Test server setup

Curio

Curio

Curio

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Going to start teaching myself some basic server admin type stuff for the small company I work for. The goal is to eventually be able to move away from our IT support company for the basic stuff. I'm probably going to do a certification at some point, but wanted to start getting some hands-on experience without destroying our server :p

So, got a spare PC at work (2.6GHz Dual Core, 4GB RAM) and want some advice on how to setup a useful test station. I'm still technically a student so can get all the MS stuff for free through Dreamspark. Stuff I would like to get to know is RDS and Exchange.

Spec me up please! :cool:
 
I'd say install ESXi 5.1 on there (the free hypervisor version) because it'll make it much easier to tear down and create new servers to play with. It will also mean you don't have to be sat at the PC to do things since you'll have a remote console to each VM you create.
 
esxi is good but if your hardware is not supported. then i would stick xp on there or os of your choise and then install vmware player or virtual box and have a play that way
 
I have been using VMware for my labs, that combined with dreamspark is great.
Will definatly be getting into some virtualisation though when i manage to grab a spare pc.
 
VMware produces the vSphere hypervisor (ESXi free version).

It is simple to setup and manage as long as you have supported hardware. Check the HCL here. If it is not on the list it does not mean it will not work just that it has not been certified. Saying that, things to watch out for most of the time are network chipset support and hard drive controller support.

VMware workstation is the virtulisation on the desktop solution they produce.

Hyper-V may be worth looking at if you intend to use predominantly Windows servers. vSphere works fine with Windows server VMs as well though.

RB
 
Thanks guys.

Quick silly question....this is why I need practice LOL...

If I plug this test system into the network here at work will it cause any problems? I want it to be isolated from everything else. Thanks.
 
mrbell1984 said:
Use a switch between them or something? Depends how you are setting it up in the first place?... tell us.
Click to expand...

Haven't really set anything up yet. Right now the test machine is sitting next to me and isn't plugged into anything. We have around 12 PC's and they're all just going straight to the switch in the server "room" - I only have the 1 RJ45 socket in my cubicle for that.

To be honest I haven't done any planning - just realized I had a spare machine and access to free software and got excited. That's why I need you lot :p
 
mrbell1984 said:
Get a second switch if you want to play because if you are only just starting off you want something OFF a live network. Especially when you start playing with AD/DHCP/DNS.
Click to expand...

OK, so the test server would go into the switch and then I would just unplug my main PC's network cable from the wall and into the switch when I wanted to mess around?

Also, if I have some VM's running on the test server, I assume they can talk to each other like it's simulating a "real" network? In other words, could I do this without hooking the test machine up to anything?

Thanks for the advice!
 
The whole point of VM's is to allow you to simulate or even use fully working environments. The more memory you have the more VM's you can create without slowing down the computer much. Again... depends on what sort of network you are trying to create. Yes, you can do that as long as you set the VM to internal network only.
 
Get a separate router and at the very least put it on a separate subnet.

A switch will just put it on the same subnet as everything else.

I have had to do this as my SBS 2011 servers DNS server was knocking out my IP TV providers set top boxes. Putting them on two separate subnets gives a degree of control over what goes where between the two networks.

If you are feeling brave you can setup a VM as a router using pfsense.

RB
 
You're going to need more memory if you want to do this properly.

ESXi can turn your box into a vHost (assuming the CPU can support virtualisation, you need to check this before you start and ensure it's enabled in the bios) but the more memory you have, the more virtual machines you can run on it.

The best way to learn in my experience is ensure that the setup is completely isolated from the rest of the corporate infrastructure, so if you start learning about DHCP servers and the like, you wont effect the rest of the network when you turn your test DHCP server on.

So, before you wang ESXi on there:

Check that the CPU supports virtualisation. If it does, wang as much RAM in there as that motherboard/CPU can support then you can put ESXi on there and start testing!
 
Just to add to this...

If you are looking to use Linux VMs then you should be able to get a fair few on there. If you are looking at Microsoft OS VMs, especially server ones, then it would be advisable to through quite a bit more ram at the box.

I have a C2D 6XXX running Openfiler on a 4GB vHost. Works fine for me.

I have just got myself a HP ML110 G7 which comes with 4GB ram. I want to use it for a SBS 2011 install so I will have to through around 16GB at it now.

RB
 
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