Supporting lab courses using openStack

Abstract

In this paper, an implementation of a versatile laboratory, implemented using virtual machines deployed in a cloud infrastructure is proposed. The idea behind the proposal is to be able to take full advantage of the cloud infrastructure, in order to support multiple laboratory courses on computing and networking, through a single physical infrastructure, consisting of thin clients connecting through a high speed network to the virtualization platform in a computer cluster. The architecture of a prototype implementation over Open-Stack at TEI of Piraeus is presented, together with plans for future expansion.