Using an Online Virtual Server to Simulate Network Administration

Participants in the rapidly changing computer networking arena face the significant challenge of keeping up with technologies that are often expensive to deploy, making it particularly difficult to gain hands-on experience. A survey of current job descriptions indicates that Microsoft systems continue to experience strong interest among employers. Learning alternatives are considered with a focus on a new solution to the problem of hands-on experience that has been provided by Microsoft, a virtual server lab that is available on-line and is free. Features of this virtual lab are explained, and the results of an experiment to integrate this lab into a networking course are discussed