On a recent client engagement fellow Xtravirt colleague Darren Woollard and I were awaiting the build out of the IBM HS22 blades the client had procured for our usage as ESXi5 hosts. IBM services came in to complete the configuration of these servers which was stated to only take a mornings worth of work. Unfortunately due to a very strange default setting that the HS22 blades seem to come with it took us almost four days and the below work around to fix the “problem”.
Our problem was that the second NIC on all the blades was set to iSCSI by default so if we looked in the BIOS the NIC wasn’t presented due to this configuration. The only way we found we could get it back to a normal NIC for usage in ESXi was to do the following:
Boot the server into a Microsoft OS (This was a fun part for us as all our hosts were stateless in readiness for Auto Deploy so we had to “steal” a drive from another server)
With the OneCommand software installed ,Select the OCManager program from the MS Windows Start Menu.
4. The application will launch and enumerate the adapters; this typically takes 30 seconds to populate the left hand pane.
5. The populated pane should resemble the screenshot below.
6. Highlight the OCm adapter. The Personality section will reveal the NICs are to set to iSCSI.
7. Click the NIC-only radio option.
8. Click Apply.
9. Reboot the Blade.
10. That’s the “re-configuration” complete for this blade, now to repeat the above steps across all your remaining blades .
I’m sure there must be a simpler way of fixing it but we spoke to a few IBM services people and the only way to fix it seems to be this which we find very hard to believe.
I first started using VMware in the 2003-2004 timeframe, beginning with VMware GSX Server. I loved the idea of running multiple OS instances on a physical server in order to provide more fine-grained resource utilization and workload isolation. It wasn’t long before I transitioned to VMware ESX just after the release of ESX 2.5, and I achieved my first VCP on ESX 2.5. (I guess that makes me a VCP2/3/4/5.) Moving to ESX Server was, for me, fabulous; the ability to migrate virtual machines between physical systems (what we call vMotion) was revolutionary. It’s kind of funny now how we almost take it for granted. At the same time, I was also exploring the use of VMware on the desktop, using VMware Workstation and—immediately upon its very earliest “Friends and Family” release at VMworld 2006—I switched to VMware Fusion on a MacBook Pro.
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
When the VCDX was first announced, I immediately decided to go for it. For years, I had considered pursuing CCIE, but not being a full-time networking specialist that was (and still is) very difficult. Here, though, was a CCIE-type achievement targeted at virtualization, something I was doing all day every day. For me, it was a no-brainer. I simply had to do it.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
I completed the Enterprise Administration exam (now referred to as VCAP-DCA) in March of 2009, and was anticipating taking the Design Exam almost immediately afterward. For whatever reason, though, I was unable to get into the Design exam beta. Those that did get into the beta were eligible to participate in the first VCDX defences at VMworld 2009. I had to wait until early November of 2009 to take and pass the Design Exam (now known as VCAP-DCD). I submitted my defence design in late December 2009, and defended at VMware Partner Exchange (PEX) 2010 in Las Vegas. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
Go for it! Among the other things that pursuing VCDX taught me, one of them was that pursuing a goal such as VCDX is a worthwhile endeavour. If you’re already working with VMware virtualization every day, why would you not pursue it? Having a goal like VCDX helps shape your learning, helps drive you to a deeper understanding of the technologies and concepts, and sharpens your ability to tie that technical knowledge back to the business. All of those things, in my mind, are beneficial apart from the certification. As for tips or tricks, I can only say that you need to go both deep and wide. You need to be deeply proficient in the products, but you also need to be able to take a wide view of how all the products and technologies fit together and relate to each other.
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
That’s a tough question. Life was really crazy at that time—I was in the midst of writing Mastering VMware vSphere 4 (which was released at VMworld 2009) and VMware vSphere 4 Administration Instant Reference. I was doing that while studying for ESX 3.x exams (the Enterprise Administration and Design exams were, at that time, still based on VI3). That was a challenge for me. I think if I had it to do over again, I probably would have focused more on the certification instead of having several major projects going on at the same time. Of course, life doesn’t always give you that luxury!
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it?
