Overview

Last week I sat and passed the VCP6-DT exam.  You may be wondering why a VCDX is sitting a VCP exam, for some reason I actually enjoy exams but I also like to see what is being examined to give feedback to the exam team and provide guidance for the community.  I sat the VCP5-DT exam about two years ago and found it to be the easiest of all the VCP exams, if you’d used the View Administrator console in anger you had a pretty strong chance of passing.  The VCP6-DT appears to have gone through a bit of an overhaul, questions were broader and relied less on memorizing the options on screens and more about knowledge of product functionality, which is a big improvement.  The other, and more important change, is the inclusion of Mirage and Workspace within the scope of the exam.  Since the exam has been updated to version 6, some of the key new features listed in the blueprint are:

• Cloud Pod Architecture
• Application Remoting
• 3D Capability
• VSAN

Preparation

The first step in preparing for any exam is figuring out what you don’t know.  I have a technique that I’ve used for many years, first I get a copy of the exam blueprint and then map it out to a spreadsheet.  I go through and rank myself 1 to 3, with 1 meaning I have no idea about the topic and 3 is I know it with absolute confidence so will not spend anytime studying it and 2 is I know a bit about it, but need to learn more.  I’ve attached the spreadsheet for the VCP6-DT, fill in the Assessment column and it’ll average out your score for each section and the total.  I aim to knock out as many 1’s as possible before trying to turn some 2’s into 3’s.

Prep time is always limited, and there is an old saying “anything over the passing mark means you studied too much”.  The pass mark is 60% so don’t try and get all 3’s.  Once you hit an average of about 2/3 look to book your exam, then if can getup to a 2.5 average on that spreadsheet by exam day, you won’t have a problem passing.

If you don’t have an existing VCP cert, then you will need to do a course. I’d highly recommend the Mirage and View Fast Track as this will cover two of the products covered in the exam.  If you already have a VCP, then the course is not required so see how you rank against the blueprint and decide if you need to do a course to pass.

Exam Day

Personally I think better on a full stomach so I always book my exams for 9am or 1pm, this one was at 1pm.  I find it’s more important for the longer exams but I still do it for the shorter exams.  You are provided with a lamented piece of paper for notes, when there used to be lots of maximums or command lines to remember I’d write them down as soon as I got in, but that’s not really necessary anymore. If there is anything you want to remember then this is the time to write it down.

The exam is 120 minutes and 135 questions.  So yes, that is less than 1 minute per question but the questions are short, and if you’ve prepped I’d say about 50% of questions you should be able to put an answer down within a few seconds.  If you are unsure it’s usually best to go through a process of elimination.  There is usually one answer that is completely wrong, and another that might be related but clearly not correct. This typically leaves 2 answers, giving you a 50/50 chance – if you’ve done your prep then that’ll skew your result  just enough (remember we are aiming for 60% here).  I remember my old maths teacher saying “75% of the time your first impression on a multiple choice is correct”.  My personal tactic is to attempt to answer the question, and mark it for review. At the end of the exam I go back through the the questions I’ve marked for review and now I need to convince myself that my answer was wrong before I change it – I find I rarely change them.

Summary

The intent of the VCP6-DT exam is to test the install and configure skills of an administrator across the Horizon Suite.  To pass you need to be proficient in:

• View
• vSphere
• Mirage
• Workspace
• ThinApp

The blueprint primarily focuses on View, but to pass I’d suggest you’d need to be proficient in at least 2/4 of the additional products.  If your skills are weak in one of the other products such as Mirage or Workspace, then you’ll probably be fine as long as your View skills are strong and you have some skills in the other areas.

 

Exam Prep Spreadsheet – VCP6-DT Blueprint