Yesterday morning, I took the VCP310 test at my local PearsonVue testing center and I passed. I have to say, the test was still extremely tough even with all the studying that I had done. I knew from attempt #1 that I needed to study system requirements and the configuration maximums document and so I spent a lot of time with those two pieces of documentation – and that helped. There were quite a few questions on my exam that I was sure of, which boosted confidence.
But this was a very different test than the one that I took when I was in Las Vegas last fall. In the fall, the test centered around and focused on a lot of storage related questions. And iSCSI was likely my downfall and the cause for me failing attempt #1. We don’t use iSCSI in our environment – we’re a Fiber Channel shop and so that is what I know best. I also don’t do any NFS, but knew there’d be some questions on that, also. Even though I passed this go round, I felt like I did better on the last test (yeah, I know that doesn’t make sense – but subjective versus objective scoring, I guess).
Some things tripped me up this go round that I wasn’t expecting. I apparently didn’t read everything I should have in the 3.5 documentation and had not noticed that VMware introduced a new method of multi-pathing for fiber channel, so not sure I got the questions about Round Robin multipathing correct. Then there was the issue of traffic shaping. Ok, let me admit, I’m not doing traffic shaping with my ESX. Perhaps I should – my test obviously thought I should have been as there felt like there were 10 questions on the topic.
I guess I realize that I should be paying more attention to my resource pools, especially now that my environment has grown. I believe I got those questions correct, but I didn’t feel like I knew the answers – it took some thinking.
I am still waiting for the official word on my certification from VMware. I have my unofficial results from PearsonVue printed and on my desk to keep me company until that email arrives. There is a nice note that says that if I have completed all the requirements for VCP on VI3, I’ll get a notice within 30 days.
