Hi colleagues ;-),
one more deeply happy "yeah, I passed!" thread... :-)
Passed the exam yesterday, despite the exam app crashing after half an hour and 45 minutes to wait before the one person able or allowed to take care of it returned to their desk... *sigh* It took longer than expected, but after all passing is the one thing that matters...
Score was annoying low, compared to my VCP5 exam, but this was a really tough one indeed. I think especially with the design parts (the "Visio style" questions) the goals should be defined more clearly. I wasn't sure if placing some parts visually was enough, or if I had to connect them explicitly. That's the clostest description I dare to give without violating the NDA.
From my experience the VCP 5 exam has been much improved compared to the VCP 4, since that was IMHO a step in the wrong direction compared to the VCP 3. Just my 2 ct. I sure hope the VCAP-DCD5 will be improved as well. The reason I did not wait simply was that my company required a VCAP-DCD to reach Enterprise Partner level. Been there, done that.
Anyway.
To anyone interested: the VCAP-DCD Blueprint is GREAT. Really comprehensive and helpful. Take it seriously - they mean what they state there, and they do fully cover the exam topics. You may be overwhelmed by the amount of stuff to read, but rest assured: you'll need it. It IS a tough one. Even if you may think "well, yeah, I don't need to read about XYZ, that's just one side aspect". Nope. There's one perfect example but I'm afraid the NDA will not allow me to share. Take your TIME reading the blueprint references. ;-) And if you - like me - have made your way to virtualization coming from the Unix world: the Blueprint contains references to best practices guides regarding the Windows world. Read it.
The VMworld VCAP preparation sessions' big point was "time is your enemy". Well... I'd say that depends. The exhibits sometimes contain a lot of information you don't need to answer the question. Maybe you want to read the question or answer choices first, and then the exhibit, to scan for the information you really need. Doing that I had 8 minutes left after completing the 113 questions. BUT: after nearly 4 hours (non-native speaker bonus) of exam concentration you'll be running on fumes anyway. Unless Kryptonite is the only thing in the world you're afraid of.
Don't mark too much questions for review. You won't have the time, and - more important - you won't be in a condition to review at all. You'll just fight intuition/experience with doubt. Bad choice. If you have no idea, throw the dice, and go on. Seriously.
My personal advice (YMMV): don't skip the design questions just because you planned to reserve an hour an the end. If you're lucky and get the design questions early in the exam, I suggest you do them right away, no matter if that takes 10 minutes or more.
Cheers,
Martin
(waiting for my VCAP serial number ;-) )