Was it worth it? Absolutely, but not necessarily in the way you might expect. For me, the value in VCDX was in the achievement of a personal goal, the achievement of excellence in a technology that I enjoyed using. I achieved VCDX shortly after joining EMC (I joined EMC in January 2010, and I achieved VCDX in February 2010), and EMC didn’t really respond differently to me afterward. That’s OK, though, because I wasn’t really doing it for any reason other than to satisfy my own drive for achievement.
How did you get into using VMware? As a software developer in the late 90’s, I encountered VMware Workstation as a solution to the "aww, man, that bug goofed up my configuration" problem. I had used the product as a sandbox for testing software or developing installation and configuration documentation: step-by-step processes with screenshots. Fast forward to 2002, we had a test lab built for our Netware/NDS to Windows 2000/AD migration project. The hardware consumed 2 full 42U datacenter racks and made quite a bit of noise. We installed VMware GSX on one machine and reduced the hardware footprint of our test lab to something closer to 15U of gear, including the tape drive used to back the environment up. The lab room became so much quieter (and cooler!) that you could barely tell the gear was powered up. Based on that success, we looked at ESX 2.0 as an even more efficient way to consolidate, and started looking at moving some low-impact workloads from old hardware into VMs on newer hardware. With the advent of VMotion (capital ‘V’ back then) then HA and DRS in VI3, we were able to accommodate production workloads by addressing the ‘all of your eggs in one basket’ problem. Adoption of the platform simply took off from there.
What made you decide to do the VCDX? I had moved from a customer to a VMware partner at this point. I actually credit my interest in consulting to my involvement with VMware. Based on some interactions on the VMware forums that turned into in-person Q&A sessions, I realized that I enjoyed that part a lot more than operational maintenance and carrying a pager. At the time, in late 2007 or early 2008, there was no VMware certification beyond the VCP. I was talking with a coworker, Mark Gabryjelski — he’s got a crazy-low VCP number (#46) — about the value of some kind of advanced VMware certification that would help further differentiate the people who really focused on this technology and its application. A quick visit to the certification section of VMware’s website revealed that VMware was creating a new Design certification called VCDX. Right there, we challenged one another to become part of the program as a way to validate our skills, help differentiate the company, and ultimately help shape the certification itself. We saw it as becoming even more involved with the growing VMware community.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey? I filled out a ‘skills assessment’ on the website in Q1 of 2008, and received an invitation to take the "VMware Enterprise Administration Exam." After passing that exam, I was invited to take the "VMware Design Exam" in Q1 of 2009. At the end of July 2009, I was notified that I had passed the second exam and that there were going to be VCDX Defense opportunities at VMworld 2009. In order to get in to that group, I had to have my application completed by August 14, so, I had roughly 2 weeks to complete my application, design and design documentation. Fortunately, I was able to work things out and was able to complete my documentation AND reserve a slot for the defense. I was notified that I had passed on September 1, 2009, so the whole process took a little shy of two years for me.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation? If you’re even considering it, get started now. Do some research and find out if it is something you really want to do. There is a lot of information about VCDX out there — blueprints, blog posts, workshops, even sessions at Partner Exchange and VMworld that walk you through the process. I’ve even presented a session at VMUG about it. I don’t think any of the VCDX certified individuals, or the people who run the VCDX program, are secretive about how the process works and what it takes to pass. As long as you don’t ask us something that would violate our NDA, most of us are pretty open to talking about it. To get started down the path, get the blueprints for the VCAP exams, get them scheduled, and take a look at what is required for a VCDX-level design. If you’re not building your designs that way today, start using the guidelines to make your current work that much better. As an added benefit, this gives you plenty of practice towards building the documentation for your application and defense. Don’t rush the process, but don’t be afraid of it, either. Once you have your defense scheduled, make sure that you know your design. Not just the, "here’s how we built it," but the "why did you choose to build it that way" aspects. Understand how your customer’s requirements and constraints shaped the design — be able to explain the WHY. Once you get to the defense, relax and have fun with it!
