VCP6-DCV Official Cert Guide (Exam #2V0-621) (VMware Press Certification)

In preparation to get my VCP 6 certification, I've purchased this official study guide written by VMware gurus themselves. Suffice it to say, I feel like it's a bit of a ripoff. I had a feeling of what the contents would be like but the sad truth is, there's not much study guides in the market to prepare for this exam specifically. Therefore, I had to take a chance and good news is that at least my company will reimburse me for the purchase!A big issue with this book is that there is a whole lot of spelling errors! And I mean very obvious errors. I read a lot of technical whitepapers and books and I have never in my life read an "official" technical materials book with this much spelling errors in it.The second issue and one that I have the biggest gripe with is that a lot of the content seems to be copied and pasted from VMware's official Vsphere 6 Documentation website. Like literally, there are parts where word for word it looks exactly the same from the website counterpart. In the VMware's official documentation website, they actually have very good materials that cover all aspects of the exam objectives that you can download in PDF or eBook format. The problem is that it's not organized. The advantage with this study guide is that the authors presented the information so that they all align with the exam objectives so it gives you a sense of what you need to study and what objectives you need to work on if you are weak in that area. I have a feeling that if someone took the time to organize the information from all the study guides gathered from the VMware website and made it in such a way that it aligns with the exam objectives/topics, one could technically could skip this official study guide because you'll still be getting the same information along with some Google'ing around as well.You'd think that by copying and pasting information from the website would at least somewhat make the information accurate. However, there were several instances where I caught things that did not relate to how vSphere 6 works but instead was for earlier versions! One example was the differences between a vMotion high priority vs standard priority. The book claims that if there is not enough resources to perform the former, the vMotion would fail. However, that was only the case in vSphere 4 and earlier. With vSphere 5 and later, the vMotion process would proceed regardless if enough resources were reserved.I didn't take the official VCP 6 exam yet but will do so in about two weeks or so after posting this review. Does this study guide help? Sure, of course it did. It pinpointed some things that I needed extra work on and the inclusion of many diagrams help as well, although you should also have a lab at your disposal to see for yourself. Was it worth $45? Not really considering that majority of the information could also be had from VMware's official vSphere 6 documentation website. Basically, don't expect to get too much insider secrets or recommendations from these vSphere authors/experts and you should be fine.

I passed. This was my fourth time passing the VCP-DCV exam, so I kind of knew what to look for. I didn't notice the mistakes that some people spoke about, but that is not to say they weren't there. By no means did I read this book cover to cover. If you think something doesn't make sense, you might be right. Look it up in the white papers. I have found that books like this are what they claim to be... a guide. It is not meant to be read like a novel, and it's not the Bible. It's just a guide. You need to UNDERSTAND the "Key Topics". Don't memorize them. I found a lot of questions came from them. Also, pay attention to Appendix B / C. I am immersed in VMware on a daily basis, but I probably spent 4 or 5 hours a day for 5 or 6 weeks studying. More time on the weekends. I passed comfortably, but I didn't ace it. If you've never taken the test, take your time! There are some trick questions!As for the production of the book itself... The paper is cheap. Not as white or as smooth as it could, and should be. The print is small. It was a little tough to study from.

This book was one of my primary study tools towards the VCP6-DCV exam. I'm happy to say I passed the exam and largely credit this book for helping me catch some of the minutiae that I otherwise would have missed in the thousands of pages of VMware Technical Guides.The book manages to present material in a memorable fashion. The Pearson Vue study software that comes with the book is also excellent.My only two complaints are as follows:1. The book presented concepts in a somewhat inconsistent way at times. For instance, in the chapter on VSAN and VVols, it kept bouncing between VSAN, VVols, and Multipathing, which made note taking a bit tedious.2. The practice questions at the beginning and end of each chapter contained multiple errors, especially on the topics of Storage and Networking, in that what the book identified as correct answers, are proven wrong with both the book's own content and VMware Technical Guides.Overall, it was an eminently useful study tool. The issues can easily be addressed through the release of errata or in the next edition.

The content appears to be sufficient for its purpose. However, it contains many spelling, grammatical, and formatting errors. Incomplete thoughts (missing words), duplicated words, run-on sentences, missing punctuation, formatting not being applied to the entire word, inconsistent font usage (fixed vs. variable width for specific terms), and other mistakes appear in just the first chapter. Most people can/will overlook these errors, so don't let that dissuade you from purchasing this if it meets your content needs. However, they distract me from learning the content. The writing quality is more in line with what I would expect from online journalism for technical content.There seems to be a good flow to the book, and the overall formatting and included images lends itself to easier reading. I certainly appreciate the pre-chapter quizzes and review questions. Some topical terms and acronyms are brought up before they are defined, which can add a bit of confusion. I was told previous versions of this book contained physical media for practicing, but this appears to have been replaced with a coupon for discounts off digital downloads.The errors are certainly not unique to this publication and are not a deal-breaker. I'm glad I have the book, but it causes me some mild frustration.

Very very dry, i could only manage 1 chapter at a time, but quite essential for passing the exam and applying the technologies day to day if that's your profession in life, like it is for me. Recommended, but lord is it a boring read at times!

As the saying goes this is exactly what it says on the tin. If you already know VMware ESXi well and you're looking to pass the VCP6 DCV exam this contains all the information you need in one place. On the down side it's somewhat dry and is split into chapters and sections by the exam objectives even if means covering related information in more than one place.Thoroughly recommended for those looking to take the exam but don't pick this up if you're looking to learn ESXi from scratch

Spelling mistakes and contradicting information e.g. it says outbound traffic shaping is only available on a vDS in an answer to one of the questions but while comparing a vSS and vDS in a table it says this feature is available in both !

Quite a dry writeup and doesn't actually prepare for the exam! The content in the practice exams is nothing like the detail expected in the real thing. avoid.

I have had better but is defiantly up there