This chapter discusses the general principles of remote laboratories. It focuses on the experimental and hardware aspects of the innovation. Access methods, protocols, and new web technologies such as Web 2.0 have been covered elsewhere. A remote laboratory project was started in 1999 at Blekinge Institute of Technology (hereafter referred to as BTH) in Sweden to ascertain if it is feasible to design a remote electronics laboratory which could function as a supplement to local instructional laboratories and provide students with free access to experimental equipment. Today, there are two laboratories online, one for electronics and one for signal processing. These are used as examples in the ensuing discussion. The BTH Open Laboratory concept evolved over a number of years. Its object is to add a remote operation option to traditional instructional laboratories thereby making the latter more accessible. This option is equipped with a unique interface enabling students to recognize on their own computer screen the instruments and other equipment which most of them have used in the local laboratory. The research is focused on what is considered to be the greatest challenge in engineering education today, i.e. to give students a laboratory experience that is as genuine as possible without direct contact with the actual lab hardware while at the same time allowing teachers to use standard equipment and readily available learning material. The winners are not only students and teachers, but also universities, which will be able to share distributed laboratories. Finally, the chapter presents some ideas about standards for primarily distributed electronics laboratories based on IVI (Interchangeable Virtual Instruments).