Introduction xvii Chapter 1 Introduction to Technical Design 3 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 3 Foundation Topics 6 What Is a Technical Design? 6 Where Do We Start? What Are We Doing? 6 What Makes a Good Designer? 6 A Familiar Scenario.? 7 The Technical Design Process 7 Vision 8 Scope 9 Requirements 9 Constraints 9 Assumptions 9 Risks 10 Project Deliverables 10 Building a Realistic and Executable Plan of Approach 11 General Guidelines for a Good Technical Design 12 Learning from Experience 12 Measuring Project Success 13 Exam Preparation Tasks 13 Review All Key Topics 13 Design Scenarios 14 Definitions of Key Terms 14 Read the Technical Material with a Designer''s Hat On 14 Review Questions 15 Chapter 2 Creating a Design 19 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 19 Foundation Topic 22 Gathering Information and Spotting the Gaps 22 Presenting the Data Gathered 26 Key Points from the Summary of Stakeholder Interviews 27 Milestone Plan and Technical Approach 28 Milestone Phases 28 Justification for Design Choices 28 Real-Life Tips 29 Exam Preparation Tasks 29 Review All Key Topics 29 Design Scenario 30 Definitions of Key Terms 30 Review Questions 30 Chapter 3 Thoughts on Good Choices for Virtualization and Design 35 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 35 Foundation Topics 38 What Makes a Good Choice for Virtualization, and What Is a Good Design? 38 "It''s Okay, We Have HA!" 41 RTO, RPO, and All That Stuff 42 Single Points of Failure and Risk 43 What Is DR, and When Is It Invoked? 45 Platform and Operations: The Roles 45 "Did Someone Change Something on Production?" 47 When to Virtualize? 48 Exam Preparation Tasks 50 Review All Key Topics 50 Design Scenario 50 Definitions of Key Terms 51 Review Questions 52 Chapter 4 Developing a Design on Paper and Delivering It Physically 55 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 55 Foundation Topics 60 How to Approach vSphere Technical Design 60 Transitioning to a Physical Design: A Common Approach and Process 61 vSphere Platform Components 63 Design Thoughts, Choices, and Impact Considerations 64 Storage Design: Logical and Physical Approaches 64 Storage Tiering 66 vSphere Storage Design Decisions 69 Design Approaches and Development 70 Developing a Physical Storage Design 71 Examples of Recommended Best Practices 72 Network Design: Logical and Physical Design to Allow Applications to Flow 73 vNetworks: Planning from the Basics 74 Creating a Logical Design 78 Moving from the Logical Design to the Physical Design 81 Compute and Host Design 82 Management/Platform Design 85 The Importance of vMotion, VMware HA, and Fault Tolerance 90 Admission Control, and I Don''t Have the Power, Captain! 91 Restart Priority 92 Guest Machine Placement 93 Now What Do I Do? 93 Exam Preparation Tasks 94 Review All Key Topics 94 Design Scenario 95 Definitions of Key Terms 95 Review Questions 96 Chapter 5 Virtual Machine Design 99 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 99 Foundation Topics 104 Virtual Machines--From the Design Perspective 104 It''s All About the Application 105 Design Approaches 107 What Should a VM Contain? 108 Guest Virtual Machine Component Considerations 110 Reservations, Limits, and Shares 111 Network Considerations 112 Storage Considerations 113 CPU Considerations 114 vSphere Platform-wide Considerations 115 Antivirus Solutions for a vSphere Admin 116 vApps 117 OVFs 119 Exam Preparation Tasks 120 Review All Key Topics 120 Design Scenario 120 Define Key Terms 121 Review Questions 121 Question Scenario 122 Chapter 6 Project Execution 125 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 125 Foundation Topics 127 Implementation Approach and Order of Delivery 127 Establishing the Order of Delivery 128 Technical Approach 128 Validation, Thoughts, and Processes 130 Going Live and the Bedding-in Period 135 Documentation and Delivery 136 Implementation Plans 137 Installation Guides 137 Exam Preparation Tasks 139 Review All Key Topics 139 Design Scenario 139 Definitions of Key Terms 140 Review Questions 141 Chapter 7 Tips For Passing The Exam 143 The Blueprint 143 Studying for the Test and Real-Life Designing 144 The Exam Design Tool 144 Tips for E-design Tool Questions 145 My VCAP5-DCD Experience 146 Exam Preparation Tasks 147 Final Preparation Tasks 147 Real-Life Tips from Field and Design Defenses 147 Appendix A Answers to the "Do I Know This Already?" Quizzes and Chapter Review Questions 149 Appendix B Recommended Reading and Assumed Platform Knowledge 153 Section 1: VMware Recommended Reading List 154 Section 2: Assumed Platform Knowledge 155 Section 3: vSphere Design Choice Thoughts 158 Glossary 165 Index 169.