1. Deliver your Technology-Based Labs with VMware Lab Manager 5/6/2010 Michael Fudge

2. Agenda Why is this so difficult? How lab manger makes it easer The iSchool specfic Setup Demos / Use-cases Where do we go from here?

3. How do you conduct labs for:  Operating Systems Install / Configuration  Setting up and securing network services: DHCP, DNS, HTTP, SMTP, LDAP, Etc…  Host and network-based firewalls.  Routing, NAT, VLANS.  Application deployment, workstation configurations.  Advanced services: web applications, email, VOIP

4. A Typical Example: “The Email Lab” You’d like build an experiential learning activity around email and its protocols From a configuration standpoint, you’d like each student to have the same experience. Email Client: Windows XP Email Server: Windows 2003 POP3, IMAP, SMTP Protocols Outlook Express Wireshark hMailServer

5. How it used to be done.  Need a lot of hardware to do this for the entire class.  Need a lot of space for the hardware  Difficult to prepare and deploy labs in this manner, and keep them consistent.  Students must be “in the lab” to complete the exercise. Windows XP client Windows 2003 email server Ethernet Switch

6. Platform Virtualization makes things a little better  Platform Virtualization VMware workstation Virtual Box Virtual PC  What used to be a computer is now just “files”  The “host” computer is a lab workstation or student’s personal computer.  Requires several GB of storage. Where do you put all those the files?

7. Where Do You Store Your Platform VM files? “Mobile Racks”“Portable Storage”“File Server”  Students must sit at same seat in lab  High failure rate from adding / removing drives  Poor I/O performance  Deployment issues – how do you get the VM files to the students?  Need high network bandwidth to server  File server becomes a bottleneck under high utilization

8. The Lab Manager Solution…  Accessible through a web browser  “Package-able”  Provides network isolation  Consistent configurations  Accessible anytime from anywhere

9. What Exactly is Lab Manager? “Web browser-based delivery of platform virtual machines and networks.” Think:

10. Overview of Lab Manager https://vlab.ischool.syr.edu Let’s take a quick look

11. Configuration: The core concept Virtual Machines Physical Network Virtual Networks Configuration Boundary

12. Security Model Lab Manager Users and Groups assigned to organizations / workspaces then given permission to resources (Configurations and Templates). iSchool Implementation To confine a set of resources to a group of users, (for a specific course or research project, for example) a separate workspace must be created Organization Workspaces MainStaging Course Specific iSchoolLabs

13. SU Network Vyatta NAT 128.230.x.y Lab Manager VM’s 10.1.1.1 10.1.2.2 through 10.1.254.254 iSchool Physical Network Implementation Virtual Networks can leverage the physical network as needed The NAT removes the requirement of each VM having an IP address on the Campus Network, and the MAC address registered to the IP.

14. VM Template(s) Network Template(s) Configuration Lab Designers Library Capture Library Archive Template Designers Create VM Template(s) Create Network Template(s) iSchool Roles/Workflow Students & Teachers Deploy Configuration (Powers on VM’s) Connect Virtual And Physical Networks Clone from Library to Workspace Administrators Workspace Management Security Management

15. Lab Designers: Steps to deploy a Configuration Add VM / Network Templates to Configuration Deploy the configuration to test it Tweak / make changes as necessary Capture to library when ready and share with others Lab Designers can practice these step in a special organization called “iSandbox”

16. Demo Time! https://vlab.ischool.syr.edu

17. Software Costs Costs are negligible thanks to: Vendor “Academic Initiatives” (IBM, Microsoft). Low-cost operating systems, flexible licensing Vyatta (open source cisco-like networking) Vmware e-acadamy $150 /year licensed to support ESX, vCenter and Lab Manager

18. Hardware required: SAN (iSCSI / FC) Servers ESX Hosts vCenter Lab Manager SAN ESX1ESXnESX2 … vCenter Lab Manager

19. Estimates for ESX Hosts (no SAN) Count of Concurrent Class Sections (n=32) Approximate Cost 2 Dell Power edge Servers 1$11,500 2$21,000 3$27,500 4$34,000 6$48,800 2 Server minimum Recommended Count in class section = 32 (30 students 1 TA, 1 Prof) Estimate based on 64GB RAM required to run one class section Agreement to leverage SAN @ Central IT, so there’s a substantial cost savings there.

20. Next Steps for us Build “iSandbox” for template designers to hone their craft. Identify which classes should be moved into this environment first (for Fall 2010). Class Roster Integration – Powershell Cmdlet.  Purchase hardware to support real use in the classroom.  Start rebuilding labs for the new environment over the summer.  Most importantly: Capture pilot experiences for best practices.

21. Thank you - Questions? http://michaelfudge.com/lab-manager Or http://bit.ly/fudgelabman