Flexible IT teaching laboratories in the cloud

The Virtual Information Technology Teaching Laboratory (VITTL) uses advanced, innovative virtualisation technology and teaching processes to allow information technology students to gain industrial-level experience with advanced software, servers and operating systems.

VITTL uses powerful central servers running VMware virtualisation software managed by the School of Information Technology and has been in operation within the School at Bond since April 2008. Teaching staff build specialist virtual machine images with industry-strength operating systems and advanced software packages in combinations that are difficult or impossible to install on the physical machines present in teaching laboratories.

Students are allocated virtual machines for each subject that requires them. Virtual machines run on a 24/7 basis and students are given administrative privileges. Such access could not normally be granted to a physical machine in a shared teaching lab on a permanent basis. Students can then access the desktop of their own virtual machine from any other computer on campus including any teaching laboratory, library and public access spaces and the student's own laptop connected by Wi-Fi. Using the Bond Citrix server virtual machine access is possible from any Internet-connected machine across the globe including the student's place of residence. Multiple virtual machines and virtual networks can be allocated to each student if necessary to support advanced networking, database, server and distributed systems subjects.

The VITTL virtual machines bring many benefits for students enrolled in Information Technology subjects:

• students can be granted administrative access to download, install and manage operating systems and software packages
• a wide range of Windows, Unix and Linux operating systems can be supported to allow practical work to use the real-world software sought by employers
• each virtual machine runs 24/7 for round-the-clock access and to support long-running program execution where needed
• virtual machines are accessible everywhere on campus and via the Internet
• virtual machines that cease to execute for any reason can be replaced with new images in minutes
• teaching and support staff can share access to student machines to help with maintenance and software problems
• students may present material and show demonstrations from their virtual machines in any teaching space on campus for assessment and feedback purposes

This advanced virtualisation technology allows Bond IT students to gain experience with advanced software, servers and systems to better fit them for careers in information technology industries.

Dr Michael Rees, Associate Professor in Computer Science
VITTL Project Manager
School of IT, Bond University

mrees at bond edu au