Maximising student exposure to networking using FreeBSD virtual hosts

Abstract

A Remote Unix Lab Environment (RULE) is being developed that allows student access to networked hosts for their coursework and research projects. This paper describes our first generation solution using FreeBSD's "jail" functionality to emulate many FreeBSD hosts on a small handful of physical machines. Our primary constraint is to minimise the incremental infastructure cost to the Univeristy. Students access the RULE hosts through pre-existing PC labs scattered around campus and 802.11-equipped laptops. The FreeBSD hosts themselves are rackmounted in a small back room, minimising their impact on scarce University lab space. This paper describes our requirements, trade-offs, available tools, and how specific FreeBSD features are being utilized to create multiple virtual hosts for teaching purposes.