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently? I don’t think I would have done much different. I was fortunate to be working with a great customer at the time my defense was scheduled. They agreed to answer all kinds of crazy questions, and provided me with excellent feedback that helped me solidify the design and get everything straight in my head. Having that kind of support from my customer was amazing. I strongly recommend using a real design for your defense and reviewing it with the actual customer or coworkers/peers who can ask you tough questions about it.
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it I received accolades from the local VMware team as well as recognition from my company, both internally and at events we sponsored. In the early days, nobody knew what a VCDX meant, so I had to explain what it was at just about every event — my apologies to those who had to hear me say the same thing multiple times! Today, the situation is better, and more people understand what VCDX means, although we do have a ways to go before it achieves the widespread recognition of, say, CCIE.
I have started my IT Career with IBM partners specializing in System X(IBM x86 Servers) & Storage. As Virtualization was a part of most other platforms in IBM (Main frames, iSeries, pSeries), I felt it was finally the chance to join the Virtualization boat when VMware came with Virtualization that run on System X. It was like bringing equality to the System X team (Wohoo we finally got VIrtualization too!) . I have started working on VMware since ESX 2.5 building POCs for customers. When ESX 3.5 came out resources were scarce, so more Virtualization projects start being put on my plate by day. The magical features of VMware Virtual Infrastructure at that time, & the response of customers made me feel as its the technology of the future and was glad I joined the boat of Virtualization back then.
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
I always was a certification junky, but after a while I got tired of attempting multiple choices certifications where the value of them were quickly diluted. When the VMware Administration & Design exams came out, I thought that should be a challenge that can be worth a while in a field that is invading the technology world at that time. Then when VCDX came out, it seemed like a very unique certificate in the market where you really have to proof your knowledge/skills in the front of the experts before obtaining your magical number, & here the journey started. Glad I was up to the challenge at the end of the Journey.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
Almost 3 years, as I started on VI3 where I got to the stage of my design being accepted for the last VI3 defense, but was not able to attend due to travel constraints(Getting Visa on time as well cost). Afterward, I have upgraded my design & certification to vSphere 4 and waited to get a VCDX defense in a close proximity where my employer was ready to sponsor the cost. Its important to note though things are much easier from logistics perspective with VCDX4/5 as you can do the VCAP exams at any local Prometric Testing Center, where it was only available at particular times and in few centers around the world for the VCDX3 with none being near me at that time.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
If you are passionate about Virtualization & VMware in particular, then VCDX is the journey you are looking for. There is currently no other Virtualization certification in the market that get even close to VCDX. VCDX is not the easiest certificate to obtain, but its well worth the challenge so get your act in place and enjoy the ride. The knowledge gain of the journey itself is as valuable as the certificate itself. My biggest advice would be to plan well ahead. Make sure you have enough time for the full journey where you have enough time for each part of the journey with the least amount of time pressure possible. Time shortage pressure trying to achieve your VCDX before the last defense will never be on your side and can raise your frustration & stress. Save yourself from being burned out during the VCDX trip and plan a head. By the way there is no better time to start your VCDX 5 journey than now, as there is still plenty of time and many defense opportunities left out. At last make sure you get advantage of other VCDXs in the community and blog sphere who share their VCDX trip experience and great tips all over the web. Wish everyone good luck on their VCDX event! Never give up!
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
I would probably delayed the start of my journey to the VCDX4, as I did not plan enough time to be able to manage all the logistics to attend the VCDX3 defense on time. I believe many others have fallen for the same trap as well.
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it
Was it worth it? 100%. The joy of obtaining my magical number after a long challenge was well worth it. The knowledge I have obtained during my VCDX trip is influencing my design decisions on daily basis, as well ensure I look into more details than I ever did before.
As far how my company responded, obtaining VCDX was greatly greeted by VMware as the first response go, as I got nice congrating e-mails from the management as well my colleagues. Further, VCDX seems to get much more attention lately in VMware & seems more events and awareness will be surrounding the VCDX certification and it feel great just being a part of it. I hope I will be on the second part of the fence one day as a VCDX panelist. I had the VCDX as one of my career goals for the year, so I am hoping for a nice pay rise too!
