VCAP-DCA Index
VDCA 410
For a PDF version of my study notes you can download from http://www.seancrookston.com/vcap-dca-studyguide-ver3.pdf
Additionally I have done a series of mock labs which can be found on my site here http://www.seancrookston.com/?s=mock+lab
The below is the web version of the guide. Please add any comments to continue helping others with their studying.
Section 1 – Implement and Manage Storage
Section 2 – Implement and Manage Networking
Section 3 – Deploy DRS Clusters and manage Performance
Section 4 – Manage Business Continuity and Protect Data
Section 5 – Perform Operational Maintenance
Section 6 – Perform Advanced Troubleshooting
Section 7 – Secure a vSphere Environment
Section 8 – Perform Scripting and Automation
Section 9 – Perform Advanced vSphere Installations and Configurations
Other Great Resources for studying for the VCAP-DCA exam
Download the latest blueprint from http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-12751
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One of the best compilations I have seen for VCAP-DCA.
Without this I guess I will not be able to clear my VCAP-DCA cert.
Thanks a ton, Sean.
Thanks for the kind words Arun and good luck with your studies
hi sean thank you for this
quick question.
how much time would you recommend someone to spend studying for this exam?
also would having a home lab help?
im not able to attend all the vmware courses, as i would have to fund the courses myself.
with no books relating to this exam, i only have your guide to go by, which is awesome by the way.
im in a situation where my company does not have a vmware setup so i have to rely on setting up a home lab.
any tips or advise you can give would be greatly appreciated.
thanks for taking time to read my post.
I think a home lab is a must. Where to go from there depends on how much money you have to spend and how fast you want things to run. I personally have 2 Dell t110 servers and openfiler for iscis/nfs shared storage. I spent a small fortune to get this up and running but I will use this gear for a long time. On the cheaper side you can also use VMware workstation to get setup and running virtual esx(i) servers. I did this for a while and using an SSD drive in my laptop it was actually not a horrible option. Hope that helps and good luck with your studies.
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There is a new performance technical paper for v4.1
Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 4.1
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/10161
Please update Objective 1.1 -> Skills & Abilities -> Apply VMware storage best practices if it is relevant.
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Thanks a lot Sean
Your guide is very helpful in my preparations for VCAP-DCA.
Hi Sean
Since your recommendation is for home lab. I would like to ask you few questions
(1) HP Proliant ML1005 G6 (2 Host) – Will they suffice the requirement for VCAP-DCA
(2)Open Filer
(3)Licence issue
(4) Wether to go for ESX or ESXi
Budget is on the stringent side
Openfiler works great. I’d check the HCL for the HP Proliant’s you mention and make sure they support vSphere as I don’t know myself on that one. I would recommend using both esx and esxi since the exam assumes you know how to manage both.
@Stan – I suggest assembling your own ESXi whiteboxes for your home lab. 2 units of the ESXi whitebox can enable you to test every vSphere function.
This is what I assembled which perfectly supports vMotion, DRS, HA, VMDirectPath and Fault Tolerance.
Intel® Xeon® Processor X3440 (8M Cache, 2.53 GHz) 4C, 8T
Intel® Server Board S3420GPLC
Transcend DDR3 240Pin Long-DIMM DDR3-1333 ECC Registered Memory – 4 GB
Cooler Master Cabinet – Mini Tower – Elite 360
Cooler Master SMPS – Elite Power 350W
APC UPS 1.1 KVA
Intel® PRO/1000 MT Dual Port Server Adapter
2 Cooler Master 80mm Chassis Fans
2 Cooler Master 120mm Chassis Fans
I have setup my lab successfully with the hardware specs mentioned above and I am able to test all vSphere features such as VMware FT, DRS, HA and VMDirectPath.
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Hi Sean,
I have completed VCP410 in Nov-10 and now planning for VCP-DCA cert. I have all the notes donwloded from VMware site. Need your guidence toward the certification. Which are the important topics to concentrate.? and What kind of hands-on is required to complete the VCP-DCA cert.
