Last week, I was fortunate to be able to do a session “In the trenches by day, aspiring to be an architect by night” at our own VMUG in Belgium.
Together with my good friend Maarten Van Driessen, we did a session on how to best approach a new design from an architectural point of view. This was a high-level VCAP DTM & DCV design session where we discussed the fundamentals of an IT solution design.
If you have already read part 1 of the VCAP7-DTM Design study guide – part 1, then you will see that most of the topics from that part are included in the session as well. This is because we wanted to focus our session, on designs the fact that most designs fail due to no defining their functional and non-functional criteria.
When starting with your design it is crucial that you understand phase 1 of the VMware design methodology as explained in the session and the study guide. It will ensure that you have all R(ace)CARs and CRAMPS defined for the solution you are building.
With the functional and non-functional criteria listed, you will be able to build up a solid foundation for your project and the overall solution you are going to deliver.
As mentioned in the Q&A, some reading material that is recommended on this subject are:
- VDI Design guide
- IT Architect – stories from the field
- vSphere 6.7 Clustering Deep Dive
- vSphere 6.5 Host Resources Deep Dive
- vSAN 6.7 U1 Deep Dive
The virtually speaking podcast does have some sessions on the “fire, flood and blood” topic, that discussed designs gone wrong.
This has helped me in understanding how even the smallest thing can cause you to have a really bad day.
So I hope our session from the VMUG will help you when studying for your VCAP DTM design certificate!