I assume this will not be a highly loaded backup environment, just a test system.
I'm running myself several different test platforms on top of VMware workstation VM's on my laptop.
Just try to ensure to dedicate a fair amount of memory (4GB at least I would say) to avoid VM's hanging.
I think you can also download the Storeonce Virtual appliance to setup a small deduplication system. That's really a good thing to test these days:
http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/data-storage/free-sovsa.html
In my experience, checking the support matrices in advance to ensure you are installing the cell manager and agents in a supported environment can save you a lot of time troubleshooting possible supportability issues.
You can check the matrices here:
Regards
Juanjo