The Academic Cloud
NDG is working with Stanly Community College and the University of South Carolina to provide shared compute resources to learners.
Shared compute for hands-on learning
Access to compute resources can be a barrier for many learners to acquire technology job skills. Complex compute problems that require advance knowledge can be expensive for organizations to host or provide to learners. Network Development Group had a vision for building an online portal to help solve this problem. As of January 2022 over 100,000 learners have benefited from a collaboration of academia, industry, and government.
Be part of the solution by joining our collaboration. Are you working on a grant or project that could benefit from the academic cloud? Would you like to be a node in the cloud?
Shared resources
Pooled compute infrastructure across organizations reduces costs while expanding lab access for learners and researchers.
Research ready
PhD researchers and collaborators use the platform to conduct research and develop solutions to significant engineering problems.
Academic training
24/7 access to realistic hands-on lab environments for cybersecurity, networking, and certification training.
Example hands-on cybersecurity lab
Researchers
The University of South Carolina (USC) uses the Academic Cloud for research purposes. The goals of the USC’s Cyberinfrastructure lab (CI Lab) are to enhance the performance of high-speed networks; to develop new protocols and techniques using P4 programmable switches; and to investigate cyberattacks on IoT devices. USC’s PhD students and collaborators at institutions like the University of South Florida and the University of Texas at San Antonio use the platform to conduct research and develop innovative solutions to significant engineering problems.
The Academic Cloud is used for class instruction and research. To date the cloud has been used by Research and Education Networks (RENs) for training IT professionals (regional and national backbones / service providers); and by government entities to train personnel on cybersecurity and networking topics (e.g., ESnet / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence, U.S. Army National Guard, and others).
USC CI Lab Resources
For additional information, please feel free to contact Dr. Jorge Crichigno.
Academic Institutions
Stanly Community College uses the Academic Cloud to change the lives of local students and remote students on a daily basis. The Academic Cloud helps provide Stanly Community College with compute resources needed for hands-on labs, giving their students real-world learning experience.
The Academic Cloud is a combination of tech and server resources shared across institutions in order to expand reach to students while providing lower maintenance and management costs. It provides a highly scalable, realistic hands-on learning environment for academic institutions that students and instructors can access 24x7. Stanly Community College also provides training to instructors through their Instructor Training Center.
The National Science Foundation awarded Stanly Community College a grant for a project entitled, Collaborative: Multi-state Community College, University and Industry Collaboration to Prepare Learners for 21st Century Information Technology Jobs. Learn more here.
If you are interested in learning more about creating an Academic Cloud for your institution and students, contact us.
Instructor Training Center