How to start preparing for HDPCA ?

[#1]

For HDPCD, we could use the Hortonworks Sandbox and try to go through the exam objectives to prepare ourselves.

For HDPCA, can we use the same Sandbox and try to implement the tasks in Exam Objectives ?

Since I am not planning on taking the Hortonworks Official Training course, I would like to know

1. What basic setup(Sandbox/VM with only Linux flavor and no hadoop) do I need to start with ?

2. How to go about preparing for HDPCA, specially what do I need to start with(other than referring the exam objectives).

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hello, Dinesh, all good questions. You are correct that to "pass" the HDPCA exam you need to be at least familiar with the tasks in the Exam Objectives (http://hortonworks.com/training/certification/exam-objectives/#hdpca).

The best way to prepare for the Exam is to run a Practice Exam on AWS (http://2xbbhjxc6wk3v21p62t8n4d4.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/HDPCA-PracticeExamGuide.pdf).

This practice environment has the same version as the exam will have and the tasks in practice are similar to the ones on the actual exam.

In the actual exam you will have a minimally configured cluster, so you will not need to install from scratch on a base OS, but you will be required to configure different services as per the Objectives. If you still want to create a cluster from scratch, which is always a great thing to learn, you would probably want to install an HDP version that is close to the exam.

The exam is based on the Hortonworks Data Platform 2.3 installed and managed with Ambari 2.1.

Hope that this helps.

[#3]

@William Gonzalez - Thank you for the details, for now I would just stick with exam objectives but I am definitely interested in doing things from scratch to get a in-depth understanding.

[#4]

Great.

Good luck on the exam.

[#5]

Great.

Good luck on the exam.

[#6]

Great.

Good luck on the exam.