Getting a laptop to run a LANDesk demo successfully gets to be a really ugly challenge as you start adding service desk to the scenario. A lot of people resort to using two laptops or an external drive. Here's what I'm currently doing:
Host: T61p with 4gb ram and an ultrabay hard drive adapter, Windows Server 2003 standard. I installed XP on the system first, and used Lenovo System Updater to identify and download the drivers that it would need. I then copied those to an external drive, and installed Server 2003. The /3gb and /PAE switches should be added to boot.ini. Before installing the drivers downloaded from XP, you'll want to right-click the main setup file and choose Compatibility: Windows XP. I've installed VMWare Workstation, Office 2003, Verizon VZAccess, Pidgin, Gimp, Active State Perl Dev Kit, Wireshark, and VideoLAN. It's reasonably stable (e.g., locks up no more than XP or Vista), and it sees all the RAM. I did try Vista 32 bit and 64 bit, but the performance was completely unacceptable for my needs. I also have a Macbook Pro running Panther and VMWare Fusion, which is a great solution... equal to, and in some cases better than Server 2003. The only reason it isn't my primary is that you can't get two disk spindles, and I'd have to upgrade my cellular card. Oh, I also dislike OS X's UI... apparently "intuititive human factors design" is referring to someone else.
VMWare configuration: Configure a NAT network, and put all the VMs on it. Disable VMWare's DHCP server.
Tin: AD VM: Windows Server 2003 standard. I'm currently using the built-in Windows SMTP service and POP3 service, but they really stink (can't do groups, can't do IMAP, bizarre client compatibility problems). I need to upgrade to Exchange or build a Linux image to handle email. 128 mb ram, 10gb disk space. I'll need to bump the ram to run Exchange. What with LDMS RBA, Service Desk, and Process Manager, there's 13 user accounts grouped into several different levels (front line support, second line, change control board, &c).
Granite: LDMS/LDSS/LPM VM: Server 2003, SQL 2000, and the aforementioned products. 1 gb ram, 20 gb disk space (not enough, patches and packages are killers).
Diamond: Service Desk VM: Server 2003 and service desk, using the database server on Granite. This is still a work in progress, because I'm building from scratch instead of modifying the kit. 1gb RAM, 20gb disk.
Soapstone: XP Client VM, 512 mb ram and 10gb disk. I have profiles for all 13 users on here, with thunderbird and firefox. I also have the TVT console and tools installed.
All VMs have disk defrag jobs scheduled for nightly runs, as does the host.
Lavatube: I have a gateway VM installed on a Xubuntu host in my house's crawlspace (sorry, the Colocation Facility).
