- 1). Select a location. Don't place the tech lab where cables will be tripped on. With remote desktops and virtualization, there is no reason it could not be located in an out-of-the-way place. Ensure there is sufficient power and cooling to maintain a stable environment for the servers.
- 2). Decide how it will be connected. Wireless networks are popular but for servers and lab equipment nothing beats wired. Gigabit switches and routers have dropped in price tremendously. Online retailers have these speedy network devices for as little as $29, as of January 2011.
- 3). Select the hardware. This is an interesting choice to make: physical or virtual. Physical servers require more power, cooling and connectivity but hardware is pretty cheap these days. Virtual servers on the other hand have fewer environmental needs but the requirements to run more than a few virtual servers can drive the price of the hypervisor up. If a physical environment is chosen, a good keyboard, video, and mouse system are important to avoid having multiples of each lying around and getting in the way.
- 4). Cabling the lab. Keep ethernet cables neat and organized. If the floor of the lab looks like a spaghetti factory, it's a recipe for a cable getting yanked out or misplaced. Tie wraps or Velcro straps keep cables bundled and out of the way. Patch panels and server racks also keep servers and cables organized.
- 5). Select operating systems. There are a large number of commercial and open source operating systems available to install in a tech lab. Some require specific hardware to run. Others will install easily on common x86 or x64 architectures. See References for more information.
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