Cheapest Virtual Home Lab?

Hey Guys,

I need to build my own domain and such to practice for my MCITP:EA related certs.. I need some help.

How many servers will I need max? 4-5? (PDC,SDC,EXCH, ??, ??)
How much power do I need? (probably dual core, 8gb ram??)
What Virtual program to use? VirtualPC? EXSI is stubborn with hardware

Should I just buy a used server, build a cheap new one?

Any help would be appreciated!

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Comments

brad-

I liked VirtualPC for XP/2k3, but I dont think VPC supports W7/2k8. If you have trialware for 2k8, try Hyper-V.

You can probably make do with 1 server (you may also want a workstation) to start with, then add another when you start the networking portion.

For your physical machine, I think W7 + 8GB RAM and the best processor for the money. I wouldnt go top end on the proc. though.

earweed

I've gotten by so far not running more than 3 (including clients) although you can do most labs with 2 or 3 servers. I've been using VMWare workstation but the MS Press training books recommend using Virtual PC. I've gotten through 70-642 with what I've got (Pentium D, 2 GB RAM) but I've got a new build so I can play with (not required but recommended) Hyper V.
My new build has a Corei5 and only 4GB (for now) RAM so I can utilize a few more VM's. None of the exercises in the MS Press books have you actually work with Hyper V and none of the labs after 70-640 actually require more than 3 or 4 VM's. I did the ones which required more VM's on the technet virtual labs or on IT Academy through WGU.
I would recommend for performance sake you have at least 4GB RAM as my 2GB was really crappy performancewise running 3 servers.

Guldan

I have a fast gaming rig (tricore/4gb/3+0 Raid etc) but I keep it ultra clean.. HOWEVER I also have an HTPC which is a pentium D 3.4 with 2 cores and 2GB ram.. what I might do is spend $100 and upgrade that to 4gb of RAM and it should be plenty right? (4gb is max as its a mATX board)

Then my HTPC can also be my virtual domain.. I am pretty sure that chip supports hyper-v?

Also I could Install a 1-2 VMS on my gaming rig as long as they are easy to wipe afterwards.. Does it matter where the VMS are? say if I put the PDC/SDC on my HTPC and whatever else on my gaming rig? I dont want to overcomplicate things

Good advice so far thx

earweed

Doubt your pentium D supports Hyper-V as mine doesn't.
Quoted from Hyper-me

1. Hardware Assisted Virtualization (HAV) - Must have it on processor and mobo
2. Data Execution Prevention (Hardware based DEP), sometimes called Execute Disable Bit. Must be supported on Mobo/CPU
3. 64-bit processor
4. Stay away from add-on graphics cards. Don't ask me why, they just tend to screw with Server 2008 and Hyper-V.

The following linked article explains about the high end graphics cards not behaving well with Hyper-V
Understanding High-End Video Performance Issues with Hyper-V - Virtual PC Guy's WebLog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

I'm doing the labs for 70-643 on my new box as soon as I finish setting it up next week. I've done a few on just virtualPC and according to the book (MS Press Training kit 70-643 and 70-647) you should not need more than 2 or 3 VMs so your Pentium D should be fine. If you have your gaming box networked with your regular box you could do like I did and go between the two boxes (I used VMWare workstation, not free) to run more VMs together.
The book for 70-643 recommends running Vista but I'm using Windows 7 just because I like it better.

Guldan

earweed wrote: »

Doubt your pentium D supports Hyper-V as mine doesn't.
Quoted from Hyper-me

The following linked article explains about the high end graphics cards not behaving well with Hyper-V
Understanding High-End Video Performance Issues with Hyper-V - Virtual PC Guy's WebLog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

I'm doing the labs for 70-643 on my new box as soon as I finish setting it up next week. I've done a few on just virtualPC and according to the book (MS Press Training kit 70-643 and 70-647) you should not need more than 2 or 3 VMs so your Pentium D should be fine. If you have your gaming box networked with your regular box you could do like I did and go between the two boxes (I used VMWare workstation, not free) to run more VMs together.
The book for 70-643 recommends running Vista but I'm using Windows 7 just because I like it better.

What VM's will I need? one for PDC, one for SDC and one for EXCH? what else? Sounds all doable with my setup, won't have to buy anything.

So a setup like below, I could branch virtualPC's off my PC1 Rig if needed

http://yfrog.com/c9testhbj

I've never used VMWare workstation but i'll look it up

tbgree00

I bought a dell poweredge T110 for next to nothing during a one day sell at dell.com/server and use ESXi 4.0 for my labs. I currently have two 2k3 servers and an XP client running on it and have a lot of capacity left. I think they still have it for around 300 base price.

Before I got this I used VMware Player to do labs, which is also a free product.

Guldan

tbgree00 wrote: »

I bought a dell poweredge T110 for next to nothing during a one day sell at dell.com/server and use ESXi 4.0 for my labs. I currently have two 2k3 servers and an XP client running on it and have a lot of capacity left. I think they still have it for around 300 base price.

Before I got this I used VMware Player to do labs, which is also a free product.

Hmm, Id rather do it for free but will check for sales..

If i'm running windows 7 32bit can I install 64bit OS's inside of VMplayer?

earweed

Guldan wrote: »

What VM's will I need? one for PDC, one for SDC and one for EXCH? what else? Sounds all doable with my setup, won't have to buy anything.

So a setup like below, I could branch virtualPC's off my PC1 Rig if needed

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/c9testhbj

I've never used VMWare workstation but i'll look it up

Most of the labs are fairly simple but a few in 70-640 require more VMs running that's why I networked to another box that had 2 servers running in VirtualPC bridged so the servers could communicate. You could get by with just virtualbox or virtual PC which are free. VMWare workstation isn't free (it was to me through WGU)

The thing about most of the labs is that you have several VMs but only actually have 2 or 3 actually running at once so your Pentium D, like mine, will work for a while. Don't forget to check out the free technet Virtual labs, you can find links to them in the resource stickys here MCTS / MCITP on Windows 2008 General - TechExams.net IT Certification Forums
The lists of resources have links to the technet labs and have links to a lot of useful articles, blogs, webcasts, and other resources.

tiersten

Guldan wrote: »

If i'm running windows 7 32bit can I install 64bit OS's inside of VMplayer?

No. You need a 64 bit host to have 64 bit guests. You also need a CPU + chipset that can do hardware virtualisation if you want 64 bit guests.

Guldan

phoeneous wrote: »

These terms are outdated.

Care to correct me? it's what everyone at my work uses currently

Primary/Secondary Domain Controllers (PDC/SDC)

earweed

phoeneous wrote: »

Lab it up. Install Active Directory and tell me if you see the words Primary Domain Controller or Secondary Domain Controller anywhere in the installation.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

I was wondering what PDC and SDC meant exactly, but didn't want to correct him. I've never worked with anything older than Server 2003 and that was just home labbing it.
He wont see those terms but will instead deal with the FSMO roles. He'll see primary and secondary zones when dealing with DNS but that's a completely different thing.
Also after looking at your diagram I haven't had an exch server yet and I don't believe (not positive) you will have one while labbing for your MCITP as the books haven't mentioned setting up an exchange server.