3V0-21.23

The VMware 3V0-21.23 exam, "Advanced Design VMware vSphere 7.x", focuses on the advanced design and architecture of VMware vSphere 7.x environments. The main points covered can be broadly categorized as follows:

I. Virtualization Fundamentals & Architecture: While not the primary focus, a solid understanding of core vSphere concepts is assumed. This includes:

• Virtual Machine (VM) management: Understanding VM lifecycle, resource allocation, and performance characteristics.
• Storage: Different storage types (SAN, NAS, vSAN), storage policies, and storage performance optimization.
• Networking: vSphere networking concepts, vSwitch configurations, distributed switches, and network virtualization.
• High Availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance (FT): Understanding the mechanisms and configurations for high availability solutions.

II. Advanced vSphere Design & Architecture: This is the core of the exam. Expect questions on:

• vCenter Server Suite Architecture: Understanding the components of vCenter Server, its scalability, and high availability configurations.
• vSphere Resource Management: Deep understanding of resource pools, DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler), and Storage DRS (Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler), including advanced configurations and optimization techniques.
• VMware vSAN: Detailed knowledge of vSAN architecture, including different configurations (All-Flash, Hybrid), performance considerations, and capacity planning. This includes understanding witness hosts and stretched clusters.
• VMware vSphere HA (High Availability): Advanced configuration options, including advanced settings, heartbeat configurations, and troubleshooting.
• VMware vSphere FT (Fault Tolerance): Understanding the limitations and configurations of Fault Tolerance, including its impact on resource consumption.
• VMware vSphere Update Manager: Patching and updating vCenter Server and ESXi hosts.
• Networking Design: Advanced networking topologies, including VXLAN and NSX-T (although deep dives into NSX-T are less likely).
• Capacity Planning and Performance Tuning: Predicting resource needs and optimizing performance in vSphere environments. This includes identifying and resolving performance bottlenecks.
• Security: While not a primary focus, you'll need to be familiar with basic security best practices within vSphere.

III. Deployment and Implementation Aspects: While not heavily implementation-focused, the exam tests your understanding of how these designs would be implemented:

• Understanding deployment topologies: This includes best practices for various cluster configurations and network designs.
• Troubleshooting issues related to design choices: Being able to identify potential problems in a design before implementation.

Important Note: The exam emphasizes design aspects. You need to understand why certain configurations are chosen, not just how they are implemented. You should be able to justify your design choices based on performance, scalability, and high availability requirements. Hands-on experience with a vSphere environment is highly recommended.

This is a broad overview; the exam blueprint provided by VMware should be your definitive guide to the specifics of the exam content. Always refer to the official documentation and exam blueprint for the most accurate and up-to-date information.