In today’s world of budget cuts and environmental concerns, colleges and universities are becoming increasingly interested in implementing new technologies that are environmentally friendly and financially viable. One such technological approach, virtual computing, could help to meet the educational needs of students at the University, said James Hilton, University vice president and chief information officer.
Virtualization, which involves sharing software services via computer networks instead of having them installed on individual personal computers, “takes advantage of the power people have on their laptops,” Hilton said. The availability of such software is important because there are many specialized applications students need that are only available at certain locations on Grounds, such as in the Scholars’ Lab in Alderman Library.
“Many students who major in engineering [or] math use an application called Matlab,” Hilton said. “Matlab is available only at certain public computing sites. We would like to be able to virtualize delivery of Matlab to students who need it.”
Virtual computing would give more flexibility to students, while ITC would control software, Hilton said.
“Currently, the University buys a license to purchase a finite number of Matlab copies to put in the public computing labs,” Hilton said. “We could control access so that students anywhere at anytime could access the software without having to come into a lab.”
Computer security would also benefit from the introduction of virtual computing, Hilton said.
“One of the advantages of virtualization is that the software stays safe and sound on the server so that software companies don’t have to worry about the unauthorized proliferation of the software,” Hilton said.
As institutions such as the University have become increasingly interested in virtualization, a new niche in the software industry has developed. According to Benjamin Baer, vice president of marketing at Pano Logic, a virtual software company, virtual computing developed because of overcapacity concerns.
“You have a huge amount of servers providing a large amount of infrastructure [and] 20 percent of the capacity of the servers is being used most of the time,” Baer said. “We want people to be able to maximize the use of their servers.”
Baer also said virtualization systems can be cheaper than traditional desktop computers and can offer environmental benefits.
“Our solution draws only three watts of power,” Baer said. “Most PCs use 5 to 10 watts even when they are not running. In addition, you don’t need moving parts — CPUs, operating system, hard drive, etc., — so you use less packaging.”
The biggest downside for computer virtualization, Baer said, is in performance.
“There are certain cases where virtualization doesn’t work very well,” Baer said. “For example, 3-D design programs and voice-over-IP don’t work as well as they would on PCs. It’s hard to synchronize those applications in real time with virtual computing.”
Students studying in the Scholars’ Lab expressed interest in virtual computing as a way to have more flexibility in their working environment.
“I think that would be a great idea,” fourth-year College student Jennifer Beiner said. “I hate coming into the lab ... having to use special software.”
Fourth-year College student Andrea Gomperts, meanwhile, said she has to use an application for her psychology classes that currently is only available on the University computers.
“To get that on your own computer, it costs about $150,” she said.
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