virtualisation advances for teaching and research

Current Advances with Virtualisation for Teaching and Research

in the School of IT

Michael Rees and Matt CarterSchool of IT

Technology Infrastructure

Bond IT Infrastructure

• Virtual IT Teaching Lab, VITTL• Bond IT Research Cloud Data Centre, DC• Innovation Centre– Topic maps machines– Software Assurance listserv

• Ad hoc servers– Teams, Comet– Tuhs– James

Virtual Machine Benefits

• a wide range of Windows, Windows Server and Linux images can be supported

• students granted administrative access to download, install and manage software packages

• each virtual machine has 24/7 access and supports long executions

• virtual machines are accessible everywhere on campus and Internet (maybe via Citrix)

• virtual machines can be replaced with new images in minutes• teaching and support staff can share access for maintenance• students present from their virtual machines in any teaching

space on campus for assessment and feedback purposes

VITTL Architecture

SAN

Host 1

Host 2 Host 4

Host 3

Internet

VCESX 4.0

IBM 3850/3650

VITTL Advances

• Upgraded from ESX 3.5 to ESX 4.0• Rewired VITTL [RAID driver problems currently] • Reformatted SAN [6TB up from 1.5TB] • Implemented Pacman virtual server: Linux and file

sharing accounts rather than full virtual machine• Moved all research from the VITTL to DC cluster• ITCloudConnect to log into machines directly

though the VMware viewer software rather than SSH or RDP

IT Teaching Support

• Running for 6 semesters• Subject: web technologies, databases, software

development, computational finance, business intelligence, security (24 in total)

• Mix of Windows, Windows Server and Linux images

• Sized for 150 student VMs, has supported up to 250 without problem

• http://vittlproject.pbworks.com/

VM Allocation by OS

Bond IT Research Cloud

• Industry Liaison DMZ Project• Shares Bond direct Internet feed, before

institutional proxy• Throttled to 10 Mbps• Central Information Services has oversight of

Cloud proxy• Clusters old servers for cloud VMs• Allows direct access from Internet to physical

machines, if needed

Bond IT Research Cloud

Low Cost

Summary

• Highly successful• Runs independently of Info Services• Still searching for low-cost VM management,

creation/deployment solutions with automation

• Perfect environment for leased servers with constant rollover

Reminder

• Remember to remind students they have access to MSDN Academic Alliance Subscription for copies of:– Windows 7 32/64bit– Visual Studio 2010– Expression 3 Studio, Visio 2010

• http://it.bond.edu.au • See Matt for ELMS account