I took the VCP310 exam for VCP3 on 5 Oct 2009 and passed! Here’s my thoughts on the test and how I prepared for it.
For VMware certifications, you have to take one of the approved classes AND pass the exam. I took the “VMware Infrastructure 3: Install and Configure V3.5” class in 2008, but never bothered to take the VCP310 exam to get the certification.
I finally did it! Since vSphere (ESX4) is out, they are phasing out the VCP3 program. The cutoff date is 31 Dec 2009.
To prepare for the test, the first and most important thing I did was USE THE PRODUCT. I’m a daily ESX user. I have a production HA/DRS cluster running on Fibre Channel storage, and I’ve been dinking around with using iSCSI for a backend store.
I used the book “Mastering VMware Infrastructure 3“. This is a great all around book.
As far as practice tests go, VMware hunts down prep test vendors and shoots them. There aren’t any (well, any that live long). The only VMware prep test product is VMware’s own VCP3 Mock Exam, available online (free registration required). It’s better than nothing, but it’s not really much like the live test. I took it until I consistently all the questions right. (NOTE: If you score a 100%, then VMware considers you as “completed” and you can’t take it again. Make sure that you answer at least one question incorrectly.)
