A Secure E-Learning Environment Based on Virtual Machine

[[abstract]]數位學習是透過電腦與網路資源來進行學習的一種方式，數位學習環境的優劣會影響學習者的學習成效。由於數位學習多在電腦教室中進行，管理者必須面對眾多的使用者及應付眾多的學習需求，因此，如何配置與管理電腦教室已成為管理者的首要課題。目前，電腦教室的管理模式多以還原系統或無硬碟系統為主。這些模式雖具有方便管理的優點，但也衍生出學習內容受限、學習歷程無法延續、系統無法即時更新等許多問題。 本研究針對普遍存在於電腦教室配置與管理的各項問題，提出一個基於虛擬機器的數位學習系統架構。此系統架構整合了網域管理功能、虛擬機器及iSCSI儲存技術，制定安全機制並設計管理程式，以期有效維持系統安全性及系統自動化。本系統經實作於電腦教室後，確實改進了電腦教室現有的各項缺失，使用者透過虛擬機器，能有效掌握學習歷程，做最完整的學習。管理者透過網域及iSCSI技術，能達到方便管理的目的。同時，我們制定的安全機制能掌握使用者電腦作業系統更新狀態，達到提昇系統安全性的目的。[[abstract]]E-learning is a way of learning with the aid of computers and networks. The goodness of E-learning environment will affect the performance of learning. For most students, the location of E-learning is the computer classroom in their school. The manager of the computer classroom must face lots of students and a variety of learning requirements from them. Therefore, how to effectively install and configure computers is an important issue for providing a good E-learning environment. Currently, many computer classrooms adopt reborn cards or diskless systems to maintain the configuration of the offered PCs. These schemes facilitate the maintenance of computers, but may introduce some drawbacks for students including the limitation of learning contents, discontinuity of learning process, and inability to update systems. In this thesis, we will propose a secure E-learning framework based on virtual machine. The proposed framework is developed based on domain management, virtual machine, and iSCSI disk system. In addition, we design a security scheme to effectively protect the security of the E-learning environment, and develop management utility programs to automate the system configuration. Through an implementation of the proposed framework, we find that previous drawbacks in computer classrooms can be overcome. Students can fully control their computer and continue their learning process within the offered virtual machine. On the other hand, the classroom manager can effectively authenticate and authorize legitimate users via the domain management and the iSCSI system. Furthermore, the proposed security scheme forces the OSs used by students be kept updated. Thus, a secure E-learning environment can be assured.[[note]]碩