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    Am just a begginer of MCITP especially 70 - 640.

    I would like to know which application can I use as virtual machine for practical purposes.

    Monday, February 4, 2013 10:57 PM

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    If you want to experiment with an AD infrastructure, at some point during your training you will want to set up several virtual computers interconected through different virtual networks. Virtual PC is simple to install and use, but it is too limited for this kind of experiments.

    I am personally in favor of doing this kind of work on Hyper-V. My suggestion is to install Windows Server 2008 R2 on the bare hardware of a computer. The installation process will serve as practice towards yur MCITP. Once it is intalled, enable Hyper-V and install your Virtual machines and Virtual networks. If you don't have a computer that you can "sacrifice" for installing Windows Server, you can do like I did: I added a second inexpensive hard drive to a comupter that otherwise runs Windows 7, and I Installed Windows Server on the second hard drive. From the BIOS Setup menu, I set either of the disks as primary depending on which operating system I want to boot. Another alternative is to add two partitioons on the same disk and boot for either partition, but this tends to be a headache to set up (my primary disk has Windows 7 and Windows XP and it took several tries until I managed to make it work the way I wanted; I don't dare install yet another OS on a third partition). And of course, yet another alternative is to upgrade to Windows 8 Professional or Enterprise and use the included Hyper-V.

    Tuesday, February 5, 2013 5:35 PM
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    Hi Venance,

    Thanks for posting. All of the virtualization solutions proposed above should be quite adequate, with the exception of Windows Virtual PC which does not support 64-bit virtual machines. For the 70-640 exam you will be working with Windows Server 2008 R2, which is a 64-bit operating system. Therefore, Virtual PC cannot be used for your training.

    Although all the other products will work fine, and they are free, my personal favorite, which I use for my certifications, is VMWare Workstation 9. It is not free, however, although you can get an academic license at 40% discount if you are a student, but it is my preferred solution since it provides certain advantages over, for example, Hyper-V such as USB support for guests, better snapshot and rollback support, and better virtual network functionality.

    However, that's my personal preference since I've been using it for years, professionally and for certification, and am very happy with it. However, for a free virtualization solution, the solutions above are fine. Good luck with your exams.

    James

    Tuesday, February 5, 2013 8:44 PM

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    You can use Microsofts Virtual PC, you could also use Oracles Virtual Box.

    You can also use these free labs: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtuallabs/bb512925

    • Proposed as answer by Mr. Wharty Tuesday, February 5, 2013 10:04 PM
    Monday, February 4, 2013 11:26 PM
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    If you are using Windows 8, then you may want to consider using Hyper-V. 

    Regards,
    Milton Goh
    MCSE, MCSA, MCITP, MCTS, MCP
    Blog: blog.nerdytwo.com
    Twitter: @miltongoh

    • Proposed as answer by Mr. Wharty Tuesday, February 5, 2013 10:06 PM
    Tuesday, February 5, 2013 3:58 AM
  • Question
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    If you want to experiment with an AD infrastructure, at some point during your training you will want to set up several virtual computers interconected through different virtual networks. Virtual PC is simple to install and use, but it is too limited for this kind of experiments.

    I am personally in favor of doing this kind of work on Hyper-V. My suggestion is to install Windows Server 2008 R2 on the bare hardware of a computer. The installation process will serve as practice towards yur MCITP. Once it is intalled, enable Hyper-V and install your Virtual machines and Virtual networks. If you don't have a computer that you can "sacrifice" for installing Windows Server, you can do like I did: I added a second inexpensive hard drive to a comupter that otherwise runs Windows 7, and I Installed Windows Server on the second hard drive. From the BIOS Setup menu, I set either of the disks as primary depending on which operating system I want to boot. Another alternative is to add two partitioons on the same disk and boot for either partition, but this tends to be a headache to set up (my primary disk has Windows 7 and Windows XP and it took several tries until I managed to make it work the way I wanted; I don't dare install yet another OS on a third partition). And of course, yet another alternative is to upgrade to Windows 8 Professional or Enterprise and use the included Hyper-V.

    Tuesday, February 5, 2013 5:35 PM
  • Question
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    2
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    Hi Venance,

    Thanks for posting. All of the virtualization solutions proposed above should be quite adequate, with the exception of Windows Virtual PC which does not support 64-bit virtual machines. For the 70-640 exam you will be working with Windows Server 2008 R2, which is a 64-bit operating system. Therefore, Virtual PC cannot be used for your training.

    Although all the other products will work fine, and they are free, my personal favorite, which I use for my certifications, is VMWare Workstation 9. It is not free, however, although you can get an academic license at 40% discount if you are a student, but it is my preferred solution since it provides certain advantages over, for example, Hyper-V such as USB support for guests, better snapshot and rollback support, and better virtual network functionality.

    However, that's my personal preference since I've been using it for years, professionally and for certification, and am very happy with it. However, for a free virtualization solution, the solutions above are fine. Good luck with your exams.

    James

    Tuesday, February 5, 2013 8:44 PM