As you may know from the first article, I successfully passed my VCP7-DTM exam and now I’m studying for the VCAP7-DTM Design certification.
Before we take a closer look at the different objectives or requirements, there is one important information about the VCIX7-DTM track. Since no VCAP7-DTM Deploy exam is available and it’s not clear yet when this exam will be published, you only need the VCAP7-DTM Design certification to earn the VCIX7-DTM status. I have got this information from VMware certification.
Section 1 – Create a Horizon Conceptual Design
Let’s have a look at the different objectives from section 1 and see what they mean for me using my learning resources.
Objective 1.1 – Gather and analyze requirements
Objective 1.2 – Gather and analyze application requirements
Objective 1.3 – Differentiate requirements, risks, constraints and assumptions
Objective 1.4 – Evaluate existing business practices against established use cases
The gathering of requirements (functional and nonfunctional) is an essential part of the whole design and deploy process.
A functional requirement describes what the solution must do or accomplish. Example: Limit access to a specific user group
A nonfunctional requirement describes the characteristics of a solution. Example: Horizon service uptime of 99.99%
To have a good and valid design you also have to define goals, requirements, risks, constraints and assumptions.
Normally, defining goals is one of the easier parts when it comes to a design. When you interview the different key stakeholders and use the right questions, you already have the business objectives or goals. The goals are the business drivers and it’s important for you as architect to understand all the objectives to fulfill the customer’s needs.
What are the company’s business needs?
Do they want to increase user mobility?
Lower the operational costs with a faster deployment method?
Is remote access needed?
Make sure that your defined goals are smart.
If your design process is based on the VMware Delivery Excellence Methodology, then you know that the assessment phase focuses on the scope of the project and the data-gathering for the design. You need to understand the customer’s requirements and for that you need to interview different key stakeholders to create a design which meets all the needs.
After you have gathered all the requirements, you must document them and write down the constraints, assumptions and risks.
With all the information about the current state, the business requirements and the application requirements, you are able to create an enterprise infrastructure design based on a three-step model. The conceptual design is the first one to begin with:
– Conceptual Design (Section 1)
– Logical Design (Section 2)
– Physical Design (Section 3)
If you have the VDI Design Guide then you will find a diagram (and more information) starting on page 39.
Stay tuned for part 3 where I cover section 2 of the exam blueprint:
Create a Horizon Logical Design
