NETLAB+ Support of the VMware IT Academy Program^®

NDG is partnering with the VMware IT Academy Program to pilot NETLAB+ support of their worldwide training program. The use of NETLAB+ will provide an enormous opportunity for educational organizations seeking a highly scalable, cost effective solution to offer access to the technology required for the VMware IT Academy Program, which introduces students to VMware technologies and equips them with valuable VMware technical skills.

Significantly Reduce Your Equipment Costs

Organizations who wish to offer the highly sought-after VMware IT Academy Program curriculum often face a financial challenge. A significant amount of physical hardware is needed in order to adequately provide students with the necessary equipment access both within the classroom and outside the classroom for assignments and practice. This requires a financial commitment that may be beyond the budget of some 2-year colleges and technical schools.

In the NETLAB+ pod design for the VMware IT Academy vSphere 4 Install, Configure, Manage Course (ICM), all lab components are 100% virtualized (i.e. ESXi-in-ESXi) to achieve a high pod to physical host ratio, at a significantly lower cost point relative to traditional delivery of ICM. Using virtualization and the sharing and scheduling capabilities of NETLAB+, each student (or team of students) has access to their own set of virtual equipment, which they may maintain exclusive use of throughout the course.

NETLAB+'s use of virtualized lab components results in a significant cost reduction by allowing several pods to run simultaneously on one physical server (final ratio to be determined). This cost reduction can open up the possibility of participating in the VMware IT Academy Program for many organizations who would be unable to afford it otherwise.

Get Twice the Value From a NETLAB Academy Edition^® System

Pending final analysis and evaluation, it is our intention to support both the Cisco Networking Academy and the VMware IT Academy program using NETLAB Academy Edition This will provide an incredible value to organizations who participate in both programs to get twice the value from NETLAB_AE.

There will also be the option to use NETLAB Professional Edition^® and NETLAB Enterprise Edition^™ to support both programs at higher volumes.

Pilot Program Details

We have established a pilot program, currently in progress, utilizing NETLAB+ to create a cost effective and highly scalable lab platform for the VMware IT Academy vSphere 4 ICM Course.

View the NETLAB+ VMware IT Academy Pilot Presentation

Major Goals

1. Create an ICM pod design for NETLAB+ in which all lab components are 100% virtualized (i.e. ESXi-in-ESXi) to achieve a high pod to physical host ratio, at a significantly lower cost point relative to traditional delivery of ICM.
2. Allows students, teams, and/or classes to retain their own copy of an ICM pod so that state is saved from one lab to the next during the duration of the course. Determine the smallest possible storage footprint for the ICM pod.
3. Extend the capabilities of the NETLAB+ scheduler to account for physical host capacity. The scheduler would ensure that the number of concurrently active ICM pods does not oversubscribe the capacity of physical host resources. This would provide a quantum leap in scaling ICM , from "pods" to "active pods per hour". Thus, ICM course capacity becomes primarily driven by storage (relatively inexpensive), and far less by CPU and memory capacity (relatively expensive).
4. Review, discuss, and update ICM lab content to match the ICM pod.
5. Adapt ICM labs for pod independence and isolation (NDG standard practice for Academy Edition pods):
6. Provide an easy way to clone (copy) entire ICM pods from within the NETLAB+ user interface.
7. Extend NETLAB+ pod rules so that ICM pods can be assigned to specific students, teams, and/or classes for the duration of a course.

When will NETLAB+ be ready to support the VMware ICM course?

There are three pilot phases that must be completed. Each phase has specific goals. The following list provides the major highlights for each pilot phase.

Pilot Phase I - Status: Complete

• NDG will host VMware ICM pods.
• Determine the feasibility of using NETLAB+ to teach the VMware ICM course.
• Determine VMware ICM topology (pod) designs.
• Test labs and begin lab addendum development. Lab addendums will provide supplemental information to enhance the user experience.
• Determine essential software features that must be added to NETLAB+ for system administration and instructor management of the ICM course.

Pilot Phase II - Status: In progress with target start date September

• Existing NETLAB+ AE field sites have been chosen to host NETLAB+ systems to trial the VMware ICM course.
• Complete lab addendums.
• Install and host a train-the-trainer and demo system at NDG.
• Finalize pod and lab designs.
• Prepare virtual appliance templates for pod VMs (prepackaged VM bundle without Microsoft software).
• Prepare first draft of setup documentation.
• Deliver NETLAB+ beta software to pilot sites.
• Field sites begin pilot testing.

Pilot Phase III - Status: Planned with target start date of October / November

• Selected new NETLAB+ field sites can participate in pilot.
• Finalize hardware requirements for host sites.
• Finalize all documentation.
• Finalize virtual appliance templates for pod VMs.
• Finalize NETLAB+ software features required for general deployment.

General Availability to the NETLAB+ Customer Community - Target Date: January 2011

• VMware ICM course available to all NETLAB+ customers participating in the VMware IT Academy program. (Software upgrade service must be current).

What additional hardware is required in order for NETLAB+ to support the VMware ICM course?

Preliminary specifications are provided to select test sites and are subject to change during the pilot period. If you would like more information, please contact us.

Want to Learn More?

If you would like to receive periodic emailed updates on the status of NETLAB+ support of the VMware It Academy Program, please let us know using our online information request form. We will be happy to keep you "in the loop" on the progress of this pilot program.