DCCA Exam Information and Outline
Data Center Certified Associate
Syllabus Update Checked on: September 8, 2026
DCCA Exam Syllabus & Study Guide
Before you start practicing with our exam simulator, it is essential to understand the
official DCCA exam objectives. This course outline serves as your roadmap.
The information below reflects the 2026 syllabus defined by
Schneider-Electric.
Below are complete topics detail with latest syllabus and course outline, that will help you good knowledge about exam objectives and topics that you have to prepare. These contents are covered in questions and answers pool of exam.
Domains:
- Fundamentals of Availability
- Fundamentals of Power
- Power Distribution
- Generator Fundamentals
- Fundamentals of Cooling I & II
- Optimizing Cooling Layouts / Room, Row & Rack-based Cooling
- Rack Fundamentals
- Fundamental Cabling Strategies
- Examining Fire Protection Methods
- Fundamentals of Physical Security
- Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) and related management topics
- Physical Infrastructure Optimization & Efficiency
1. Availability & Reliability
- Availability vs Reliability
- Five 9’s (99.999%) and its limitations
- Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF)
- Mean Time To Repair (MTTR)
- Cost of downtime (direct + indirect)
- Threats to availability (power, cooling, human error, disasters)
- Redundancy concepts: N, N+1, N+2, 2N, 2N+1
2. Power Systems
- Utility power
- Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) types and topologies
- UPS redundancy
- Power quality issues (sags, surges, harmonics, etc.)
- Power Distribution Units (PDU)
- Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) / Static Transfer Switch (STS)
- Generators (diesel, types, sizing, fuel systems)
- Batteries (VRLA, Lithium-ion)
- Power density (kW/rack)
- Efficiency and losses
3. Cooling Systems
- Heat load / Sensible vs Latent heat
- CRAC / CRAH units
- Hot aisle / Cold aisle
- Hot aisle containment / Cold aisle containment
- Raised floor vs non-raised floor cooling
- Room-based, Row-based, and Rack-based cooling
- Humidity control
- Airflow management
- Economizers
- PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) basics
- Thermal management strategies
4. Racks & Physical Layout
- Rack types and standards (e.g., 19-inch, EIA)
- Rack units (U)
- Weight capacity and floor loading
- Cable management in racks
- High-density deployments
- Blanking panels
- Power and cooling capacity planning per rack
5. Cabling
- Structured cabling
- Copper vs Fiber
- Cable pathways and management
- Separation of power and data cables
- Labeling and documentation best practices
- Overhead vs underfloor cabling
6. Fire Protection
- Fire detection methods (smoke, heat, VESDA)
- Fire suppression systems (gas-based, clean agents, water mist)
- Emergency Power Off (EPO)
- Goals of fire protection systems
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) basics
7. Physical Security
- Access control
- Surveillance
- Physical barriers
- Environmental monitoring
- Security best practices for data centers
8. Management & Optimization
- Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)
- Standardization and modularity
- Capacity management
- Energy efficiency strategies
- Site selection and planning basics
- Sustainability considerations