Originally Posted by
SeriousStudent
I use a Lenovo W520 for exactly that. I've got VMware Workstation running on it, and use my MSDN subscription for the iso's.
I have 32GB of RAM in it, and use one of the Lenovo spare drive trays in the place of the DVD drive. So the base OS (Windows 10 Enterprise build 1607, I have not upgraded to build 1703) runs on one SSD, and the vmdk's are on the second SSD.
I use the Samsung 850 EVO drives. A 512 for the OS and apps, and a 1 TB for the VM's. I wish it took the 960's, but it's not set up for that form factor.
And mtnbkr is right, VirtualBox is nice, and it's free. Work pays for my software, and I already had the hardware from a previous pentest gig. So I used VMware instead.
You can find used W520's on eBay for a few hundred bucks, and build them up yourself. Plenty of spare parts there, too. Be prepared to pay big bucks for a pair of 16GB DIMM's, though.
You building a mobile lab, or doing pre-sales demos?
Hope that helps.