vTesseract

Follow @Josh_Atwell

My name is Josh Atwell and I've been working in the IT industry exclusively since 2004. I've received my VCAP-DCD, VCAP-DCA, VCP3,4 certifications. I am currently working as a vArchitect for VCE where I am helping customers with many things that start with 'V'.

vTesseract is my personal presence for my thoughts, musings, and technical write-ups involving PowerShell, datacenter virtualization and other technologies I come across daily. The opinions and thoughts on this site are my own and are not endorsed or affiliated by my employer or anyone else. This is done on my own free time and all work is limited based on my time and available resources. Your comments, thoughts, opinions are welcome. Thanks for reading!

Current Resume-CV

•

Mon Jul 9

VCAP5-DCA Now Available!

Word got out earlier today that the VCAP5-DCA has now been released! While I found this to be a beast of an exam I’m kinda looking forward to trying it again. Here are some details.

VCP5 is required unless you are an existing VCAP4-DCA. If you are then you have until October 9th to upgrade your DCA to v5 without the VCP5 prerequisite. Looks like this one will also upgrade your VCP4 to VCP5 during this time period.

http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=30483&ui=www_cert

VCAP5DCA

Prep

I noticed another detail. The recommended VMware course is the new Optimize & Scale class. I also still recommend TrainSignal’s VCAP pack though I’d definitely recommend viewing their updated stuff for vSphere 5.

I can assure you that one thing is a MUST MUST MUST. You MUST have practical experience and that really means some lab time. Go over the items on the blueprint and do them over and over again…for speed. While you really need to practice many components you can save some time building your lab with the AutoLab. The AutoLab is a kit designed to automate production of a nested vSphere environment. Check it out and use those extra hours saved to better prep! You can get the AutoLab http://www.labguides.com/autolab/

Want some guidance on the blueprint items? Check out the ProfessionalVMware.com vBrownBag series on the VCAP5-DCA http://professionalvmware.com/brownbags/ and on iTunes. This series is fantastic and should help you fill in gaps in your preparation! You can also check out the vBrownBags live on Wednesday nights at 7pm CDT.

Chris Wahl (@chriswahl) also released a nice cheat sheet and other VCAP5-DCA prep resources. http://wahlnetwork.com/2012/07/02/the-vcap5-dca-study-sheet/

Thanks for reading. Best of luck!