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Michael Fudge

Remote Lab: Providing Access to Your Lab Facilities Virtually. Sr. Systems & IT Support Administrator, Adjunct Professor Syracuse University iSchool. Michael Fudge. Start. http:// mafudge.syr.edu/remote-lab. Michael Fudge. mafudge@syr.edu. @mafudge. iSchool?. 7000+ Alumni

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Michael Fudge

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  1. Remote Lab:Providing Access to Your Lab Facilities Virtually • Sr. Systems & IT Support Administrator, Adjunct Professor • Syracuse University iSchool Michael Fudge

  2. Start http://mafudge.syr.edu/remote-lab Michael Fudge mafudge@syr.edu @mafudge

  3. iSchool? 7000+ Alumni 728 Graduates585 Undergrads50 Faculty44 Staff9 Certificate programs3 Graduate programs2 Doctoral programs 1 School of Information Studies

  4. Our Lab Facilities • 3 “teaching” labs98 seats total • 1 “open lab”10 seats • 1 “mobile” lab30 laptops • 1 Specialized VM Networking lab • 1 “Remote” lab24 seats *

  5. Our Labs – Specifications • Dell OptiPlex 790 Small Form Factor • Intel Core i7 2600 3.4 Ghz • 8 GB RAM • 128 GB SSD • Dual Monitors • Windows 7 x64 • Gobs of software • Image Size 53GB

  6. Our Labs – Configuration • Imaged with Ghost over LAN • Locked down with Deepfreeze • Faronics Insight to control classroom activity • Least privilege – no admin access. • Roaming User Profiles • Redirected My Documents.

  7. The iSchool Facilities Crunch # of Class Sections Taught in Lab • Key TrendsFrom 2010 to 2012: • 11 more classes use labs facilities • 24% Increase • 33 less hours per week of open lab • 90% Booked 56 50 45

  8. Our Problem: Overcommitted Lab Resources Student Hears: Instructor Hears: “Complete this work outside of class...” “…the labs are full.”

  9. But enough of our problems!

  10. Why does your organization maintain computer labs? https://chronicle.com/article/Computer-Labs-Get-Rebooted-as/49323/

  11. Why We Still Maintain Labs:

  12. Problem Traditional Lab Facilities

  13. The Question Becomes: How do I provide access to lab facilities without a physical space to house them?

  14. Remote Lab, FTW! • Access our “Lab Computers” anytime from anywhere • Does not need to be staffed. • Does not occupy a room. • Same experience for all. • No costly desks or furniture. • No need to worry about theft • …Or people spilling drinks.

  15. The idea is simple: • Dedicate bank of lab computers (BOLC) to the task • Allow users to connect with Windows Remote desktop (RDP) • ?????? • PROFIT!!! 

  16. Why Windows Remote Desktop? • No Additional Software is required on the lab computer. • Compatible with a variety of client operating systems. • Inexpensive. Less confusing than alternatives.

  17. Demo. Remote Lab In Action

  18. Remote Lab Design Technical Information Ahead

  19. Components of Remote Lab Bank of Lab Computers (BOLC) Web Front-End BOLC Status Tracker Database

  20. BOLC- Old School • Stack a bunch of PC’s up somewhere. • Allow remote desktopto your users. • You can use older computers. • A great Start. • To scale, you’ll want to virtualize…

  21. Our BOLC – Current Setup • 6 Dell 2950 IIIs (Xeon Quad Core, 32GB RAM) • EMC AX4-5 iSCSI SAN (16TB) 2 SP’s • 1GB NIC for iSCSI • 1GB NIC for Network • Set-up on the cheap, as proof of concept. • Been running since last summer

  22. Our BOLC – Software • VMware ESXi 4 Hypervisor • 6 ESXi Hosts • 4 VM’s per server, 1 CPU, 4GB RAM ea. • Each VM Runs on a unique LUN/StorageProcessor combo. • Takes 2-3 Hrs. toGhost 1 Host. 

  23. Web Front End • How users find available lab computers. • Users are authenticated via normal channels. • A web page displays which “nodes” are availablein the BOLC. • When a user clicks on an available node, a customized .RDP file is sent to the client.

  24. BOLC status tracker database • A Simple 1 Table Database. • Database tracks which nodes in the BOLC are “available” and which are “occupied” • Events fire at logon / logoff / startup / shutdown and record node status to the database. • Same database is used by the web front-endfor UI Display.

  25. Group Policy Tweaks • Special computer and user settings are required for this unique environment • Don’t allow users to kick each other off. • Auto log-off at 120 minutes of idle time. Prevents hogging of sessions. • Run scripts at startup / shutdown / logon / logoff to update the tracker database.

  26. Challenges • Squatters. Try to stay on forever. • Re-connectors. Use the same downloaded RDP file. • Direct-connectors. Bypass the web UI and RDP directly into a machine. • Working on solutions to these problems.

  27. Our Rollout

  28. Timeline Summer2011 Fall2011 Summer2012 Spring2012 Fall2012 Rebuild from lessons learned First semester of launch Initial design and prototype Silent Beta Public advertised beta

  29. Public Beta – Monthly Logins

  30. Public Beta – Logins By Hour

  31. Other Realized Benefits • Eases the lab crunch • Students don’t need to install software • Less student support calls / tickets. • License control • Distance education friendly!

  32. Pro-Tips For Starting Your Own Initiative

  33. Pro-Tips Start Small Buy-In Find a faculty / course which can benefit. Get them on-board. Work from a proof of concept. No need to invest heavily to start. Simplify Does your Remote Lab require the same apps as your Lab? Track usage. Get feedback and opinions from users. Monitor

  34. Try It Yourself • Download SURA / Mac VPN from https://software.ischool.syr.edu/downloads • Sign in with g-ist-labman / 0sw3go315 • Run SURA / Mac VPN • Sign in with same Step 2 Credentials • Access Remote lab.https://my.ischool.syr.edu

  35. Thank You! http://mafudge.syr.edu/remote-lab Michael Fudge mafudge@syr.edu @mafudge Questions?

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