Hello, I am rather new to the ORACLE DBA world... I have completed the first two instructor-lead classes in the Oracle 8i DBA track... They were very exspensive as I took them at the Oracle Certification Center... however... After reviewing all the material numerous times... and running through the examples and whatnot I don't feel like I have any practical knowledge of Oracle... I've been posting and reading articles on these forums on a daily basis... and that's helping...

I have not taken any OCP tests yet... because I've heard that you need a good deal of actual exspirience to pass them and I don't want to fail after taking these exspensive classes... it just wouldn't look good...

I have the entire Oracle DBA Track Curriculum and documentation of CD... I've heard of STS and Exam Cram but where do I find them to actually buy... any other suggestions ... and aside of taking the OCP tests... where can I get some practical application knowledge of Oracle...