Deployment of Software-Controlled Distributed Laboratory Complex for a Higher Educational Institution

Abstract

The intensive development of information systems and communication infrastructures has led to the emergence of new approaches and new tools for their management. Cloud services, virtualization technologies and software-based management tools are actively used today for building modern information systems which provides additional opportunities for managing components of these systems and for expanding such systems abilities. The use of such approaches and tools can provide a solution to the complex of problems faced by education institutions today, presenting new methods of distance learning and new forms of practical training. The balanced use of virtualization technologies and software-based control tools allows building distributed laboratory complexes of a new generation which will provide new possibilities for using the equipment that is available in educational institutions. The use of such complexes in the educational process allows not only to instill in students the skills of managing the configurations of communication infrastructures that are especially relevant today, but also to organize, in addition to traditional laboratory work, new forms of contactless practical classes. When conducting such classes, students get the opportunity to fully-functional remote access to the virtual and physical components of the complex, which is especially important for organizing the educational process in modern conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The article discusses modern approaches to the construction of software-controlled communication infrastructures, tools for software-based management of their components and also, an example of the implementation of these approaches and such tools usage in the construction of a distributed laboratory complex for a higher educational institution. The main advantages of the approach based on the use of hypervisors and emulators are presented, the experience of its deployment in the modernization of the laboratory complex for a IRIT-RTF UrFU is considered. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.