Vcap5-dca Official Cert Guide: VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 - Data Center Administration (VDCA510 and VDCA550) (VMWare Press Certification) 1st Edition

The "VCAP5-DCA Official Certification Guide" is a decent book to learn the "basics" of VMware, but it is by no means a book that you could rely on to pass the certification test. The book is well organized, written, and has some step-by-step exercises. I was very disappointed in the quality and size of the screen shots, which are very small and fuzzy - using a magnifying glass didn't help much. I took off two stars for the poor print quality. To me, this was an introductory book, not an advanced book. The certification has much more difficult questions than the ones at the beginning and end of each chapter. It may follow the VMware Certification Exam Blueprint, but the details are not all there. This book requires that you have access to a VMware installation that you can actually play with in order to understand and learn the material. The certification exam also requires that you take one of the approved courses before you take the exam. These courses are very expensive for the average individual that does not have company sponsorship. The certification exam also requires that you have some VMware problem solving experience, not just understanding what tools to use and how.

Was just what I needed to help get ready for the exam.

It is listed as for the VDCA510 and VDCA550 tests but it really only covers the 510 test content unless you go download additional content. There are also multiple questions that have incorrect answers so double check your work if you are depending on the answers in this book!

Good

Great book. Practice questions very helpful. And the updated 5.5 content was nice too.

It is great refrence for preparing for the VCAP-DCA .

This is a very good book to prepare with for the VCAP5-DCA. Note that if you buy a printed copy of the book you'll likely receive an "older" copy that has no reference to the vSphere Web Client. There are a number of exercises in the eBook version that aren't present in older copies of the printed version (for example, configuring Flash Read Cache in appendix C - this can only be done via the Web Client). So just be aware of this before ordering your copy.Although the digital versions of the book will include more of the Web Client, there are still no examples on how to complete tasks with it. It's no secret that to truly master this exam, you should be able to complete commands via the Web Client, Thick Client and CLI. To go one step further, try and use vCenter Orchestrator instead!The book does a good job of touching on key subjects required to pass the exam, but if you want to dive deeper you'll need to use other materials. This book will provide enough information to confidently take the exam, however does not go into granular detail.Who will benefit from this book?Well, takers of the VCAP5-DCA exam and potentially takers of the VCAP6-Deployment exam as a lot of the topics and exercises will still be relevant. Also, VMware admins will benefit hugely from this book. Even though I've passed the exam, I tend to keep my copy close.Takers of the VCAP5-DCD exam will also benefit, as being successful in that exam requires a deep knowledge of vSphere and VMware products in general (DCV track obviously).Part of being a VMware admin is knowing how to automate time-consuming tasks. The book does touch on useful PowerCLI commands as part of completing tasks, however you'll need to try and find good examples scripts to break and fix elsewhere. It's obviously not recommended doing this in your production environment!The main reason I bought this book was for the practice exercises contained within. They certainly helped to hone my knowledge in the days leading to the exam.I'm not saying that you'll certainly pass the exam if you ONLY use this book, but you should definitely make it part of your arsenal in tackling the DCA, and in fact the DCD too.

very very valuable

This book is brilliant if you want to take the VCAP-DCA exam, the exercises at the end and the ones online help prep you for the exam!

Ho deciso di non fidarmi di quanto si legge in giro riguardo questo libro: ho fatto bene ed ho fatto male.Bene: il libro scorre via veloce, è molto chiaro nel fornire spiegazioni delle varie tecnologie e la loro applicazione con gui o command line. Aiuta molto con i punti di self-test e alla fine di ogni capito con dei task riassuntivi.Male: il libro non copre tutti gli obiettivi dell'esame in questione, mancano Orchestrator e Replication. Sia chiaro, verranno chiesto all'esame.E' pieno di errori, anche non segnalati (io personalmente ne ho segnalati due) nel file che si può scaricare dove indicato dal libro stesso nelle prime pagine.La vera questione rimane però che l'esame non è come lo descrive il libro: è molto più difficile. Il libro da sè non è sufficiente per prepararsi al meglio, dato che ogni scenario (dei 23) proposti all'esame ha diversi task correlati ma diversi tra loro. Bisogna approfondire tramite altre fonti sia la parte Orchestrator/Replication che la parte Network e Scripting....in parte anche la parte storage.Spero di essere stato utile a qualcuno.

Book was really helpful with each topic and blue print.

Amazing book to deep dive.

j'ai l'acheté pour passer l'examen VCAP-DCA. Un bon livre que te donne des idées pour s’entraîner dans la pratique du vSphere. Il y a plusieurs exercices et scénarios ou c'est possible faire des modifications e créer autres scénarios. J'ai perçu plusieurs erreurs comme les lignes de commandes par exemple, j’espère des corrections postérieures.