The SharePoint Server 2013 Test Lab Guide (TLG) stack has been refreshed for the released version of SharePoint Server 2013. Here is the current stack diagram (click on it for a larger version):

The updates include the following:

• Additional links to software and hardware requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, and SharePoint Server 2013 so you can make better estimates of disk space and RAM for physical or virtual machine-based computers in the test lab.
• Links to the released evaluation versions of SharePoint Server 2013 and Office Professional Plus 2013.
• A new section that provides an overview of the TLG initiative, with the new TLG logo and a diagram showing the TLG stack on which the TLG in question depends.
• New lab configuration diagrams. Here is an example (click on it for a larger version):

The refreshed TLG content includes the following:

• Test Lab Guide: Configure SharePoint Server 2013 in a Three-Tier Farm  Set up the standard database/application/web front end tiers of a SharePoint farm. Please note that this update includes new steps to disable almost all of the SharePoint services of the farm. Additional SharePoint Server 2013 TLGs can enable services as needed.

• Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Intranet Collaboration for SharePoint Server 2013  Set up multiple web applications and site collections for team sites, My Sites, and intranet content and demonstrate basic search.

• Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Social Features for SharePoint Server 2013  Set up and demonstrate My Sites, following, Community Sites, and team sites (including site feeds).

• Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Forms-based Claims Authentication with SharePoint Server 2013  Set up and demonstrate forms-based claims authentication using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) membership provider.

• Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate SAML-based Claims Authentication with SharePoint Server 2013  Set up an Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0 server (using the Install AD FS 2.0 mini-module) and demonstrate Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)-based claims authentication.

• Test Lab Guide Mini-Module: Configuring a second SharePoint Server 2013 farm  Set up a second SharePoint Server 2013 farm for cross-farm scenarios.

• Test Lab Guide Mini-Module: Installing Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 on CLIENT1  Install Office Professional Plus 2013 on the CLIENT1 computer for Microsoft Office and SharePoint 2013 integration scenarios.

The additional mini-modules that you can use to create and test new configurations are the following:

• Test Lab Guide Mini-Module: Installing Forefront Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010 on EDGE1  Install UAG 2010 on the EDGE1 computer for Internet scenarios.

• Test Lab Guide Mini-Module: Creating a second forest and domain  Create a new hr.contoso.com forest for cross-forest scenarios, such as User Profile synchronization.

Enjoy!

Joe Davies
Principal Writer