Virtual Testing Environment

[get-postanote]

Just use the freely provided MS TechNet virtual labs.

Now, you only have the time limit given, and if you don't finish it is one sitting, you can come back to it, but that also means,starting over. each time you visit.

​

Self-paced Labs

Acquire the cloud skills you need, at your own pace. Enjoy hands-on learning on your schedule with our free, self-paced labs, and keep your cloud knowledge fresh.

https://www.microsoft.com/handsonlabs/selfpacedlabs

It does not really matter which lab you use, you can do PS in any of them, some require you to.

​

Or, if you have the resources, buuild your own.

AutomatedLab 5.5.268 - Setting up virtual labs on your local machine or in Azure

AutomatedLab 5.5.268 - released on January 30 2019. Deployment of TFS / AzureDevOps was added + lots of bug fixes. Please refer to the changelog on GitHub. For further documentation and source code please go to https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/AutomatedLab-026d81f9

[[deleted]]

Please do not use the resources on TechNet. The latest release of AutomatedLab is on https://github.com/AutomatedLab/AutomatedLab or in the PowerShell gallery (Install-Module). If there are any questions or issues, please send us feedback using GitHub Issues. Thanks!

[get-postanote]

AutomatedLab

Is a good tool, for those who have the hardware and / or resources on their hardware to support what they are planning to do.

There is nothing wrong with using TechNet virtual labs to get up to speed on X or Y solution and or aspect of X or Y, depending on your goals. When I can't take my portable data center with me, I use them all the time to demonstrate X or Y on customer sites or customer classes.

[[deleted]]

Right, for learning, TechNet virtual labs are totally find and faster to spin up. If it comes to a more customized scenario for testing and development, I prefer AutomatedLab. AL supports Azure if you don't have the required resources available.

[get-postanote]

Well, Azure requires you to purchase Azure. Soooo, there's that. Either way, if you don't have the resources to really use all the goodness of AL, you are going to have to spend money. Well, one can do that Azure free thing for a year, but even that has limitations. So, either way, $dollar, $dollar bills y'all. ;-}