget per site. I eventually got past this price point but found there were many other things not in place such as highly available networking and backups.

A journey into virtualization requires peeling away at many layers of the infrastructure and having a good process of surveying these things is critical to a successful design.

How long does it take to become a VCDX?

Sean Crookston — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:00:14 +0000

I recently have received a couple of questions regarding how long it takes to get the VCAP-DCA and a while back someone even asked how long the whole process to become a VCDX might take.

The purpose of this blog entry is not to answer the question but to discuss what it takes for each step, although I will try and explain what time I have taken on the steps I have completed thus far. I have an idea in my mind when I would like to do certain parts of the path but the true answer will depend on when I feel I am ready. For purposes of simplicity and the fact the VCDX3 has only one last defense possibility(I believe), this will focus strictly on those who are not a VCDX 3 already and are pursuing the VCDX 4. As I have only gotten as far as getting my VCAP-DCA, I hope to update the latter part of this entry with more of my experiences.

VCP—>VCAP-DCA—>VCAP-DCD—>Design Submission—>VCDX Defense

VCP 4

The first pre-req is to be a VCP 4. If you are a VCP 3 you have a series of courses you can take to upgrade your eligibility to take the VCP 4 exam. I chose to take the Troubleshooting course which was of much better value to me then taking the ‘What’s New’ course to upgrade. Additionally you will need to take and pass the VCP 4 exam. If you are not a VCP 3 then you need to take the Install/Configure/Manage Course plus the exam.

If you don’t yet have your VCP and are currently studying for the exam take a look at Simon Long’s blog where he has a simulated test and some great notes/blogs relevant to the exam.

After the VCP you don’t need to take the VCAP-DCA first, but for purposes of this layout that is how we will roll.

Total Time Invested-Couple days in class + a few days studying max/mins for the test + previous experience

VCAP-DCA

There are not any requirements to sit for this exam other then the above mentioned VCP. As of now it is not something you can just book through Pearson-Vue though and will need to sign up to take it. Other then that in my honest opinion you really need to just focus on mastering the objectives of the VCAP-DCA Exam Blueprint. VMware has a great set of documentation and going through those documents alongside a home lab will go a long way.

I have compiled my study notes online and in a PDF, but also recommend these other sites who have posted study notes. If you know of others please comment.

Below are the courses listed by VMware as recommended and I’ve listed them in the order I would take them if I couldn’t take them all,which I didn’t.

VMware vSphere: Troubleshooting [V4x] – Personally took this course because of the need to upgrade my VCP 3 to VCP 4. I thought this course is probably your most bang for your buck as it covers a broad area of the blueprint compared to others. If you can only take one of the four this would be the one in my opinion.
VMware vSphere: Manage for Performance [V4x]- A coworker took this course and I was able to review the course materials and saw how great this course would have been to take. It is a close number two.
VMware vSphere: Automation with vSphere PowerCLI [V4x] – I would have loved to taken this course to gain more powershell knowledge but in terms for studying for the exam, the blueprint only has one section devoted to PowerShell. In terms of studying for this exam the above two cover a broader base of the exam.
VMware vSphere: Manage and Design for Security [V4x] – Another course I did not take. This one falls last based on what I have heard about the course and the amount of items it hits on the blueprint. A few said this course was equivelant to reading through the VMware Hardening Guide.

And then comes taking the test. Bring 400$ and four hours of your time and the be prepared to wait a month for your results. I’m sure some others will get their results quicker but that is how long it took for mine.

Total Time Invested – A lot…..3-4 months of weekend studying which included compiling the VCAP-DCA Study Guide + some previous experience(including the Troubleshooting Course which was my pre-req for the VCP 4). Oh lets not forget the month of excruciating waiting for the results = )

VCAP-DCD

Like the VCAP-DCA, this is not something you can just book through Pearson-Vue though and will need to sign up to take it. Now read this section and those going forward with the following disclaimer, I have not achieved the VCAP-DCD or VCDX and am voicing my plans and opinions of the rest of the process based on what I know, which may be nothing = )

Again there are not any specific requirements to take this exam other then being a VCP 4. There are two recommended courses of which I have taken the one, the VMware vSphere Design Workshop. I have heard many suggest this course mimicked a lot of what was necessary to help them submit a defense. Having attended the workshop I will say as others have to be prepared for a class that is not a regular lecture, but more of a guided open discussion. Sometimes the tangents end up going in good directions and sometimes not, but the instructor did a great job of guiding the course. The true value in this course is seeing how others did things differently, worked with different storage or network considerations.

The second recommended course is the Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Fundamentals course, which is a four hour on demand web course. This is a topic that is specifically not covered in the design workshop so it looks to be a nice supplement to preparing for the exam.

Links to Recommended Courses

And again then comes taking the test. Bring 400$ and four hours of your time, but the results are immediate this time. I plan on taking the test something a few months from now so I’m sure I’ll have more to add then. For now I am focusing on supplementing my design workshop by going through the VCAP-DCD Exam Blueprint and reading all the documentation mentioned. I had a huge personal value in compiling all my study notes so I will do the same thing again for the VCAP-DCD.

The Remaining 90% of the Process

Design Submission

Sort of a joke, but then again not really. If you listen to what others have to say the design submission is a long process, one that may result in rejection of your application if not done correctly. From what I gather, considering you have a work and personal life be prepared to spend at least a month to complete this portion.

Your design submission can be based on a real or fictitious example.

VCDX Defense

You’ve gotten this far, but now is time to defend your design, demonstrate your ability to do a new mock design, and demonstrate your troubleshooting skills. All in front of a panel of experts .

Application and Defense Resources

Below are a list of some of the resources I have found for mentally preparing for what I will eventually tackle.

For starters the most comprehensive write up of their experience, along with delicious book mark links can be found from Harley Stagner. I may be biased, but Harley lists not only the details of his journey but shares bookmarks to other’s experiences and documentation. Harley also recently answered some questions live on twitter regarding the VCDX Journey.

Secondly I’d recommend checking out the following for some great information:

http://technodrone.blogspot.com/2010/10/journey-to-vcdx-not-complete-yet.html

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/tag/vcdx/

VMware vSphere Design Workshop Preview

Sean Crookston — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I’m due to attend the VMware vSphere Design Workshop starting this morning and have been anxiously awaiting for the chance to dive deeper in the design aspect of VMware. After passing my VCAP-DCA last year, one of my primary goals for 2011 is to become better at the aspects that involve designing datacenter solutions. This would include obtaining the VCAP-DCD certification and eventually move towards the VCDX when the time is right.

On the topic of the VCAP-DCD, this course is listed as recommended training for the certification. Although it is not required to obtain the certification, for me I see great value in this workshop as I work towards my goals.

I’ve read a lot of great reviews that you can check out in the links below and the main thing that sticks out is how different this course is from any other VMware course you may have taken. And it should be, this is a design course and as result the focus is on discussing Design considerations and white boarding out solutions. There is a lab portion that appears to be focused on two scenarios involving and SMB and an Enterprise customer.

Not being extremely experienced when it comes to the design aspect of VMware, my main concern is the three day format of the course at this time. Many have mentioned they would have liked to see this as a 5 day course so the course surely moves along fast.

VMware vSphere Design Workshop Reviews

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/03/24/vmware-design-workshop/

http://vmguy.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/1364

http://www.punchingclouds.com/?p=1001

http://philthevirtualizer.com/tag/vmware-design-workshop/

http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/10/27/vmware-vsphere-design-workshop-day-1/

http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/10/28/vmware-vsphere-design-workshop-day-2/

http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/10/29/vmware-vsphere-design-workshop-day-3/