Abstract:

Virtualization software and platforms have become increasingly popular over the past few decades. Virtualization allows companies and universities to save money and resources while maximizing the potential of their equipment to host all the services and functionalities they need. Virtualized Infrastructure with Cyber and Testbed Resources (VICTR) is an ESXi based virtualization platform that provides Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) students and faculty with access to a virtual machine environment that is hosted on WIT’s internal network resources. By using VICTR, students and faculty can access multiple virtual machines to conduct labs, testing, and research without sacrificing the computing resources on their personal computers. In this paper, we present how we designed VICTR and provide the virtual switch and network configurations in detail. We demonstrate the cyber range by displaying communication between Metasploitable virtual machines and Kali virtual machines. Furthermore, we configured 21 virtual machines to test resource load with simultaneous connections to prove the capability of handling typical class environment at WIT. From the testing results, we concluded that our system can support a typical classroom environment. Whether it be used for a system administration course consisting of 20 or so CentOS virtual machines or utilization of the cyber range practicing exploits or penetration techniques on Metasploitable virtual machines, VITCR can aide in the application of the materials learned in the classroom environment.

Keywords:

Virtualized Infrastructure, Virtual Machines, Testbed Platform.