Yeah, I'm waiting to see if VMworld pans out for me or not, mostly because of the 75% exam discount, but I think some of the round table/workshop sessions could be helpful too. I finally picked up a copy of Mostafa Khalil's storage book, and I'd like to finish that first. I'd also like to grab the 2nd edition of the design book, especially since I don't see the design workshop happening for me. Based on your post, I'm thinking I might give Duncan/Frank's clustering book another read through, and I probably ought to give the blueprint another look too. I had the same reaction when I looked at it. You probably have seen it already, but if not, Maish has all the links from the blueprint collected here:
VCAP5-DCD - Mission Accomplished | Technodrone
I really just have no idea if I'm ready. I've been using a project at work as a framework to get started on my VCDX submission, and that feels like that has been more helpful than anything. Working on a design with the expectation that it'll be scrutinized by VCDXs is giving me a little extra motivation to REALLY think about every little aspect of the design, and that has been great.
