Guidance for creating test labs using Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012

Hey TLG fans,

Test lab guides are deliberately designed to be independent of how you put them together. For example, you can use physical components (computers and switches/hubs), virtual components (virtual machines and virtual networks/switches), or a combination. For virtual components, you can use the virtualization technology of your choice.

With the rise in adoption and use of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012, the members of the TLG content team here at Microsoft thought it was a good idea to begin providing additional guidance on how to set up various test lab environments using Hyper-V Server 2012.

This new guidance includes diagrams, steps, and detailed procedures that allow someone new to Hyper-V Server 2012 to more easily build out a specific test lab environment on one or more Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V servers.

For example, for the Windows Server 2012 Base Configuration test lab, we have published Hosting the Windows Server 2012 Base Configuration test lab with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V. This topic tells you how to turn the conceptual test lab, which looks like this:

 

into a set of virtual switches and machines on a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V server, which looks like this (click on it to see a larger version):

 

This topic includes steps to build out the Corpnet and Internet subnets in Hyper-V, before moving on to the detailed steps of installing and configuring the computers in the Base Configuration test lab.

Do you find this additional guidance useful? Are there additional test lab environment for which you want to see this type of guidance? Please let us know by leaving a comment on this blog post. Thanks.

 

Enjoy (virtually or otherwise)!

 

Joe Davies
Principal Writer

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Here is a link to the "How to contribute" blog post, which includes a PowerPoint file with example diagrams: blogs.technet.com/.../contributing-to-tlgs-part-8-creating-a-windows-server-2012-hyper-v-test-lab-configuration-article-in-the-technet-wiki.aspx

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Hi Max, I use PowerPoint to create these diagrams. You can also use Visio. For either, you can get the new icons from here: www.microsoft.com/.../details.aspx. I plan to publish a new "How to contribute" blog post for Hyper-V configuration articles in the near future and will include my PowerPoint deck as an example. Thanks!

• Anonymous
  April 15, 2013
  I find the additional guidance extremely useful! Thanks for sharing. Question: Are you using Visio 2013 to build out these diagrams above? I'm a very visual person, and it helps to see the test lab layout beforehand.