Back in 2002 I started exploring the VMware world with workstation, after a few exciting months playing on my home built tower pc I had the chance to try out ESX 1.5 and GSX, I wasn’t impressed at first (believe it or not I was a kind of server hugger at the time) but when ESX hit version 2 and I started to grasp its potential I was completely sold on server virtualization. I can tell you that there are ESX 2.5 still running in Europe and the US that rely on my custom built HA perl scripts 🙂
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
I remember hearing about VCDX on Duncan Epping’s blog, I was genuinely impressed by the oral dissertation needed to pass the panel exam, it sounded like something that could really attest a true proof of knowledge, and being a high school dropout myself I always wanted some kind of payback and formal recognition from the industry I truly care about. That was definitely the thing that made my mind click.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
In late 2009 I started wondering about getting my VCDX, I wanted to take it slow because I was still doing field work every day so time was a constraint, I booked the first advanced exam in march 2010 for June (enterprise admin, the precursor of VCAP-DCA) but then I had to rush it because the VCDX3 window was closing and I didn’t want to redo the advanced exams so I spent all my summer holidays working on my design (my wife loved it… Not 🙂 ) and by November the 2nd I was defending my application.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
Extensive hands on experience is definitely the best advice so build your home lab and start getting lab hours on it, and when you get to the defense know your design inside out, don’t overwork it, stick with what you know best and have hands-on experience with.
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
I would’ve probably took it slower, but in hindsight I’m not sure I would have accomplished the same result if I didn’t stay focused for two weeks straight on the design.
I first started using VMware in 2005 when I was shown VMware Workstation by a trainer during my MCSE courses, I was immediately hooked and then it spiralled from there. My career then focused on datacentre consolidation and VMware was central to my roles as a customer and then a partner and eventually as an employee.
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
There are many reasons, some of these can be considered slightly egocentric, such as the acronym on a business card or e-mail signature, the profile on the VCDX Directory, the kudos that comes with the certification and the career opportunities and doors that are open to VCDX holders. However the primary reason why I decided to go through the process was down to the challenge, I always enjoy a good challenge and the thought of achieving the VCDX certification was a central driver to me obtaining it.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
5 years if ‘the journey’ is classified as starter’s gun from passing VCP3 in 2006. There were many hurdles in the way such as kids, family stuff, changing jobs, life in general but I would count it from the day that I passed the VCP4 so it took around 6 months to complete.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
Put your mind to it, plan your journey and execute. It’s as simple as that.
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
I would have made the commitment to it a lot earlier. I do have one regret and that is I did not go for the VCDX3 certification, mainly because I felt that I was not ready. There are many readers that are probably thinking the same thing, don’t. Just go for it, have a vision, engage people to help you and deliver!
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it?
Definitely! I would say it was worth it from a personal point of view – achieving the certification allows me to focus on other aspects of my personal development and not focus too much time on certifications. It’s certainly contributed to some of my successes since obtaining VCDX but it’s not been critical to those successes.
A very quick posting for those people out there who are looking to either test out their skills over and above the VCP5 accreditation or those like myself you are hoping to try for the VCDX5 accreditation. The official posting went out earlier today as did the blueprint which hasn’t changed since the beta.
If you feel you are willing to take the challenge of the VCAP5-DCA then you can register for the exam here. Due to my being part of the VCAP5-DCA beta I have already started listing all the resources I’m going to use for the exam on my VCAP5-DCA and DCD Study Resource Page and I’ve also almost finished covering all the VCAP5-DCA blueprint objectives.
Good luck to everyone looking to do the exam and if you know of any other resources I’m missing from my resources page please leave a comment so I can add it to the list
Current Employer: hqVirtual B.V.(Freelance Virtualization Consultant)
VCDX #: 40
How did you get into using VMware?
In 2005 I joined a company which was primarily focused on implementing SAN infrastructures. Due to the growing customer demand for VMware environments they asked me to fill in the VMware consultancy piece, which I was very happy with obviously. At that time I was the only one doing VMware within the company which made it really hard work to get up to speed, which I couldn’t have done without the VMware Communities at that time!
