VCDX

VCDX Journey – Part 2 – Where I Messed It Up

May 10, 2018 Manny Sidhu 0

This post will cover those bits where I messed it up. In case you missed Part 1 of this series, check it out here. So in no particular order: Insufficient technical depth This might be a strange one to some, especially the people just starting out on this path. You’ll likely hear – keep your presentation at the logical level – by a lot of people. This is true for the most part and you should absolutely avoid getting tangled in a time-wasting explanation of say how multi-NIC vMotion works. Instead focus on how this decision fulfilled a business need (things like minimizing maintenance windows etc..). But.. I realized after the first two attempts the panelists were prodding me for […]

Mapping the VCDX Defense Genome Part 3: Is All Flash a Trap?!

January 5, 2018 Jason Grierson 0

Hey everyone, So prior to the holidays I was helping mentor some new VCDX candidates for their re-defenses and was coming across a few trends that I wanted to discuss a little as they started creeping up over and over again.  These trends were All Flash SAN’s, Oversized Compute, and questions being asked that were not part of the candidates design.  We’ll get into the last point a little more but first lest tackle the first two. All Flash SAN Is All Flash SAN a VCDX trap?  No of course not the All Flash SAN is obviously a silver bullet when it comes to storage as it greatly reduces the complexity of the storage system while giving amazing performance.  Gone […]

VCDX Defense Presentation: Mapping it’s genome

May 10, 2017 Jason Grierson 1

So after hours of working on your design, submission, and with some patient waiting you finally get that email from VMware stating your design has been accepted for defense!  Quickly you go into over drive and start ferociously working on your defense presentation.  Now maybe you already started working on your design presentation, maybe you haven’t but I find the questions typically always have a trend of similarity with the biggest one being: HOW do I take a 100-500 page VMware design and cram it into 20-30 presentation slides and get the message across in 75min? So first off why 20-30 slides?  Well taking the 75min you have to defend and dividing that by 20 will leave you roughly 3.75min […]

Why I gave up attempting the VCDX

January 14, 2017 Graeme Vermeulen 2

Note: I’d like to preface this post by stating that I have utmost respect for any individual who’s achieved VCDX-level certification or is in the process of doing so. I wrote this post here a while ago on why I will become a VCDX, and why it’s worth it.  I feel that I need to write this post out, if anything, for myself so that I can finally move on from the VCDX and not feel so guilty about dropping it! I’ve been working in the background on a design to submit, despite having a very busy life with my fair share of issues to deal with, all the while still doing my usual day job of consulting. I’ve really found that […]

Questions from Gregg Robertson VCDX #205

August 18, 2016 vReid 0

Following my VCDX certification I was asked by Gregg AKA TheSaffaGeek to answer some questions for his blog.   How did you get into using VMware? I started back in 2009 when my previous employer started a large datacentre consolidation project. I quickly did my VCP to ensure I was the main resource on the project.   What made you decide to do the VCDX? I really wanted to further my knowledge after doing the VCAPs. What I liked about the VCDX program is it makes you stronger in so many different technology areas.   How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey? About 13 months once I had passed the VCAP’s.   What advice would […]

vMusketeers has its 2nd VCDX!

August 9, 2016 Kim Bottu 9

vMusketeers is very proud of to announce we have a second VDCX in our little band of brothers:  Kiran Reid made VCDX 225! Congrats Kiran, from all of us!

ITa

IT Architect: Foundation in the Art of Infrastructure Design Review

June 15, 2016 Graeme Vermeulen 3

I picked up a copy of this book pretty much as soon as it was released. Most architects I’ve spoken to have recommended this book, so I didn’t want to miss it! Where to start. First impressions The book gets off to a running start, there is no build-up towards hitting you with some great knowledge (the authors have also managed to get a number of VCDXs to answer the question “what is infrastructure design?”). You’ll get stuck in right from the beginning regarding how you should approach solutions design, from the various stages (such as discovery, design, build etc.), design methodologies straight through to really useful case studies. It’s really quite difficult to get this amount of technical information through across […]

How a certification changed my life

May 16, 2016 Jason Grierson 3

Around this time last year I believe there was a question either on this community or on the VMware forums about how the VCAP program certifications are received in the work place and if they are worth it. Seeing as my blog portion of my website is still under construction to add new sections like my blog, and the new DCD6 simulator.  I really have no better place to post this then vMusketeers. How a certification changed my life: The last year and half has been a whirl wind to say the least, I guess going on 2 years now.  Two springs ago around May I decided to start my VCDX track and achieve my DCA.  After a few months […]