---

This book is a step-by-step guide to building your own SharePoint farm in a home lab setting. Learn how to build a windows domain and then join servers into the domain in order to create your own testing and learning environment. After you get the domain stood up, where you go from there is up to you. This book will help you learn how to spin up SharePoint in a least privileged fashion. This isn´t strictly a SharePoint book, though. For example, if you´re not a SharePoint professional and are just looking to create a working windows domain for other purposes; the home-lab domain that you´ll create will work great for Exam preparation for non-SharePoint purposes. You could even use it for learning how to install Exchange Server. After all, it´s your Home Lab domain. In this book you will build your home-lab domain and you´ll have a great place for learning how to administer SharePoint and develop SharePoint Apps. Here are just some of the tasks you´ll complete in easy to follow exercises:

Create a windows domain and a certificate authority, so that you can run SharePoint on SSL

Join servers to the domain and configure other technology on the member servers as needed

Install SQL Server, and correctly partition the server in accordance with best practices

Install and configure a SharePoint farm

Spin up Host Named Site Collections (HNSC´s)

Install and configure Visual Studio

Who This Book Is For:
This book is suitable for both developers and administrators. No technical knowledge is assumed beyond a general familiarity with computers and computing terminology. The resulting domain will be suitable for both IT and developer testing needs.

---

Chapter 1: Operating systems and software Chapter 2: Hyper-V vs VMware Chapter 3: Creating Your First Domain Chapter 4: Active Directory Chapter 5: Domain Name System (DNS) Chapter 6: Certificate Authority Chapter 7: Group Policy Chapter 8: Joining the Machines to the Domain Chapter 9: Installing SQL server Chapter 10: Installing SharePoint Chapter 11: Installing Dev Tools Chapter 12: Troubleshooting Chapter 13: Finishing touches

---

Stacy Simpkins is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert in SharePoint 2013. He has been working with Windows Server-based domains since 2005 and has been concentrating heavily on SharePoint since 2008. He holds numerous certifications (e.g. MCITP EA 2008 Server, MCSA Server 2012, MCITP SharePoint 2010, and many more). He´s worked with clients from various industries such as: the food industry, the legal industry, and the federal government. He enjoys spending time with his family, learning about technology, and taking in the occasional hockey game.

---