Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• Benefits, Challenges and Strategies
• Saroj Primlani
• Sina Bahram
• Information Technology Division
• saroj_primlani_at_ncsu.edu
• sbahram_at_ncsu.edu
• CSUN March 2005

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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• The VCL Project is a joint pilot project between
  College of Engineering and High Performance
  Computing.
• It provides a 24x7 reservation-based, on-demand
  remote access to the Universitys computational
  resources

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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• Motivation
• Rapidly changing nature of IT environment
• Growing need to provide students with
  state-of-the-art computer resources
• High-end applications not routinely available on
  students own computer
• Licensing constraints
• Application conflicts
• Expense to keep lab facilities open 24x7 to meet
  students needs
• Growing demand for distance education computation
  needs

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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• Why include Accessibility?
• National priorities promote technology
  accessibility as necessary to provide of
  equitable access to education opportunities
• ITD supports campus-wide academic computing and
  is committed to an inclusive and accessible IT
  environment
• Accessibility must be addressed at an early stage
  of development to ensure all users can benefit
  from this promising new environment

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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• VCL Goals
• Easy to use, 24x7 remote access to the lab from
  users desktop or mobile computer
• Full access to a dedicated computing resource
• Vendor-standard remote access protocols and
  client software

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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• VCL Goals
• Extensible to any remotely-accessible desktop
  systems in specialized campus labs. (Departments
  can bring their lab to their students)
• Same or more access than in physical computing
  laboratory

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Virtual Computing EnvironmentVCL
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Accessible Virtual Computing Environment

• VCL Overview
• Software applications are available either on
  blade servers or on other specialized computing
  lab equipment
• These resources are loaded on demand with the
  users choice of OS and applications

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Virtual Computing Environment

• VCL-Overview
• Images of the applications and associated OS are
  stored in a database and assigned to workgroups
• Images are created for each AT
• When user request an AT with an application, the
  application is installed on the AT imaged machine
  and a new image is created.
• New image with AT is assigned to the workgroup
  and available to user

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Virtual Computing Environment

• VCL-Overview
• Users make reservation for a set time for
  specific applications and resources
• A dedicated system with resources loaded is
  available at requested time for a set period
• Using RDP, the user access the remote VCL Lab

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Virtual Computing EnvironmentVCL-Overview

• Web-based VCL scheduling system
• Make a reservation
• Select the application and OS from the selection
  list
• Configure user preferences for RDP connection
• Uses RDP to connect to the remote VCL lab with
  the requested application

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Virtual Computing Environment Windows Platform

• Opportunities
• OS - Windows XP Professional
• OS built-in accessibility tools work well within
  RDP
• All keyboard and mouse related accessibility
  features (sticky keys, macros, etc)
• On-Screen keyboard
• Magnifier and Narrator

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Virtual Computing Environment Windows Platform

• Opportunities
• Wider deployment of terminal services like Citrix
  and RDP for remote access
• Microsofts Remote Desktop Platform 5.1 support
  of virtual channels, audio redirect and resource
  sharing between the client and server
• AT vendors motivated to develop technology to
  work in this environment

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Virtual Computing EnvironmentWindows Platform

• Technology Challenges
• AT like Screen readers and magnifiers were in
  early phase of development for working with
  terminal services
• Speech recognition for input is still not a
  viable option
• RDP 5 (new)
• Blade servers (new)

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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)

• RDP Configuration for AT
• Set Resolution to Full screen
• Set Audio to Use my speakers for audio output
• Set Use Serial Ports to Yes for braille display

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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)
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Virtual Computing Lab (VCL)