Microsoft's Virtual Lab Express

I came across a great free resource that could really benefit folks supporting a Microsoft based infrastructure. Microsoft's Virtual Lab Express is an easy way to try out Microsoft products in a Virtual Lab environment, which provides an environment that allows folks gain experience or a better understanding of Microsoft products and tools.

You need to register and install the Virtual Machine Remote Control ActiveX Client, however it installs in about a minute without the need for a reboot. The module I downloaded took about 3 minutes to download, however once the download completed I was connected to a Virtual Server Session via my browser. There is no need to login as I was connected to a Virtual Desktop, which was great as all of the software components for the Lab are already installed.

I connected to the "Introduction to Windows Server 2003 Management" lab and quickly realized that there was a virtual domain controller, virtual MS SQL server and other devices connected to this Virtual Lab. I was able to step thru making a Global Policy change in this Virtual environment, and although it was an isolated environment, you can see the benefit that an environment like this could be for large organizations.

There were many other Virtual Labs offered at the Technet Site including the following:

Windows PowerShell Virtual Lab , Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 ,

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Virtual Labs , Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005

I heard about the Labs this past week while listening to the "In the Trenches" podcast. I found these labs interesting and a good value to those folks supporting Microsoft environments. I would recommend checking out both the Microsoft's Virtual Lab Express site and the "In the Trenches" site and podcast.

Technorati : Microsoft, System Administration, virtualization