Hi Kiran, I would go through the blueprint and try and be familiar with everything it covers. In addition to my study notes(now being updated by Damian Karlson at damiankarlson.com) you can check out the notes from Ed Grigson at vexperienced.co.uk.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to put this site together. With out it I wouldn’t have been as prepared for the exam. I’m pleased to say I passed! DCA#216. One bit of information I can tell others before taking the exam … IT IS 100% LAB!!! Do everything in the blue print hands on, don’t just read the papers. You will need to do basic VMware tasks at like 10X your normal speed to get through the questions. Thanks again Sean for putting this all together … now on to the DCD
Hello Sean,
Thank you for the good set of information about VCAP on this webpage.
This is a very useful link for all who are preparing for VCAP Exam.
I would share this all my friends who are preparing for VCAP.
Regards,
Biju Balakrishnan
Hi Sean,
I do preparing for VCAP-DCA.Is i need to study vmware best practices.
Thanks
If you focus on the current blueprint you will have a good idea of what you need to know.
Sean,
How did you setup your laptop for workstation running multiple copies of esxi and vcenter.
I have the mbp i7 a 8 gig of RAM… SSD and HDD but what appliance did you use for the shared storage?
Thanks!
Great guide for VCAP-DCA!
It has been a while since I’ve ran my lab on the laptop and moved it off, but you can use either openfiler of something like the celerra vsa to do nfs/iscsi based shared storage.
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Sean – Thanks for linking to my site! Just wanted to let you know that I changed domain names; my old VCAP posts at socialcloudnow.com can now be found at eprich.com.
Thanks
Paul
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i pass VCP 4.0 now i am preparing for VCAP-DCA..i have few questions is it menditory to be expert in VMA and Powercli? because i check the exam Blueprint there is lot of thins are related to VMA and powerCLi to perform the commands, actually i dont have mouch knowlegde about VMA and powerCLI, What about Labs i mean estimated how many labs will be there
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Sean, just wanted to say thanks for all the valuable “notes” you made on the VCAP-DCA blueprint. I just took it yesterday so I won’t know if I passed for a while, but I do know that after reading through your notes and going through the mock labs I felt much better about my chances.
Sean, I took the VCAP-DCA exam this past Saturday and feel confident that I passed, couldn’t have done it without your site. Thanks!
Your site is awesome! I just passed and couldn’t do it without your site!
Hi,
I have just passed my VCP 5 exam and I am preparing to start studying for the VCAP4-DCA.
I notice that the latest blueprint (1.9) states that
“The lab environment is currently based on vSphere 4.0, and tasks in the lab are product version neutral. This means that any task presented in the exam can be performed in 4.0 or 4.1 and either version of the documentation can be used to prepare for the exam”
I have a decent lab environment that can pretty much be used with any type of VMware hypervisor.
I know that this advises you to use any version, but is there a particular setup I would be best using, i.e.
1.
vCenter 4.0
ESX 4.0
2.
vCenter 4.1
ESXi 4.1
Thanks
Scott
Hi Scott, thanks for the comment. I would say you are in good shape. You’ll want to know both ESX/ESXi and possibly both 4.0/4.1. To be honest I don’t know if both are on the test or not but I also took mine over a year ago now.
I also don’t recall what version of the VMA is in play but make sure you know how to use both as 4.0 and 4.1 are different.
Hi Sean,
Thanks for your reply, the content on this site is excellent btw.
I have read that the VCAP5 exam may be out this month, not sure whether to hold out for that or not.
However, I’m sure most organisations will be on vSphere 4.0/1 for some time to come so it may be just as well to certify on this first.
What are thoughts?
Thanks for the kind words. I think a lot of organizations are still using 4.0/4.1. In fact I am upgrading 3.5 hosts to 4.1 hosts this week for a client.
I have not heard anything on the vcap-dca 5 being released this month and was hoping to get on a beta when it does. I have not heard of anyone speaking of the beta so I think we are a bit of ways away but I’m eager to sit for that exam as well.
Thanks Sean,
I’ll prep myself for the challenge of VCAP4-DCA.
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Thanks Sean. Guess I will buy you a drink when you visit Chicago!
I realized that vsphere-evaluators-guide that you put into your DCD prep guide is actually very helpful for guys who are preparing for DCA too.
Since your site is quite popular for VCAP fans, you could promote this message.
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Thanks Sean- Your study guide & suggestions are a great source to prepare for the VCAP-DCA challenge… I got my results yesterday and I am now a certified VCAP-DCA410…
Thanks once again… This is a great VMware community and I am planning to contribute as well.. Might come back to you for tips and tricks…
Cheers
Sunny