In this chapter, we will focus on different techniques that can be used to enhance your VMware vSphere skills. The majority of the chapter will look at various aspects of building your lab, including different approaches you can take and the pros and cons of each.

After that, we will cover one particular solution in more detail, which is having a vSphere lab environment running on the dedicated physical server in the data center. We will learn how to install and configure different components of the lab.

Running your vSphere lab should be one of your primary concerns, since, with your lab, you can test any component of VMware vSphere and gain the required experience and knowledge.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• The importance of lifelong learning
• Choosing the right platform
• Software components and licensing
• Architecture and logical design
• A detailed implementation guide