By Guest blogger: Joseph Griffiths, VCDX #143
Ed Note: The following are excerpts from Joseph’s blog…we recommend reading the full blog including all of Joseph’s guidance and recommendations.
Requirements, Constraints, Assumptions and Risks
Becoming a VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) does not mean you have to be the most technical person in the room. It does mean you have to know how to align technology to business needs…Correctly creating requirements and constraints that align with the elements of design are critical to a successful submission. The goal of a VCDX design is to align technology to meet the requirements and constraints not provide the best technology mix.
Elements of Design
It is not uncommon for availability, recoverability, security or performance to have a negative impact on manageability. Not all choices can have a net benefit to all elements of design…This allows for a conflict resolution section. Conflict resolution is where the customer of the solution acknowledges the conflict and mitigates the conflict in some form. Make sure your design has conflicts.
Fun with Formats
Each of the different layers of architecture should address the sub elements: compute, storage, networking, applications, recovery, virtual machine, management, etc…You cannot provide lip service to conceptual and logical architecture. They must be developed just like physical architecture…The secret is to determine a format and start writing, don’t get stuck on format. In the end, the format is not as important as the content assuming the reviewer can locate the items required in the blueprint.
Time Management
My advice is to set a goal with a timeline. Agree upon a set time each day. Exercise discipline to work on the VCDX during that time and you will achieve your goal…I had to sacrifice computer game time, social media time and blogging time, but after six months I was done. This model has worked for me to achieve two VCDX certifications and put me on the path to my third.
For the rest of Joseph’s advice, please read the complete blog.
