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Sample 2012 Server

Question
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Hello,
Does anyone know if there's a simulated 2012 Server available for hands-on practice? I'm interested in being able to play around with a server that's completely set up fake i.p. addresses, file and printer settings, etc., much like the Northwind sample software for MS Office products.
I'm studying for my MCSE and am having trouble understanding how to configure certain areas, specifically DNS. I can understand my way around better if I could see a model of what everything's supposed to look like.
Thanks in advance...
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 4:35 PM
Answers
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My best suggestion when studying for these kinds of exams is to get an eval copy of the software and install it in a Virtual machine locally. That way you get a sandbox and learn a lot more about what needs to be configured to support it.
I am not aware of anywhere that you can get a server 2012 environment with SQL for free.
Paul Stork SharePoint Server MVP
Principal Architect: Blue Chip Consulting Group
Blog: http://dontpapanic.com/blog
Twitter: Follow @pstork
Please remember to mark your question as "answered" if this solves your problem.- Proposed as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
- Marked as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 7:24 PM -
Well, it's not exactly free but it's inexpensive: Get an Azure subscription and allocate a VM with Windows 2012. You have to be a little careful with the network settings, because if you mess them up too badly you can be left unable to connect with your server. If this happens, just go to the management portal and remove the machine and allocate a new one. You only pay for the time it is turned on, a few cents per hour.
As an alternative, you can follow the recommendation of the previous reply: run a virtual machine on your local computer, using an evaluation version. In this case, you will be able to connect to the console even if you mess up the network settings.
- Proposed as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
- Marked as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
Thursday, June 25, 2015 6:48 PM
All replies
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My best suggestion when studying for these kinds of exams is to get an eval copy of the software and install it in a Virtual machine locally. That way you get a sandbox and learn a lot more about what needs to be configured to support it.
I am not aware of anywhere that you can get a server 2012 environment with SQL for free.
Paul Stork SharePoint Server MVP
Principal Architect: Blue Chip Consulting Group
Blog: http://dontpapanic.com/blog
Twitter: Follow @pstork
Please remember to mark your question as "answered" if this solves your problem.- Proposed as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
- Marked as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
Tuesday, June 23, 2015 7:24 PM -
Well, it's not exactly free but it's inexpensive: Get an Azure subscription and allocate a VM with Windows 2012. You have to be a little careful with the network settings, because if you mess them up too badly you can be left unable to connect with your server. If this happens, just go to the management portal and remove the machine and allocate a new one. You only pay for the time it is turned on, a few cents per hour.
As an alternative, you can follow the recommendation of the previous reply: run a virtual machine on your local computer, using an evaluation version. In this case, you will be able to connect to the console even if you mess up the network settings.
- Proposed as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
- Marked as answer by Danny van DamMVP, Editor Wednesday, July 8, 2015 2:38 PM
Thursday, June 25, 2015 6:48 PM