Virtual Public Sites: New Plans, New Practices

LTS is expanding the use of virtual technology to the desktop. Virtual desktop technology leverages the popularity of mobile technology by allowing users to access Lehigh’s academic software from any web browser.

This development expands the notion of the traditional computing lab, opening new possibilities for collaborative research and interactive learning regardless of location.

Through the virtual public site, students have more ready access to specialized software commonly used in industry. Employers actively seek individuals who have been exposed to these complex tools.

Moreover, the move to a virtual computing environment is consistent with the way the Internet is changing. Large organizations such as Google and Microsoft are offering more web-based services running from external data centers rather than from personal computers.

LTS is currently piloting two desktop virtualization solutions: Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View. These products are similar in that they both deliver a desktop computing environment to clients through devices that have web browsers and Internet connections.

LTS’ College of Engineering Support Team has piloted the first phase of virtual technology (utilizing Citrix XenDesktop) by delivering specialized applications to students in the Mechanical Engineering department. Students utilizing Citrix have indicated that it works surprisingly well even with memory-intensive CAD and mathematical simulation packages such as Solidworks, Matlab, and Maple.

The environment looks and feels like a desktop everyone is familiar with, including all the applications, drive mappings and network resources. Thus far, it has worked so well that students think they are working on a physical desktop.

LTS is also piloting VMware View. The goal of this initiative is to expand the use of the public computing sites by offering access to the public site image from any computer regardless of location. Information on how to access the Lehigh Virtual Public Computing Site can be found at  http://www.lehigh.edu/virtualsite. A small VMware View client needs to be installed; users can access a variety of software titles by logging in with their Lehigh username and password.

Both of these virtual desktop solutions will continue to evolve as the underlying technologies mature and as LTS implements various strategies to improve these services. The key to making this a successful project will be meticulous testing and a phased-in implementation. So brace yourself for the labs of the future where Lehigh students, faculty and staff can work from anywhere, from any device, at any time.

--Naazer Ashraf
 

Article posted October, 2011

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