Research in the International Journal of Information Technology and Management sheds light on the potential of OpenStack, an open-source cloud-computing platform, in the area of educational virtualization.
OpenStack, often shortened to O~S, is used as a standardized Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution for both public and private cloud environments. The platform allows users to access virtual servers and manage hardware components such as computer processors, storage, and networking. It could also offer major benefits to educational establishments such as cost savings and the optimization of hardware resource utilization.
Faouzi Mechraoui of the University of Leuven Limburg in Leuven, Belgium, and Pedro Martins and Filipe Caldeira of the Polytechnic of Viseu in Portugal have reviewed OpenStack’s capabilities in the virtualization of resources and how it can provide a flexible and scalable infrastructure for data management, scaling, and networking configurations. Specifically, their review explores the deployment of IaaS using OpenStack.
The team looked at the functional and architectural aspects of OpenStack and discusses how it can be used to build large-scale virtual environments. The research highlights an experimental virtualization setup within an educational scenario, showcasing OpenStack’s adaptability to specific use cases at Viseu. They point out that the system might equally be used in governmental settings too.
OpenStack has many advantages among them how well it can be aligned with user needs and how well it adheres to emerging open standards. These benefits ensure compatibility with current approaches to virtualization, which thus position OpenStack as a practical and reliable solution. As technology evolves around it, OpenStack will be able to stand as a versatile solution.
The team suggest that the next step in an evaluation of OpenStack will be to undertake benchmarking tests to evaluate OpenStack’s performance under stress. The ultimate goal is the implementation of OpenStack to virtualize entire on-premise educational systems. This would allow students to manage their “instances” within the system, creating a dynamic and hands-on learning environment.
Mechraoui, F., Martins, P. and Caldeira, F. (2024) ‘OpenStack: a virtualisation overview’, Int. J. Information Technology and Management, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp.1–12.