Whats everyone do for the Virtual Labs?

HI, I just got my copy of the MS-Press 70-680 and I see alot of people talking about their virtual labs. What is everyone using for this testing purpose? Installing VmWare on your personal computers and loading Win7 on it? Or something else? Thanks

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gosh1976

I have a server 2008 r2 domain running in vmware player along with windows 7 client(s). I've also played around with the virtual labs here: Windows 7 Virtual Labs

altjx

If you want to use just the virtual environment, I'd recommend VirtualBox. Personally, I find it MUCH lighter than VMware and of course it's free. Takes literally barely a few minutes to install. That's what I used and a trial version of Windows 7 from Microsoft.

xenodamus

I have VMware workstation on 4GB of RAM and run 2 machines (1 server 2k8, 1 win 7) with no problems.

I did all the basic labs in the MS Press book for deployment and then went on to build an MDT server that would run LiteTouch deployments. That's what we're using at work and I want to be able to build it from the ground if it ever crashes. The guy who's administering it now is leaving tomorrow.

altjx

xenodamus wrote: »

I have VMware workstation on 4GB of RAM and run 2 machines (1 server 2k8, 1 win 7) with no problems.

I did all the basic labs in the MS Press book for deployment and then went on to build an MDT server that would run LiteTouch deployments. That's what we're using at work and I want to be able to build it from the ground if it ever crashes. The guy who's administering it now is leaving tomorrow.

Oh ok. Well since you already have it, it's already better. Such good timing though that the person administering the OS deployments is leaving around the same time you're studying it, lol.

Jourdsh

Downloaded Virtual box, installed a couple of Windows 7 enterprise trial versions and went at it. Only thing that messed me up was network stuff, couldn't get the virtual stuff to recognize each other or my non-virtual machines. However a lot of the stuff you can at least look at the settings, or do it on whatever version of windows you have installed on your non-virtual machine.

xenodamus

altjx wrote: »

Such good timing though that the person administering the OS deployments is leaving around the same time you're studying it, lol.

Tell me about it, lol.

I was really trying to push through all my core exams for the MCSE first, but as you can see below I kind of took a break from those to jump on the 680 bandwagon. I knew a month in advance that he was leaving and that they would be handing that system over to me.

The labs in the MS Press book helped alot in building a solid "imaging" foundation before getting into the MDT stuff, though.

altjx

xenodamus wrote: »

Tell me about it, lol.

I was really trying to push through all my core exams for the MCSE first, but as you can see below I kind of took a break from those to jump on the 680 bandwagon. I knew a month in advance that he was leaving and that they would be handing that system over to me.

The labs in the MS Press book helped alot in building a solid "imaging" foundation before getting into the MDT stuff, though.

Lol. Congrats on it too man, I hope it all goes well. I personally haven't touched anything in MDT. Don't even know what the logo of the software looks like, lol. I know it'd be some good knowledge to know though. My company is still using XP and there's only 3 Windows 7 machines. I'll probably never get to use the knowledge here. Hopefully one day before it fades away

ibcritn

I use VMware ESXi and build w/e VM I need.

For networking I am limited to just packet tracer, but I don't do a whole lot with Routers/Switches....so its not a problem.

tecjohnson

I got the evaluation copy of Server 2008 R2 and threw that on a desktop with 8 gb of RAM and a dual core processor. I am using hyper-v for the clients.

Just started so will let you know how it all works.

thenoble06

Yep, I'm just starting to revise for 70-680 so I've set up a VirtualBox network with trial versions of 2008R2 and a couple W7.

I'll install all the WAIK/WDS stuff on the server and practice deploying W7. As it happens we are going to start moving the 150 or so laptops we have at my place of work from XP to W7 in Q3 of this year, and its my project, so I better get learning!

jazzmaxster

I keep restarting my lab setup... I have an early dual-core laptop with 2GB that I'm trying to use for virtualizing... fun fun fun! Currently installing Server 2008 VMs over a Linux base to see how that works. Might be enough until I can afford to build a real lab computer.

ike12

How can I setup Windows Server 2008 and say two Windows 7's in my VMware?

I mean how can I get them all to "talk" to each other and have seperate IP addrress? Thanks

Michael.J.Palmer

Jourdsh wrote: »

Downloaded Virtual box, installed a couple of Windows 7 enterprise trial versions and went at it. Only thing that messed me up was network stuff, couldn't get the virtual stuff to recognize each other or my non-virtual machines. However a lot of the stuff you can at least look at the settings, or do it on whatever version of windows you have installed on your non-virtual machine.

Don't let this deter you away from VirtualBox, I personally never had any problems with setting up networks in Virtual Box. I used it for my 680 and continued to use it for my Server 2008 stuff where I had a complete network of DNS, DHCP, AD, and my Win 7 machine from my 680 days without any hiccups. To make matters even cooler I ended up setting up a trust relationship between a friends VBox lab servers while on the same network together.

It comes down to knowing how to set up VBox's network settings, it's actually not hard to configure and once it is configured you can have all sorts of fun in a virtual environment.

PS: Beware if you plan on using VBox for Server 2008, make sure you set your network settings in VBox to host only at that point if you're labbing at home with a wireless router... I had all sorts of fun stuff happening with my DHCP server vs. my DHCP in my wireless router.

Lord Nikon

I use labsims for labs so far. they are great.

Ed1975

Lord Nikon wrote: »

I use labsims for labs so far. they are great.

Can you give a link to these, please? Thanks

Lord Nikon

Ed1975 wrote: »

Can you give a link to these, please? Thanks

Sure. But they are not cheap. IF you currently are going school they offer them at a HUGE discount.

TestOut LabSim - MCSE, MCITP, MCTS, CCNA, CISSP, SSCP, Security+, Server+, Network+, A+, Linux+ Certification Training

I know these are good, I've used them at school and various people I work with used them as well. You get labs, videos and instructions.