Preparing the Lab

Planning application deployment requires a lab environment for application repackaging. Within an organization, different teams that work on deployment (image engineering, application packaging, and so on) can and often should share a single lab environment. Sharing a lab enables teams to share deliverables and integration-test their work with other components more easily. In a shared lab environment, however, each team must have its own workspace on the file server and dedicated computers on which to work.

Although the lab must have access to the Internet, it should be insulated from the production network. However, if you don't install any server features like Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), separating the lab from the production network is not a rigid requirement. Application repackaging does not require that the lab mirror the production network. The lab must provide storage space for application source files and repackaged applications.

The following list describes the recommended requirements for a lab used to repackage applications:

• A lab server configured as follows:
  • Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2
  • An Active Directory Domain Services domain
  • DHCP services
  • Domain Name System (DNS) services
  • Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) services (optional)
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008
  • Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, Microsoft Windows Virtual PC, or Microsoft Hyper-V
• Lab test accounts (for standard users and an administrator)
• Network hardware to provide connectivity (consider the routing and bandwidth so that moving large files doesn't impact users on the production network)
• Internet access (for downloading updates, files, and so on)
• Test computers that accurately reflect production computers
• Source files for all applications to be tested and repackaged
• Software repackaging tools

Note MDT 2010 provides prescriptive guidance for building and using a deployment lab.