You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
DELL TECHNOLOGIESDell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy
The Dell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy certification validates your ability to install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot Dell PowerSwitch Data Center networking products. Built for implementation specialists and systems engineers, it covers core data center networking technologies including VLT, OSPF, BGP, VRF, QoS, and network automation. Earning it demonstrates hands-on proficiency with OS10 in real-world data center environments.
Exam formatProctored exam
DeliveryPearson VUE
Free questions535
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Dell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
7domains
26objectives
156concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The Dell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy certification validates the skills required to perform intermediate-level tasks in installing, configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting Dell PowerSwitch Data Center networking products. It is designed for professionals who work hands-on with Dell data center switches and need to demonstrate practical expertise in OS10-based environments.
This certification covers a broad range of data center networking topics, from foundational concepts like network topologies and FHRP to advanced technologies such as VLT, OSPF, BGP, VRF, QoS, IP multicast, and network timing protocols. It also introduces network automation with Smart Fabric Services and OMNI, preparing you to manage modern, software-driven data center networks.
Who it’s for
This certification is for implementation specialists, storage implementation engineers, and systems engineers who deploy and maintain Dell PowerSwitch data center networking products. It suits professionals who are hands-on with OS10 and need to validate their ability to configure and troubleshoot complex data center network environments. If you are responsible for installing, configuring, and supporting Dell data center switches in production environments, this certification provides a structured way to prove your skills and advance your career.
Recommended experience
Dell recommends completing the relevant training and gaining hands-on experience with Dell PowerSwitch data center products before attempting this exam. Familiarity with data center networking concepts and topologies; Hands-on experience with Dell PowerSwitch OS10 configuration and troubleshooting; Understanding of routing protocols such as OSPF and BGP; Knowledge of network security features including ACLs and AAA
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective Dell Technologies measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official Dell Technologies exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Network Overview
- Identify the main components within the Data Center portfolio
- Review common Data Center networking topologies
FHRP
- Identify VRRP components
- Outline VRRP operation and behavior
- Configure and verify the operation of VRRP in OS10
Link Redundancy
- Describe the components that makeup a VLT configuration
- Configure and verify the operation of VLT in OS10
- Outline the components of UFD
- Configure and verify the operation of UFD in OS10
IP Routing
- Describe the components of OSPF
- Review the operation and behavior OSPF
- Configure and verify a single area of OSPF topology
- Outline the main components in BGP
- Configure and verify the operation of BGP
- Describe Policy-Based Routing (PBR) basic operations
- Configure and verify the operation of PBR
Security
- Configure and verify ACLs in OS10
- Outline the components of AAA security
- Configure and verify the operation of AAA Security in OS10
Data Center Technologies
- VRF
- QoS
- Multicast
- Network Timing
Network Automation
- Describe the rationale for network automation
- Examine the components within Smart Fabric Services and OMNI
- Configure and verify operation of SFS and OMNI
On the day
The exam itself
Everything Dell Technologies publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationDell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy
Exam formatProctored exam
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish, French
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path Dell Technologies lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to Dell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy
Credential earnedDell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy Certification Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. Dell Technologies maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by Dell Technologies
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, Dell Technologies’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official Dell Technologies certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does the Dell PowerSwitch Data Center Deploy certification relate to other Dell networking certifications?
It is part of the Dell Proven Professional program under the Networking category, alongside certifications like Networking Foundations, Networking Design, PowerSwitch Campus Deploy, and SONiC Deploy. It focuses specifically on data center deployment skills.
Do I need to earn a lower-level Dell certification before taking D-PDC-DY-23?
No. Dell does not require any prerequisite certifications for this exam. However, completing recommended training and gaining hands-on experience is advised.
Is the D-PDC-DY-23 exam proctored?
Yes. Skills Certification exams like D-PDC-DY-23 are proctored and administered through Pearson VUE testing centers and OnVUE online proctoring.
What is the retake policy for the D-PDC-DY-23 exam?
If you do not pass on the first attempt, you must wait 7 days to retake. After a second failed attempt, you must wait at least 14 days between each additional attempt. If you need to retake an exam you have already passed to fulfill a certification track requirement, you may do so after 3 months.
How soon will I receive my exam results?
Exams are computer scored immediately upon completion, and you will receive a provisional score report right away. The final score is transmitted to your CertTracker account within 72 hours after statistical analysis is completed.
Are practice tests available for this exam?
Yes. Dell offers unproctored, web-based practice tests that can be scheduled separately. They are timed and must be completed within 30 days of purchase.
What job roles does this certification align with?
The target audience includes Implementation Specialists, Storage Implementation Engineers, and Systems Engineers who work with Dell PowerSwitch data center networking products.
Can I take the exam online?
Yes. The exam is available via Pearson VUE's OnVUE online proctoring, as well as at physical Pearson testing centers.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 535 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept Dell Technologies measures — each one written out.
7domains
26objectives
156concepts
116free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official Dell Technologies exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Network Overview44 questions
2FHRP62 questions
3Link Redundancy83 questions
4IP Routing129 questions
Describe the components of OSPF10 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Review the operation and behavior OSPF8 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Configure and verify a single area of OSPF topology4 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Outline the main components in BGP6 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Configure and verify the operation of BGP7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Describe Policy-Based Routing (PBR) basic operations3 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →Configure and verify the operation of PBR4 concepts · 3 pagesOpen →
5Security58 questions
6Data Center Technologies89 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Identify the main components within the Data Center portfolio5 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
23 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
535 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
535questions
116pages
26objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Network Overview44 questions
2FHRP62 questions
3Link Redundancy83 questions
4IP Routing129 questions
5Security58 questions
6Data Center Technologies89 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
156concepts
535free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from Dell Technologies
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
4official links
156concepts mapped
The source
Dell Technologies’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official Dell Technologies outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 26 objectives, 156 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When Dell Technologies changes the outline, this page changes with it.
26objectives on the outline→156concepts written→535free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.