The Cisco 010-151 DCTECH exam is necessary for obtaining the Cisco Certified Technician (CCT) Data Center certification. It validates the candidates' skills in maintaining and offering support to Cisco Unified Computing servers and systems.

Target Audience for Cisco 010-151 Exam

The candidates who decide to take the Cisco 010-151 exam are those interested in leveraging their skills for offering onsite maintenance and support to Cisco systems devices and networking. The most suitable individuals for this test have a support technician position. During this accreditation path, they will consolidate their knowledge on repairing, restoring, diagnosing, and replacing critical Data Center Solutions developed by Cisco. In addition, the obtained Cisco Certified Technician Data Center certification will recommend them as skilled support technicians who have the necessary technical skills to expand their responsibilities.

Details of Cisco 010-151 Exam

The professionals who prepare to sit for 010-151 test should be ready to answer from 65–75 questions in a time limit of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Also, there is a registration fee of $125, and one should pay attention to the tax if any is needed. When it comes to the delivery formats, the Cisco 010-151 exam can be taken either online or in person. If they prefer to take the test in person, the candidates will have to search for an available testing facility in their location. In case they want more flexibility, then the online version is more convenient.

The registration process for this assessment should be finalized on the Pearson VUE platform. The applicants will need to follow the steps prompted on the screen and confirm the payment of the enrollment fee.

Topics Tested in Cisco 010-151 Exam

You can get the passing score in the Cisco 010-151 exam if you demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of the following knowledge areas:

• Developing general knowledge of the data center-related topics

  First, the candidates for the Cisco 010-151 exam should prove that they broadly understand the basic principles of data centers as well as core concepts of cloud computing. Another important sub-domain focuses on virtualization, so one should gain information about how it works for storage, network, and servers. The applicants also need to learn more about SFP and QSFP transceivers, fiber, twinaxial, connectors, and UTP. Furthermore, one needs to become proficient in SAN technology as well as be able to handle SAN cabling. Finally, for this section of the exam syllabus, it is crucial to learn more about raid storage, PCIe SSDs and NVMe, and understand the difference between various Layer 2 technologies, including Gigabit Ethernet, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and others.

• Describing the Cisco operation software Cisco NX-OS product and Cisco UCS

  The Cisco 010-151 exam blueprint includes topics that validate the examinees’ knowledge of Cisco Integrated Management Controller along with UCS Manager functionality and most important features. In addition, the exam-takers should become familiar with the concepts of managing and using different command modes that can be managed in the Cisco NX-OS software. The professionals who want to get certified should also become skilled in verifying device configuration problems and determining the current device mode. When managing a Cisco NX-OS switch device, the individuals who enroll in the Cisco 010-151 exam also have to be able to recover its password, be competent enough in interpreting and using the Cisco NX-OS basic commands, and identifying the configuration files included in a device operated with Cisco products. Finally, they should consolidate their competency in verifying device configuration phases.

• Identifying Cisco equipment as well as its related hardware features

  Within this domain, the exam-takers should learn about the management of Cisco Unified Computing System LED components together with identifying the chassis layout features. In addition, the professionals will need to better understand Cisco Nexus 2000 series fabric extender infrastructure and become skilled at deploying the elements of different types of UCS servers. When going through this section of Cisco 010-151, the candidates should also consolidate their knowledge of configuring the switch components, UCS expansion modules and network adapters, and the family components of MDS 9700 along with networking modules of MDS 9700 Family Storage. Finally, pay attention to USC fabric extenders and fabric interconnects, among other related topics.

• Developing service-related knowledge

  When they reach this chapter, the candidates should allocate enough time to developing solid skills in making efficient physical connection of Cisco console port and a laptop. Also, they will need to learn how to reach the set results by performing the necessary installation steps. Additionally, the candidates will need to learn more about how they can finalize the starting setup tasks and complete a service restoration verification. Within this section, the examinees will also discover what remedial procedures they need to follow when managing Cisco devices as well as what hardware tools they can use during reparation processes. Upgrading is also an important topic included in this section. Therefore, the examinees should gain skills in upgrading BIOS components with the help of GUI elements and operate them on a USC Server Blade infrastructure. Finally, the test-takers need to gain competencies in upgrading the Cisco Integrated Management Controller firmware while operating on a UCS Server C-series architecture.

Career Prospects for Cisco 010-151 Exam-Passers

The candidates who succeed in passing the Cisco 010-151 exam will benefit from the advantage of adding an international certification under their belt. Therefore, they will become eligible for different well-paid positions that require consolidated skills in performing the basic configuration of the Cisco NX-OS system. For example, the successful exam-passers can apply to one of the following job roles:

• Technical Support Engineer
• Network Engineer
• Support Specialist

According to the information available on Payscale.com, a Technical Support Engineer can ask for an offer of $66k as an annual salary. Also, if you decide to become a Network Engineer, you may expect to receive an annual payment of $75k.

Certification Path

The professionals who pass the Cisco 010-151 exam and obtain the CCT Data Center certification shouldn’t stop here and can continue adding more certifications to their CV. Therefore, they can enroll in the process of obtaining the CCT Collaboration and CCT Routing & Switching accreditations. On the other hand, it will be wise to upgrade current knowledge with the professional-level CCNP Data Center certificate and then even proceed to CCIE Data Center.