For exams like the Cisco CCIE you are able to get lab books in order to prepare yourself for the exams. I remember for RedHat there were even packages you can install to effectivly break the system which then required you to fix it again.
Is there something similar out there for the VCAP-DCA exam ?
There are a number of books that you could use to prepare like Scott Lowes vSphere 5 book and Duncan Epping & Frank Dennemans vSphere 5 Clustering Deepdive books.
As for breaking a system, the best way to learn is to just build a home lab and mess around and see what happens if you remove a switch port for example. I found watching the Trainsignal Troubleshooting course videos and doing the troubleshooting at the same time as David really helped me get an idea of the things required.
There were lab books from all of the VCAP4 courses but unless you attended them you would be able to get these.
Gregg
Cool, thanks. I already got those books ready to be cracked open (still just collecting as I don't have time to start / read yet).
Those lab book are very much helpful for certifications.
Cheers, Yours Udin