My test environment consists primarily of a single generic Compaq PC with a Intel dual core processor with 4G of memory. It came with 64bit Windows7 installed.
Other than the Windows7 OS running on the PC, I am using exclusively OpenSource software. I considered replacing Windows with a Linux desktop, but I decided against it since I am also interested in seeing how Windows7 works. Instead, I downloaded OracleVirtualBox so that I can also install various Linux systems and still keep my Windows desktop. VBox installed without any problems and I was able to install virtual hosts immediately. The first host I installed was an Ubuntu desktop. VBox comes with several networking methods (NAT, bridged, internal network, and host-only network). Each has its own benefits which are explained very well in the documentation.
Of course being into networks, I have also downloaded and installed GNS3. GNS3 is a network simulation tool which allows you to build virtual networks. The virtual devices actually boot images in a similar way that VBox and VMWare install and boot virtual machines. Thanks to a colleague of mine, I was able to obtain a couple of Cisco IOS images as well as an ASA image.
Once both tools are installed, the two virtual environments work very well together. GNS3 can see both the VBox host-only network and the Microsoft Loopback adapter, which is bridged to the external LAN (my WLAN in this case). By doing this you can build an internal network with a number of routers and Vbox end systems all reachable from your normal home devices.
Finally, I have installed Ubuntu virtual server which I use for testing server features. The Ubuntu server is currently running Apache, MySQL, and PHP so that I could learn about b2evolution (the blogging engine I am using) before integrating it into the web site.
That’s what I have put together so far. Next step is to add some configuration details of how each piece is configured since it did take some research to get things working and I need to get them documented.