Sponsored by the National Science Foundation

A Virtual Computer Networking Lab

Mike Zink, Jim Kurose, Max Ott, Jeannie Albrecht

NSF Workshop on GENI in Education,October 26th 2013

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 2GEC17

Computer Networking Labs

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 3GEC17

The “Traditonal” Networks Lab

• Each institution requires a set of hardware (switches, routers, cables, computers)

• Hardware outdates fairly quickly• Certain aspects are vendor specific• Equipment is unused for periods of time

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 4GEC17

The “Virtual” Networks Lab

• Use GENI infrastructure to teach lab• Individual institutions don’t need hardware• “Guide” students as much as needed• Teach new technologies (e.g., OpenFlow)

Downside:• Students do not touch hardware

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 5GEC17

GENI Technology

• GENI Portal• GENI APIs• GENI Racks• GIMI Tools

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 6GEC17

LabWiki as a Classroom Tool

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 7GEC17

LabWiki CoreP

lugi

n

Your

Plu

gin

GENICH/AM OMF iRODS Your

ServiceGIMI

Services

Plan Prepare Execute

LabWiki Architecture

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 8GEC17

GENITestBed

OMLServer

LabWiki

iRODS

1.Instrument

2.Run

3.Collect

4.Plot

5.Save

OML Client

6.Obtain Automated

Environment

0.Reserve

Experimenter

2.Run

3.Collect

4.Plot

5.Save

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 9GEC17

The “Virtual” Networks Lab

Lab Title1 Beginners Lab2 Introductory Lab3 TCP & UDP4 Static & Dynamic IP Routing5 OpenFlow Lab6 OpenFlow-based routing7 Data Center8 Wireshark

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 10GEC17

Teaching Specific

• Create an interface to course management system(s) (e.g., moodle)

• Be able to “observe” student performance• Allow for easy new module development• Video clips

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation 11GEC17

Example