Virtualization Concepts and Applications

DESCRIPTION:
Virtualization architectures, techniques, applications and virtualization at server, client, desktop and application level.

RATIONALE: 
The emergence of powerful hardware has greatly facilitated the ability to consolidate IT resources. This does not only achieve substantial cost savings in today’s data centres, but it offers a greater degree of availability through the virtualization of servers, clients and applications. The introduction of virtualization tools and principles offers an added value to any network infrastructure while increasing its reliability, manageability, and availability, with a minimal impact on performance. The course is intended for students following the Network Technologies emphasis of the IT major.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: 
As a result of taking this course, the student should be able to:
1. Analyse the concept of virtualization and its properties.
2. Examine various architectures for implementing virtualization methods.
3. Appraise techniques for virtualizing and managing the hardware components of a computer system.
4. Apply virtualization concepts at server, client and desktop level.

METHOD OF TEACHING AND LEARNING:
In congruence with the teaching and learning strategy of the college, the following tools are used:
• Lectures, class discussions, and laboratory sessions.
• Office hours: students are encouraged to make full use of the office hours of their instructor, where they can ask questions and go over lecture material.
• Use of the Blackboard Learning platform to further support communication, by posting lecture notes, assignment instruction, timely announcements, and online submission of assignments.