Authors:
Harald Vranken
1
;
Jens Haag
2
;
Tobias Horsmann
2
and
Stefan Karsch
2
Affiliations:
1
Open Universiteit and School of Computer Science, Netherlands
;
2
Cologne University of Applied Sciences and Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering Science, Germany
Keyword(s):
Distance education, e-Learning, Distributed virtual computer security lab, Virtual lab.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Computer-Supported Education
;
Domain Applications and Case Studies
;
e-Learning
;
e-Learning Hardware and Software
;
Virtual Labs: Examples, Architecture and Organization
Abstract:
Universities offering courses in the field of analyzing, configuring and safeguarding computer networks, provide specific software and hardware resources to students for practical assignments. At distance universities these resources usually are not physically accessible for remote students. We initially addressed this issue by offering an environment which allows students to build virtual computer networks on their local computer. The environment consists of a preconfigured virtualized software package and is referred to as the virtual lab. This approach reaches its limits when students intend to perform group work similar to typical on-site courses. To remove this limitation, we developed an extended virtual lab, called the Distributed Virtual Computer Security Lab (DVCSL), in which distinct remote virtual labs can be connected across a connection network (e.g., the internet). The DVCSL allows remote students to perform networking and security exercises inside an encapsulated distr
ibuted common networking environment. The design of the DVCSL meets two major requirements: establishing a transparent communication path between remote virtual labs and assuring that non-participating systems outside the DVCSL are not affected by the transmitted data. In this paper we present the architecture of the DVCSL and demonstrate its functionality as well as its security by an example setup.
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