North Carolina State University and IBM Extend Access to
Educational Resources to the World Through Cloud Computing
NC State Expands Collaboration With IBM; Opens Center of Excellence in Cloud
Computing
Raleigh, NC – October 24, 2008 – North Carolina State University and IBM today announced
plans to provide every student in North Carolina access to advanced educational resources
through NC State's Virtual Computing Lab (VCL), a cloud computing-based technology. Through
this cloud -- which is a set of Internet-based resources -- students at K-12 schools, colleges
around the state and the University of North Carolina system campuses themselves will have
access to the most advanced educational materials, select software applications and computing
and storage resources.
NC State also announced that the code for its VCL technology is available through the Apache
open source community for free, and is in discussions with a number of universities across the
globe that wish to replicate this cloud computing model.
In support of this effort, the NC State Department of Computer Science and Office of
Information Technology announced the creation of a Center of Excellence in Cloud Computing,
an applied research and development facility on the NC State campus that will spearhead
collaboration projects between NC State and the IBM Blue Cloud development team, helping
improve the quality of education provided through the VCL platform and ensure reliability.
The VCL solution allows users to remotely access a desired set of applications and environments
over the Internet -- using a personal computer, laptop or mobile device -- from anywhere, at
any time. To VCL users, even the most demanding software applications, operating systems
and environments are easily accessible through license-honoring technology in a click of the
mouse. Access is instant, and offers a range of options -- from single desktops to classroomsized labs, to collections of servers and storage, to high-performance computing clusters.
"NC State and IBM are inviting universities worldwide to participate in the Virtual Computing
Initiative," said Jai Menon, vice president of IBM University Programs and vice chair of the IBM
Academy of Technology. "Through this collaboration, universities that participate in the program
have a tremendous opportunity to not only further enable their own students, but to also
improve the lives of students in economically disadvantaged parts of the country and the world.
The VCL technology is a conduit that can greatly enhance students' education, self confidence
and overall quality of life."
"We are excited to partner with IBM to offer schools across North Carolina access to the
academic resources of the NC State Virtual Computing Lab. The VCL has the promise and track
record to allow for improvements in wide ranging activities from enhanced teaching and
learning to improved business continuity," said Dr. Marc Hoit, vice chancellor for information
technology and CIO of North Carolina State University. "Collaboration, partnership across
educational and industrial entities, and shared innovation are hallmarks of NC State's approach
and mission, so the cloud computing and open source technology is a perfect fit."
Using VCL, elementary school students will access content appropriate for their advancement.
For example, "Alice" -- an innovative educational software environment with 3D animation and
story-telling -- could provide educational support for students across several functional areas.
As another example, Disney's MathQuest grade school software helps build essential math skills
like addition, subtraction, estimating, sorting and understanding patterns, all through
participating in virtual mazes and expeditions. Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, the NC
State Friday Institute and Duke University are lead partners in the K-12 effort.
Through the same system, university-level students can access high-end applications such as
SolidWorks, MatLab and SAS, as well as complex networking simulators, mainframe computing
facilities running IBM System z, and specialized IBM Cell microprocessors to learn, for example,
about Service Oriented Architectures and IT Management.
The content is projected through the VCL images, which consist of an operating system and set
of prepackaged applications, middleware or other material that is securely stored in the cloud.
Once a session is over and the user has saved the data they want to keep, that user's "virtual
space" is wiped clean. This enables the computing resources to be re-provisioned by other
users as needed. The VCL consists primarily of a pool of IBM BladeCenter servers, plus storage
and software that can be shared by geographically distributed users.
With the creation of the Center of Excellence in Cloud Computing, NC State hopes to lead the
way in applying cloud computing technology to the democratization of education for students in
North Carolina, as well as around the world. The center will serve as a focal point for the many
ongoing cloud computing research projects being conducted at NC State and other local
universities, including the open source Apache project.
"We are excited that Apache.org has accepted the Virtual Computing Lab as one of its open
source projects," said Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at NC State.
"As part of this prominent open source community, the VCL will continue to add to the
development of open source computing and improve access to high-performance computing
power across the state."
IBM and NC State collaborated to establish the VCL in 2004. Since then IBM has also assisted in
expanding the VCL with technical support from IBM BladeCenter development teams in
Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina, as well as through sustained funding from the
IBM RTP Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) and IBM corporate university relations -- with
several other corporations, and active support from The University of North Carolina General
Administration and the state legislature.
The IBM WebSphere Technology Institute also assisted NC State in launching the VCL Apache
incubator project. Through support from RTP CAS and the Academic Initiative, the VCL allows
North Carolina faculty to create and deliver advanced educational material in support of
programs that are preparing their students for the 21st century workforce. Through fellowships,
grants and technical collaborations, IBM is supporting local faculty who are applying VCL in
support of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) outreach programs to North
Carolina K-12 students and teachers.
As part of its Cloud Computing Initiative, IBM has built 13 cloud computing centers around the
world, many of which partner with universities and other organizations. In addition, IBM is
working with a number of universities to help future computer scientists gain the skills they
need to build cloud applications.
IBM and NC State will be showcasing the VCL capabilities at Educause 2008 in Orlando, Florida,
October 28-31, and at Supercomputing 2008 in Austin, Texas, November 15-21, 2008.
Schools can download the VCL appliance at http://ibiblio.org/vclvm, or for more information on
how to join the Virtual Computing Initiative, please visit http://vcl.ncsu.edu or http://blade.org.
Contact
Tim Willeford
IBM Media Relations University
Office: (914) 766-3389
twilleford@us.ibm.com
Nate DeGraff
NC State University
Office: (919) 515-3848
nate_degraff@ncsu.edu
Hanna Smigala
IBM Systems Group
Office: (914) 766-4439
smigala@us.ibm.com