Virtualization Roadblock October 24, 2009
Posted by afoote in : Virtualization , trackbackThis week the virtualization hit a major roadblock. The amount of storage space needed for the virtual machines has exceeded the amount allocated. Most students can not access the virtual environment. This is a real problem. There have been a large number of emails between the IS department faculty and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) over the situation. These emails have been about the details of the problem such as which storage devices are full, what classes are on those storage devices and how the storage devices got that way. There have been a lot of suggestions on how to resolve the problem. Unfortunately there has also been some hurt feelings and blame flying around.
From my perspective the most striking part of the discussion is how passionately both the IS department and OIT want virtualization to work. Although the conversations may be a little emotional what is very apparent is both groups’ commitment to the long term use of virtual environments. We have had 8 weeks of working in this environment and all of us can see why this is the future direction we need to move towards. Virtualization resolves a number of problems for both the IS classroom and the OIT area. This process got larger than any of us believed it would so quickly. The process went so well that everyone was using it and we have run out of resources. What has become clear is that virtualization and the virtual environment are an integral part of the IS program. The role of virtualization within the IS program is going to expand and planning needs to be done to accommodate it. Not only is virtualization going to expand within the IS department, but other programs at Stevenson will want to use the environment. This is the beginning of a major change of how courses are taught at Stevenson.
Although the current situation is painful, there is an incredible excitement about what is about to happen.
Comments»
Prof. Foote this is an interesting topic for Stevenson University IS students. I commend you for posting your thoughts about the subject. But what are some of the suggestions on how to resolve the problem? Keep us updated on the subject.
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