Labbing - practicing what we learn

So you are probably asking, When can we have some pen testing fun? Let's just say soon. We have to establish a safe yet representative environment that can provide ripe targets for the various tests we'd like to run. We also want to push the limits without impacting the performance of some real production applications or their underlying systems or supporting networks. As variety is the spice of life, it also holds true in penetration testing. Your efficacy in testing will be greatly improved with some exposure and knowledge of a variety of platforms. There are some great resources such as Packt's own Building Virtual Pentesting Labs for Advanced Penetration Testing - Second Edition by Kevin Cardwell (https://www.packtpub.com/networking-and-servers/building-virtual-pentesting-labs-advanced-penetration-testing-second-edition), if...