General hardware/software question

[Phil6564]

As a general query regarding all the Train Signal products, do they require access to a live (or test) system of Exchange, Windows, VMWare or whatever in order to do the exercises, or are they entirely self contained?

Regards,
Phil.

[Lisa]

Simply watching the video does not require any topic specific hardware of software. You will just need an updated version of Windows media player, and an internet browser installed on your computer. However, if you want to follow along with the instructor in the video as they are building the systems then you will need the actual hardware and software. Specifically what you need to follow along is listed within each individual course. It is highly recommended that you actually try your hand at building and configuring the systems along with the instructor. After all, practice makes perfect! You can often get trial copies of the software to save money. You can also set up virtual machines in order to avoid needing 3 or 4 separate machines. Do you have a specific course in mind that you want the requirements for?

[Phil6564]

I am thinking in particular about the VMWare and ESX ones. What would be the requirements in those cases?

[Lisa]

If you want to follow along with the VMware server course you can download VMware server for free at:
http://www.vmware.com/download/server/

VMware workstation has an evaluation copy available at:
https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?eval=workstation-w

There is also an evaluation copy of VMware Infrastructure that includes ESX.
https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?eval=vi3

Also, make sure the system you are going to install the VMware product meets the minimum hardware requirements for that particular VMware product. These requirements can also be found at VMware’s website.

You will also need licenses (could be evaluation copies) for whatever operating system and software you will be installing on each virtual machine.