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
I’ve always been someone who likes to have certifications on stuff that I’m working on and the idea of being one of the few within the VCDX community drove my eagerness on getting the VCDX certification.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
The complete journey for me (VCDX3) took about a year. First of all I started with the Enterprise Administration and Enterprise Design Exam which could only be done abroad due to the limited amount of Pearson Facilities delivering the exams. Secondly, with approval of my customer, I started to translate customer’s vSphere Design for delivery to VMware. Last but not least I got invited to present and defend the VCDX design that I submitted.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
As said multiple times on different blogs: “know your design”. It is very important to have a valid technical and/or organizational reason for the design decisions that you made within the design.
In 2010 I also wrote an article about my VCDX experience with some tips in there:
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
Basically there is only one thing that I would do differently and that’s all about personal life. I stressed myself so much on the VCDX Track that I actually became sick after doing the defence. Guess a lot of stress got relieved 😉 So my lesson learned on this one is to not stress myself so much.
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it?
I joined VMware Professional Services (PSO) like a month after getting the VCDX certification which basically means that I was already talking to VMware about the position and that my former employer also knew I was leaving at the time I was doing the last steps in the VCDX track.
Was it worth it? Definitely! While working for VMware I got the luxury of becoming a VCDX Panellist member (after internal education) and I learned so much more during that time!
Looking at me as a freelancer nowadays I also benefit with the VCDX certification since it’s still a very unique certification which is getting more and more attention lately.
I had been a Post/Pre Sales engineer for a number of years, specialising in Storage / Servers / Wintel type technologies, the company I was working for at the time put me on the VMware Virtual Infrastructure – Install and Configure Course and wanted me to get VCP as soon as possible as a requirement of the VMware partner program. The course really inspired me, and I quickly focused my attention and career path on virtualisation and shared storage. I gained my first VCP (VCP3) in mid 2007.
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
A good friend of mine (and former Colleague) James Wirth, better known as VCDX#83 and I decided to challenge ourselves and each other. It started out as a bit of a challenge or contest, but quickly turned into an excellent learning experience. In the back of my mind I also wanted see how my skills compared to the elite virtualisation architects (the VCDXs).
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
As always, I tend to put myself under pressure, which I did in this case. James and I agreed we would like to defend in Germany and take a run down the autobahns in a Porsche 911 Turbo, but we quickly realised time was not on our side as applications were due in December, so we agreed on Toronto.
I sat the VCP4 in November 2011 (after already sitting VCP5 thinking that would qualify me for the VCAP4 exams, big mistake!), then VCAP4-DCD in early December, VCAP4-DCA in mid December, then prepared my application in January & Feb (while also Sitting VCAP5-DCD Beta exam).
I completed the VCDX4 Defence in Toronto May 2012.
So all up, including study it was only October 2011 to May 2012, a total of 8 months.
I would however not recommend anyone try to go through the VCDX “Journey” in 8 months as I studied day and night, and had minimal personal life during this time. I was lucky to have had a solid 6 years working with VMware products, so the experience was essential, without the experience, I wouldn’t have had a chance.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
The VCDX journey should be looked at as a huge learning experience, rather than just aiming for a certification.
Assuming you have several years (I’d suggest 5+) of solid VMware experience with significant and varied design experience, I’d give yourself 6 months per VCAP exam, and 6 months to prepare your VCDX application. So 18 months, total.
I would suggest
1. Do whiteboard design scenario sessions with other skilled VMware architects and consider the pro’s and con’s of every architectural decision, and when you use one setting over another, and vice versa. This is very handy, not just for VCDX defence where you will be asked these type of questions, but for a VMware architects day to day job.
2. Read, read, and read some more. Books like Duncan and Frank’s vSphere 4.1 HA/DRS & vSphere 5 Clustering books are excellent. Blogs, VMware Best practice documents etc are great resources.
3. Setup a home lab (if you don’t have a lab at the office). Test things, try as many different scenarios as possible and run through all the tasks in the VCAP4-DCA blueprint several times, as the DCA exam requires you complete alot of tasks in a short period of time, so you don’t want to have to refer to the manuals at all if possible.
