Building a green unified computing IT laboratory through virtualization

Authors:
Dongqing Yuan;Cody Lewandowski;Brandon Cross
Affiliations:
University of Wisconsin -- Stout, Menomonie, WI;University of Wisconsin -- Stout, Menomonie, WI;University of Wisconsin -- Stout, Menomonie, WI
Venue:
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
Year:
2013

Citing 10
Cited 0

VLabNet: the integrated design of hands-on learning in information security and networking

Proceedings of the 4th annual conference on Information security curriculum development
Decentralized virtualization in systems administration education

SIGITE '08 Proceedings of the 9th ACM SIGITE conference on Information technology education
Selecting and using virtualization solutions: our experiences with VMware and VirtualBox

Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
Databases in the cloud: a work in progress

Proceedings of the 10th ACM conference on SIG-information technology education
Using VMware VCenter lab manager in undergraduate education for system administration and network security

Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Information technology education
Cloud in cloud: approaches and implementations

Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Information technology education
Bringing together a low-cost networking learning environment

Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information technology education
Developing IP telephony laboratory and curriculum with private cloud computing

Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information technology education
Introducing cloud computing with a senior design project in undergraduate education of computer system and network administration

Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information technology education
Introducing virtualization management concepts using open source cloud infrastructure managers

Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information technology education

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

In this study, we share our experience how we use cluster virtualization to build a unified virtual computing environment. Virtual machines (VMs) installed in a lab environment can be used to create scalable and reliable virtual computing clusters. Virtualization provides many benefits, such as greener IT with less power consumption, easier management through central environment control and improved disaster recovery ability. This paper describes three such virtual clusters that have been used to conduct hands-on laboratory experiments in undergraduate courses and serve as a platform for student practicing hands-on skills in Server Application and Administration, IP Telephony and Unified Communication. We present the architecture and configuration of the clusters and describe how we make them available for educational use along with instructional materials, then we report on lessons we learned while developing and maintaining these clusters and using them for the coursework.