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benc
Asked: 2010-10-21 10:31:32 +0800 CST

Test Exchange server on a laptop

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I need to run some Outlook sessions that connect to an Exchange server. If I wanted to create a test environment on my laptop, would that be feasible? Would it be better to run natively, or inside a VM?

(I had heard some commments, probably from the Stackoverflow podcast, that Exchange designed to run by itself).

I might need to run only the latest, or I might need to run several versions. Can I load them on one system in parallel, and switch them on-and-off?

UPDATE: The hypothetical system would have a 64bit CPU, and 4GB of memory.

exchange testing

2 Answers

  1. It's going to be DOG slow either way so I'd be tempted to virtualise it so at least it doesn't impact the overal build of the machine once you've quit messing about. Oh and isn't Exchange a 64-bit-only app these days too? do you have a 64-bit OS on the laptop?

    Regarding your last paragraphy then if you VM them they you can do whatever you want (slowly).

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  2. I need to run some Outlook sessions that connect to an Exchange server. If I wanted to create a test environment on my laptop, would that be feasible? Would it be better to run natively, or inside a VM?

    It would be better to run them each in their own VM.

    (I had heard some commments, probably from the Stackoverflow podcast, that Exchange designed to run by itself).

    I'm not sure what you're referring to but Exchange requires an Active Directory domain. It can be installed on a domain controller, so you can run Exchange on one server if that server is also your AD\DNS server.

    I might need to run only the latest, or I might need to run several versions. Can I load them on one system in parallel, and switch them on-and-off?

    Umm... No. You can't run them in parallel. You'll need a separate VM for each instance\version.

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