4. Know the VCAP and VCDX blueprints back to front!
5. Repeat items 1 through 4
6. Refer to item 5
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
Take more time, a lot more! I still feel there is a lot I can learn, and I feel I would have enjoyed the journey more, as I wouldn’t have been under such tight time pressures. I would also have done more design scenario sessions with friends and colleagues, as these are great ways to learn as well as help prepare for the VCDX panel.
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it
Was it worth it?? 100% Yes. It was definitely worth it. I learned a huge amount, and improved as a VMware architect. I now think my architectural decisions through much more and consider a wider range of options.
Life after VCDX for me is much like the VCDX journey, keep learning as much as possible, including improving my skills in complimentary technologies, such as Storage & networking.
I am planning on knocking off the desktop certifications VCA4-DT, VCP4-DT and VCP5-DT in the next couple of months, and when released, the VCPVCD511 (VCP-IaaS).
Hope I can get a healthy pay rise too! (Hope the boss reads this, wink wink, nudge nudge)
I started using VMware when it was introduced in one of my classes at ECPI University, where I received my Bachelor’s degree. We used VMware Workstation to set up an Active Directory infrastructure along with Exchange. I thought it was amazing that I could run multiple guests on one PC. It was during this time that I had the opportunity to technical edit a book called “Virtualization: From Desktop to the Enterprise.” I learned a lot about ESX and bare-metal hypervisors. I was hooked. VMware wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is today, but I knew that it would be a hot technology by the potential for hardware savings alone. I looked into specializing in virtualization during this time.
What made you decide to do the VCDX?
The VCDX came out when I was well on my way to specializing in virtualization technology. I had achieved my VCP and was working as a server administrator responsible for designing and implementing one of my company’s first proper virtual infrastructures on Virtual Infrastructure 3 (VI3). It was awesome seeing the real impact that virtualization had on the company. The VCDX seemed like a natural goal for me to differentiate myself and show myself to be a true expert in virtualization technology, both designing and implementing.
How long did it take you to complete the whole VCDX journey?
It took me almost a year to complete the VCDX journey once I filled out the skills qualification review for VCDX3. That was in October of 2009. I found out my results on Tuesday, September 7th 2010 at 1:47 PM EST, a few weeks after my defense the week before VMworld that year.
What advice would you give to people thinking of pursuing the VCDX accreditation?
Don’t be afraid to pursue this goal if you are truly passionate about VMware technologies. It may be tough, but the results are worth it. There is plenty of practical advice out there on various blogs and the VMware community forums about the specifics of the process and the panel defense. Research, research, research along the way. Aggressively pursue the first opportunity to do the panel defense. There are only a few per year, and historically only a few per version of the VCDX. You will never feel truly ready to do the defense. You just have to do it and trust that the experience will be valuable no matter what the results are.
If you could do the whole VCDX journey again what would you do differently?
From a process standpoint, I don’t think I would do anything differently. I work for an awesome company with peer engineers that helped me and supported me every step of the way. They took the time to do a mock defense on several occasions and came up with some creative questions about my design options to keep me on my toes. Even the account managers in my company got involved so I had some questions that I would have never thought of.
Having been through the process, I would say that I spent too much time worrying about the process. Yes, the defense will make you nervous. That’s normal. However, I think I spent too much time analyzing what I might do wrong in the defense that I drove myself crazy over the process. I should have just relaxed and trusted that I had a solid design and the experience to get through the process. That’s easy to say now that it’s done. So, I don’t know that relaxing would even be possible.
Life after the VCDX? How did your company respond? Was it worth it?
I am still working with the same company that supported me during my VCDX journey. My company has been awesome. They encourage engineers to be at the top of their game. I work alongside multiple CCIE’s and some very talented datacenter engineers that keep me at the top of my game. My company takes good care of all the employees and the VCDX achievement put me in an even better position within the company. The VCDX has changed my life and career for the better. It was absolutely worth it.
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but I would count it from the day that I passed the VCP4 so it took around 6 months to complete.
TheSaffaGeek 