how to practice CIFS shares without Active Directory domain?

[netappmagic]

I have CDOT cluster simulator installed on my laptop by using vmware player. I understand  I need to configure AD to practice CIFS shares. Since I don't know much about AD, and don't want to spend too much time on it, is there any simple configurations to bypass AD or simplify the process that I can use to allow me practice CIFS share on vserver?

Thank you for your input.

[shatfield]

A disposable AD for a lab is pretty simple to set up.  Which versions of windows server do you have at your disposal?

Its basically:

1. install windows server

2. give it a static IP address

3. Run DCpromo and follow the wizard

I'm sure someone one youtube has a walkthrough.