This chapter gives you some additional options and instructions for your own lab setup to work with this book. I think you’ll find that the lab environments I describe aren’t difficult to build and will be very useful as testing environments while you work through the book and try new ideas for your own production environment.
The only software you’ll need is a copy of Server 2008 R2 or Server 2012. If you don’t have a licensed copy available, you can download a 180-day free trial from Microsoft at http://mng.bz/Wvv0.
In this chapter you’ll see several options for a standalone client and selecting a virtualization platform, as well as instructions for building the basic and extended environments. Let’s get started with the advantages and disadvantages of using a standalone client.