Bulid a laboratory cloud for computer network education

Hands-on practical experience through lab work has long been recognized as an important part of the computer network education. Successful computer network hands-on activities require a full range of related devices with actively maintaining. This paper presents prototype architecture of a Xen-based Networks Laboratory Service Cloud (NLS-Cloud, original CLESP) that can provide an entire computer networks hands-on practical environment with uniformed deployment and management as an online service to learners and instructors. The prototype NLS-Cloud has been investigated by introducing a series of surveys. The instructor survey results showed that the prototype NLS-Cloud exerted a certain positive effect on the hands-on pedagogical activities while the learner survey results indicated that students had a favorable view of the NLS-Cloud and regarded it as a useful learning tool.