SGER: A Scalable, Flexible, Secure Educational Computing Lab

教育计算机实验室已经从装满连接到大型分时系统的终端的房间，发展到装满连接到文件服务器的台式计算机的房间。在前一种情况下，主计算机提供周期和文件存储；在后一种情况下，台式计算机提供周期和部分文件存储，而文件服务器提供更稳定的文件存储。这种方法在大学里规模不大，因为空间和其他资本改善几乎是不可逾越的障碍(即使有资金，也需要数年时间才能实施)。由于这些空间限制、规模经济要求以及实验室计算机过时的速度，计算机科学专业学生的教育实验室的质量下降。一项对我们本科生的调查显示，他们通常使用自己的计算机来完成大学任务，而不是使用实验室计算机。这是因为他们有更新的设备和熟悉的计算环境。不幸的是，学生的计算机很少有定期的文件存档；如果学生的计算机崩溃，后果是严重的。这个项目描述了一种构建教育实验室的新模型-提供可扩展的、灵活的和安全的计算基础设施，其中学生可以使用他们自己的计算机与实验室基础设施协同工作。该基础结构向学生的计算机提供特定于软件的扩展，例如编译器或包的特定版本，以及系统地存档以支持故障恢复的非常大量的文件存储空间。该模型鼓励开发定制的环境，使教师能够创建具有独特操作系统(例如，用于Web服务编程的Windows.NET而不是Linux)、语言环境等的虚拟实验室。智力优势：本研究调查了前沿存储系统研究在一个重要实际问题中的应用。尽管目前存在该技术的各个方面，但其他方面将随着所有方面的综合而被创造出来，以创建一种利用大型存储系统的分布式计算的新方法。广泛的影响：大学正处于实验室计算机获取、部署和更换的连续循环中。这种方法将计算机的“快速老化”方面转移到最终用户身上。这些用户可以决定他们是否需要更新、更快的设备来配合基础设施使用，或者他们是否愿意避免购买以节省资金。这所大学通过提供一个咖啡馆般的环境来节省空间，学生们可以在那里使用他们的设备，而不是提供装满快速老化的电脑的房间。更重要的是，该基础设施提供了强大且可配置的基础设施，可以确保学生能够访问特定课程的正确工具(和软件版本)。学生受益于使他们的个人计算机成为教育计算基础设施中的一个组件(通过适当的身份验证和授权)，以及拥有一个可供他们使用的大型、安全的归档文件系统。

Educational computer laboratories have evolved from rooms full of terminals connected to a large timesharing system, to rooms full of desktop computers connected to a file server. In the former case, the main computer provides both cycles and file storage; in the latter, the desktop computers provide the cycles and some of the file storage, while the file server provides more stable file storage. This approach does not scale well in universities where space and other capital improvements are nearly insurmountable barriers (and even if funded, take years to implement). The quality of educational labs for computer science students deteriorates due to these space constraints, economy ofscale requirements, and to the rate at which laboratory computers become obsolete.A survey of our undergraduate students shows that they typically use their own computer for university tasks rather than using the lab computers. This is because they have newer equipment and a familiar computing environment. Unfortunately, it is rare for a student's computer to have regular file archiving; if the student's machine crashes, the consequences are dire.This project describes a new model for constructing an educational laboratory - one that provides a scalable, flexible, and safe computing infrastructure in which students can use their own machines in concert with a lab infrastructure. The infrastructure provides software-specific extensions to the students' computers, e.g., a particular version of a compiler or package, as well as a very large amount of file storage space that is systematically archived to support failure recovery. The model encourages the development of tailored environments to enable an instructor to create a virtual lab with a unique operating system (e.g., Windows .NET for web service programming instead of Linux), language environments, etc.Intellectual Merit: This study investigates the application of leading edge storage system research to an important practical problem. Although various aspects of the technology currently exist, others will be created along with the synthesis of all aspects to create a new approach to distributed computing that leverages large storage systems.Broader Impact: Universities are in a continual cycle of lab computer acquisition, deployment, and replacement. This approach shifts the "rapidly aging" aspects of computers to end users. These users can decide whether or not they desire newer, faster equipment to use with the infrastructure, or if they prefer to avoid acquisition to save money. The university saves space by providing a cafe -like atmosphere where students can use their equipment, rather than providing rooms full of rapidly-aging computers. More importantly, the infrastructure provides a robust and configurable infrastructure where it is possible to ensure that students have access to exactly the right tools (and software versions) for a particular course. Students benefit by having their personal computer become a component in the educational computing infrastructure (with appropriate authentication and authorization), and by having a large, safe, archived file system at their disposal.