I have been a VMware Customer since 2003. Took my VCP 2 that year, then followed up with VCPs 3 & 4 when they were released. I was one of the 1st VCP's, my VCP # 1825. I run a large Virtualization Project for a fortune 100 company. I am an inside Virtualization Consultant/SME for my organization. I think I know the product very well and have a strong storage and networking background and know how those infrastructures integrate with VSphere. I use/manage/configure vSS/vDS, DRS, Storage DRS, EVC, HA, etc. I use vCenter Link mode. Have experience with VSRM setups. Responsible for overseeing alot of vCenters/ESXi hosts, etc. across the country as our enterprise is very geographically dispersed. I focused my career on Virtualization and come from a Systems Architect background, and it has provided a comfortable living for me to say the least. I've been to 6 VMworlds. I love VMware. BUT... I HATE THE LATEST VCP510 EXAM!!!! I barely studied for the VCP4 and passed it.
I took the vSphere 5.1 Optimize & Scale class, which I have to say, I really enjoyed that class and learned some new things by taking it. It qualified me to take the VCP510. I tried to get myself into exam mode and took the instructors advice and paid for VCP5 practice exam questions on the https://www.vsphereresourcekit.com/practice-exams/ website. There are 1000's of questions on there from the 7 major topics. I haven't used AutoDeploy, so I read up on it and I tried to strengthen my skills in areas that I lack, such as iSCSI connectivity, because I deploy Fiber Channel connectivity in all of my environments. And I focused on NFS, which we don't use much of, etc...
So Anyways, I took my 1st attempt at the VCP 510 almost a month ago, and failed with a 273! I was really upset then. I was glad no one was in the room when I was taking it, because I was dropping some 4 letter words along the way with frustration about some of the questions. I was really hit hard with Auto Deploy, iSCSI / CHAP related questions...my weak areas! There were some STUPID permission related questions, stuff that you would never do in the real world. So I understood failing it as I didn't feel to good about it when the exam expired, and I seen FAILED! It was the 1st cert test I ever failed, and I've taken CompTia, CCNA, and MCSE certs.
So, I tried hard to redeem myself...I studied my tail off for the last 3 weeks, reading, and reading and studying...took a different approach, then running through a bunch of mock test questions, to ensure I knew the content well. I studied Forbes Guthrie's http://www.vreference.com/vsphere-5-notes/ and vReference cards very thoroughly! I really enjoyed his notes and reference card. It really encapsulates everything the vSphere Environments entails and is a good snapshot to reference, in my opinion. I focused on reading this time instead of just going through questions and subconsciously memorizing them. I just wanted to feel like I knew all the content in all areas very well.
I went into the testing center a few hours ago, feeling confident. I know I'm VCP worthy, now just pass this stupid exam, so I can prove it, not only to myself, but to my peers and people that look up to me within my organization. WELL!!! I finished the exam 12 minutes early, and I think I fell victim to the #1 test theory in my opinion, go with your gut, 1st answer that comes to mind stick with it. I took my extra time to review some of my flagged questions and talked myself into changing some answers. STUPID!!! It's easy to talk yourself into the wrong answer, I probably did. Either way. When the time elapsed and the screen popped up and said FAILED, again!!! I WAS REALLY MAD. Sorry for this lengthy post, but I am using this as an avenue to vent! I know there was a question that left a word out of one of the answers. So I had to go on assumption that I think they mean "this". I forget exactly what it was now, but there were some flaws. It seemed like there were some vague questions, with even more vague answers. This was one frustrating exam. I am going to take it again, in 7 days and continue to read, and read, and study, and take practice exams, etc...I know the exam blueprint, I know alot of this stuff already, but I guess it's just the luck of the draw on what kind of question pool you receive when the exam begins. I heard from our Vmware Rep that there's a almost a 70% failure rate on this exam, I don't know if true or not. And there are something like 9000 questions that the question pool consists of and you get 85 of them. Hard to say if this is true or not. I know some people that I mentored and provided knowledge transfer to, that took this exam 1st time and passed. I'm envious of their question pool! And embarrassed that I may have to admit to them that I failed, not once, but twice now. Anyways, I'm interested to hear your take and experience you may interested to share regarding the VCP510 exam. Thanks, Cheers! Going to have a drink now!