VCAP-DCA Index

VDCA 410

For a PDF version of my study notes you can download from 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 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
VCAP-DCA Objective 1.1 : Implement and Manage Complex Storage Solutions
VCAP-DCA Objective 1.2 : Manage Storage Capacity in a vSphere Environment
VCAP-DCA Objective 1.3 : Configure and manage Complex Multipathing and PSA Plug-ins
Section 2 – Implement and Manage Networking
VCAP-DCA Objective 2.1 : Implement and Manage Complex Virtual Networks
VCAP-DCA Objective 2.2 : Configure and Maintain VLANS, PVLANs, and VLAN Settings
VCAP-DCA Objective 2.3 : Deploy and Maintain Scalable Virtual Networking
VCAP-DCA Objective 2.4 : Administer vNetwork Distributed Switch Settings
Section 3 – Deploy DRS Clusters and manage Performance
VCAP-DCA Objective 3.1 : Tune and Optimize vSphere Performance
VCAP-DCA Objective 3.2 : Optimize Virtual machine Resources
VCAP-DCA Objective 3.3 : Implement and Maintain Complex DRS Solutions
VCAP-DCA Objective 3.4 : Perform Capacity Planning in a vSphere Environment
VCAP-DCA Objective 3.5 : Utilize Advanced vSphere Performance Monitoring Tools
Section 4 – Manage Business Continuity and Protect Data
VCAP-DCA Objective 4.1 : Implement and Maintain Complex VMware HA Solutions
VCAP-DCA Objective 4.2 : Deploy and Test VMware FT
VCAP-DCA Objective 4.3 : Configure a vSphere Environment to support MSCS Clustering
VCAP-DCA Objective 4.4 : Deploy and Maintain vCenter Server Heartbeat
Section 5 – Perform Operational Maintenance
VCAP-DCA Objective 5.1 : Implement and Maintain Host Profiles
VCAP-DCA Objective 5.2 : Deploy and Manage Complex Update Manager Environments
Section 6 – Perform Advanced Troubleshooting
VCAP-DCA Objective 6.1 : Configure, Manage and Analyze vSphere Log Files
VCAP-DCA Objective 6.2 : Troubleshoot CPU and Memory Performance
VCAP-DCA Objective 6.3 : Troubleshoot Network Performance and Connectivity
VCAP-DCA Objective 6.4 : Troubleshoot Storage Performance and Connectivity
VCAP-DCA Objective 6.5 : Troubleshoot vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi Host Management
Section 7 – Secure a vSphere Environment
VCAP-DCA Objective 7.1 : Secure ESX/ESXi hosts
VCAP-DCA Objective 7.2 : Configure and Maintain the ESX Firewall
VCAP-DCA Objective 7.3 : Deploy and Administer vShield zones
Section 8 – Perform Scripting and Automation
VCAP-DCA Objective 8.1 : Execute VMware Cmdlets and Customize Scripts using PowerCLI
VCAP-DCA Objective 8.2 : Administer vCenter Orchestrator
VCAP-DCA Objective 8.3 : Administer vSphere Using the vSphere Management Assistant
Section 9 – Perform Advanced vSphere Installations and Configurations
VCAP-DCA Objective 9.1 : Install ESX Server with custom Settings
VCAP-DCA Objective 9.2 : Plan and Execute Scripted Installations
VCAP-DCA Objective 9.3 : Configure vCenter Server Linked Mode

Other Great Resources for studying for the VCAP-DCA exam

www.kendrickcoleman.com/index.php?/Tech-Blog/vcap-datacenter-administration-exam-landing-page-vdca410.html
www.vexperienced.co.uk/
socialcloudnow.com/
professionalvmware.com/brownbags/
Download the latest blueprint from communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-12751

97 Responses to VCAP-DCA Index

  1. Pingback: VMware VCAP Preparation Tips and Study Resources

  2. Pingback: The VCAP-DCA Study Guide Lives On | Sean Crookston

  3. Pingback: VMware: VCAP-DCA Zertifizierung – Part I | linuxvoodoo.de

  4. spacer Arun Raju says:
    February 24, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    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.

  5. spacer Sean Crookston says:
    February 25, 2011 at 10:18 am

    Thanks for the kind words Arun and good luck with your studies

  6. spacer jitesh says:
    February 28, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    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.

  7. spacer Sean Crookston says:
    February 28, 2011 at 7:07 pm

    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.

  8. Pingback: VCAP-DCA v2 (xmind) MindMap Available for Download | Chris Dadswell

  9. spacer Arun Raju says:
    March 8, 2011 at 9:19 am

    There is a new performance technical paper for v4.1

    Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 4.1
    www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/10161

    Please update Objective 1.1 -> Skills & Abilities -> Apply VMware storage best practices if it is relevant.

  10. Pingback: VCAP-DCA Blueprint Study Sheet « Wahl Network

  11. spacer Abby says:
    March 9, 2011 at 2:35 am

    Thanks a lot Sean

    Your guide is very helpful in my preparations for VCAP-DCA.

  12. spacer Stan says:
    March 10, 2011 at 8:05 am

    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 spacer

  13. spacer Sean Crookston says:
    March 10, 2011 at 10:21 am

    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.

  14. spacer Arun Raju says:
    March 16, 2011 at 8:38 am

    @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

  15. spacer Arun Raju says:
    March 28, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    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.

  16. Pingback: I came, I studied, I passed « Mental Cobwebs

  17. Pingback: My VCAP-DCA / VDCA410 exam experience | Temperfield Blog

  18. spacer Kiran C says:
    May 8, 2011 at 11:16 am

    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.

  19. spacer Sean Crookston says:
    May 9, 2011 at 8:29 am

    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.

  20. Pingback: VCAP-DCA Prep and sample | SOS tech

  21. spacer Glenn says:
    June 15, 2011 at 10:34 am

    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 spacer

  22. spacer Biju Balakrishnan says:
    June 29, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    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

  23. spacer Rajesh says:
    July 4, 2011 at 1:55 am

    Hi Sean,

    I do preparing for VCAP-DCA.Is i need to study vmware best practices.

    Thanks

  24. spacer Sean Crookston says:
    July 4, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    If you focus on the current blueprint you will have a good idea of what you need to know.

  25. spacer vuong says:
    July 7, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    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!

  26. spacer Sean Crookston says:
    July 7, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    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.

  27. Pingback: VCAP-DCA Prep Resources and Thanks | vHersey

  28. Pingback: VCAP-DCA resources

  29. spacer Paul Richards says:
    July 31, 2011 at 9:15 pm

    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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  31. Pingback: My VCAP-DCA exam experience | Patrick Kremer

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  33. spacer khalil says:
    October 13, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    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

  34. Pingback: My VCAP-DCA experience | whiteboardninja

  35. Pingback: Long Time No Post–VCAP-DCA | JustHyp

  36. spacer John Yarborough says:
    October 22, 2011 at 7:35 am

    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.

  37. spacer Eric Green says:
    November 7, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    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!

  38. spacer Alton Yu says:
    December 20, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Your site is awesome! I just passed and couldn’t do it without your site! spacer

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