Background
As many of us are aware, VMware has been acquired by Broadcom. Over the past 9-12 months, there have been significant changes. VMware, now under Broadcom, has reduced its offerings from over 10,000 SKUs to just a few. The primary focus has shifted to the VMware Cloud Foundation platform, which is no longer a single product but a unified platform that includes all of VMware’s previous products. Although VCF is not new, it is certainly the way forward.
Given that VCF is now the primary VMware platform, I decided it was a good time to test my knowledge about it. A new exam based on version 5.2 has been released in the past couple of weeks, so I took the opportunity to give it a try.
Exams and certifications are important to me as they help me achieve personal goals. If you’re interested in my experience, I invite you to read the next part of this post, where I will explain how I prepared and what the exam was like. Small spoiler: I’ve passed the exam without any issues.
Preparation
It won’t probably be a surprise if I tell you, that the VMware exam guide, or better known as the exam blueprint is THE way to start. This blueprint is actually very detailed on the subjects you should master before taking the exam.
https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/vmware-vcf-specialist-2V0-1124-exam-preparation-guide
From that blueprint I started my preparation. First of all I filtered-out the topics where I was less familiar with. These topics were getting more attention than others: first by reading the documentation and some great blogpost from the #vcommunity and secondly by performing these configuration steps in practice. Not once, but multiple times over and over again.
The VCP exam is a technical multiple-choice exam, but having hands-on experience is crucial. If you don’t have your own lab, you can utilize VMware Hands-on-Labs, which offers free labs. The great thing is that if you configure something incorrectly, you can simply redeploy it. (https://www.vmware.com/resources/hands-on-labs).
Exam
The exam had 70 questions, and I had 135 minutes to complete it. From past experience, I knew that there was more than enough time for a VCP exam. During the test, I noticed that most questions were about storage and networking, which matched the topics in the exam guide. However, this could vary per exam. I assume there are more than 70 questions in the pool.
For the past 5 years, I’ve been fully involved with VMware, and I’ve taken many VCP, VCAP, and Specialist exams. From experience, I know that questions about limits are usually a big deal in VCP exams. Limits change with updates, so it’s hard to stay on top of them. Luckily, this exam didn’t focus much on them. Even though it’s mostly theory, you can expect some questions about configurations. It’s not just multiple choice—some ask you to put things in the correct order.
If I can give any last advice, focus on terminology, requirements, and limitations. What type of networking, storage, etc., are supported? What are use cases for specific Aria products? Don’t focus on today’s hot topic: SKUs and licensing/core count.
You may have noticed from this short blog post that the exam requires broad but high-level knowledge of the VCF platform. According to the exam guide, candidates should have at least six months of experience working with the VCF solution and its components, which is more than sufficient. The questions aren’t overly complex—if you’re familiar with vSphere, NSX, vSAN, and you are familiar with the VCF architecture and requirements, you’re likely to pass.
Good luck!
