California CCs Expand Virtual Labs for IT Courses

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 09/26/16

The California Community Colleges system has gone public with its use of an IT virtualized lab. The country's largest system of higher education is working with NETLAB+, a remote access application from Network Development Group (NDG) that lets faculty and students schedule and perform lab exercises for their IT courses.

Almost 50 of the system's community colleges are using NETLAB+, in a regional sharing model. The college system is also running a blended user group that brings educators and administrators together online to share questions and ideas on how to implement the virtual computer lab environment in their classrooms.

Currently, the virtual lab is supporting courses in forensics, cybersecurity, networking, Linux and computer support.

Sessions can be scheduled for entire classes or self-study lab time. NETLAB+ includes configuration file management tools for loading and saving configurations by device or an entire lab. The application also records the commands issued on all virtual routers, switches and firewalls and can be reviewed by the instructor. Configuration files and device output are also saved with each lab session.

The user group recently published an interview with Jim Cosentino, administrator for the college system's northern region schools hub, which is hosted at Folsom Lake College.

"NETLAB+ gives colleges the ability to do remote labs with equipment they don't typically have," he explained in that article. "The lab setups are made up of one to eight virtual computers called a pod. This is not something easy to do in a physical lab on campus."

When that lab went online in time for the spring 2016 semester, the hub incorporated:

  • A Cisco 3650 series switch;
  • Two Cisco 9372 fiber switches;
  • Three NETLAB+ appliances, which each serve up to 160 simultaneous virtual computers;
  • Eight student hosts running on VMware EXS;
  • A Nimble CS500 storage area network; and
  • One management host.

Cosentino said he expected to add two NETLAB+ appliances and two more management hosts to accommodate an additional 320 simultaneous virtual computers.

The Bay Area Community College Consortium also hosts a NETLAB+ hub to serve that area's 28 community colleges.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • computer with a red warning icon on its screen, surrounded by digital grids, glowing neural network patterns, and a holographic brain

    Report Highlights Security Risks of Open Source AI

    In these days of rampant ransomware and other cybersecurity exploits, security is paramount to both proprietary and open source AI approaches — and here the open source movement might be susceptible to some inherent drawbacks, such as use of possibly insecure code from unknown sources.

  • The AI Show

    Register for Free to Attend the World's Greatest Show for All Things AI in EDU

    The AI Show @ ASU+GSV, held April 5–7, 2025, at the San Diego Convention Center, is a free event designed to help educators, students, and parents navigate AI's role in education. Featuring hands-on workshops, AI-powered networking, live demos from 125+ EdTech exhibitors, and keynote speakers like Colin Kaepernick and Stevie Van Zandt, the event offers practical insights into AI-driven teaching, learning, and career opportunities. Attendees will gain actionable strategies to integrate AI into classrooms while exploring innovations that promote equity, accessibility, and student success.

  • a professional worker in business casual attire interacting with a large screen displaying a generative AI interface in a modern office

    Study: Generative AI Could Inhibit Critical Thinking

    A new study on how knowledge workers engage in critical thinking found that workers with higher confidence in generative AI technology tend to employ less critical thinking to AI-generated outputs than workers with higher confidence in personal skills.

  • university building with classical columns and a triangular roof displayed on a computer screen, surrounded by minimalist tech elements like circuit lines and abstract digital shapes

    Pima Community College Launches New Portal for a Unified Digital Campus Experience

    Arizona's Pima Community College is elevating the digital campus experience for students, faculty, and staff with a new portal built on the Pathify digital engagement platform.