No-cost implementation of network security labs utilizing AWS educate in an undergraduate fundamental network security course

Abstract

In our Fundamentals of Network Security course, we had traditionally used a campus hardware environment and virtual machines. Students would complete their network security labs utilizing this equipment either on-site or remotely. However, many students expressed frustration to this routine, part of the reason being lag in system performance. In response, we considered a no-cost program through Amazon called Amazon Web Services (AWS) Educate. This program allows virtual classrooms to be created. For this course, these classrooms were a gateway that students utilized to create and work with various Operating System Instances. This case study examines an online laboratory environment used in a fundamentals of network security course that covers the competencies of the CompTIA Security+ certification. The main objectives were to explore the feasibility of utilizing the no-cost AWS Educate program, determine students' opinions on utilizing AWS and to determine the pros and cons of students utilizing AWS for labs and assessment. In addition, a comparison of student grades and lab completions was examined with five sections of the course. Two sections used the traditional campus hardware lab scenario. Three sections utilized AWS Educate to complete the labs. This study was based on analysis of responses to an end-of-semester survey, comparison of grades and completeness of labs attempted in each format, students' suggestions for lab improvements with AWS, and student comments and reactions to utilizing AWS. The advantages and challenges of accessing and utilizing AWS Educate for network security labs will be examined, including student assessment, and a list of suggested best practices for students and instructors utilizing AWS Educate for labs for will be given. No-Cost Implementation of Network Security Labs Utilizing AWS Educate This study evaluates student experiences using the AWS Educate program to access resources available in the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). The Fundamentals of Network Security course is delivered face-to-face (F2F) and via Distance education (DE). This course prepares sophomore students to take the CompTIA Security + exam. Ensuring that program resources are available 24/7 is considered a necessity to most students. Regardless of students' location, expectations regarding connectivity are the same (Pullen, 2010). Saliah-Hassane, Saad, Ofosu, Djibo, Mayaki, and Amadou (2011) completed a study showing their virtual lab environment based on the concept of software as a service. This allowed students to access their lab environment remotely. The results of this study show student preferences to using AWS EC2 to complete Security+ labs due to availability (regardless of student location), speed and resource utilization. AWS Educate is a free service provided by Amazon that allocates credits to students, teachers and researchers. This program is used in more than 200 countries by approximately 2,400 educational institutions (AWS Educate, 2020). An instructor will request a course be setup within AWS Educate. The instructor shares the topic and requests a certain amount of credits for the course. Currently, $100 is the standard set of credits awarded. More can be requested with justification. In this course, via free AWS Educate accounts, students accessed AWS EC2 to launch and manage various server instances of operating systems. A goal of this study is to eliminate the need for university acquisition of facilities and local laboratories to host, manage and maintain the environment, while at the same time providing easy access to necessary lab equipment 24/7. Omar and Lunsford (2017) conducted a study to measure the students' satisfaction level, their ability to learn from the lab exercises, the quality of the lab materials, availability of technical resources and did an analysis of discussion board threads (questions posed by students) who were utilizing virtualized equipment in a fundamental network security course. Students who earned a C or better were satisfied with the lab design and setup. Li, Jones, and Augustus (2011) evaluated different virtualization environments for labs and determined that a 'centralized approach is especially useful in online labs which require high-end resources, support a large number of users, and provide rapidly changing contents. It helps create a digital learning environment for students to study from any place and at any time (p.12). A case study is used to investigate the advantages, challenges and issues students may experience using AWS EC2. A survey is conducted to measure the students' satisfaction level with AWS, the performance of AWS, and support provided. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: the background section includes information about the lab model including lab design, lab components, and lab supports used. The following section discusses the evaluation methodology. The decision and results section include an analysis of the student survey, and feed-back regarding student lab experiences during the course. The final section of the study discusses the conclusions that are drawn.