Last week I sat and passed the VCIX-NV (VCXN610) exam and I thought I would follow-up last weeks Review Post with some interesting…well I think interesting observations I picked up from my JawBone device during the course of the exam as well as give an update on some questions around what passing the VCIX-NV in it’s current form gives you in terms of VCP inheritance and extension.

Exam Heart Rate Measurements:

During my first attempt I was asked to remove the JawBone as the testing center apparently thinks they can conceal answers even though the JawBone Up3 doesn’t have any sort of display except for come indicator lights. Last week, during my second attempt they didn’t notice it on me and I had it on during the course of the exam.

IMG_3460_2

When I checked the Up App later the evening the heart rate pattern closely matched the ebs and flows I felt during the 4.5 hour exam. If you look at the image above I have numbered key moments based on the time the reading was taken and made notes below on what part of the exam they correspond to.

  1. 69bpm – Taken on the journey from home to the testing center…feeling nervous about taking the test. Who doesn’t get nervous before tests?
  2. 69bpm – After going in confident, things started going pear shaped as explained in the recap.
  3. 59bpm – After getting the time extension and getting through first couple of questions
  4. 56bpm – During this part of the exam I settled into a groove and was powering through questions feeling more and more relaxed.
  5. 73bpm – Nearing the end of the exam and trying to rush through last few questions and going back through answers.
  6. 80bpm – Waiting for exam results after walk back to office from test center
  7. 55bpm – About an hour after getting results and finally able to relax

It’s pretty cool to see what your heart (and body) goes through during the course of an exam and with a wearable like the JawBone it’s possible track back and find out exactly what was happening during that period.

VCIX-NV Inheritance:

Over the past couple of months I’ve seen some conversation on Twitter and Slack around what passing the VCIX-NV gives you from a VCP point of view. We know from the VMware Education site that passing the current VCIX-NV means that when the new NSX Based Design and Administration exams come out, current VCIX-NV holders will be automatically upgraded.

VCIX-VCP

As shown above, what also happens is that you are awarded the VCP-NV certification as well as have your existing VCPs expiration dates extended. It seems like VMware are giving away a lot with the successful passing of this exam however it probably speaks more to the fact that NSX is core to VMware future and it wants people to certify against it…however that is not to say that it’s given away for free and as I talked about in the recap the VCIX-NV isn’t a cakewalk and everything mentioned above is definitely well earn’t.

The current VCIX-NV gets retired on the 2nd of June.