Development of a virtual cluster

VCNet is a non-invasive technology which enhances student learning opportunities by allowing each student individual access to their own virtual cluster without the need for specialised hardware. This paper chronicles the development of a virtual cluster in a university teaching lab to supplement the main cluster activities providing students and developers with essential resources without compromise to the main cluster. Each VCNet is constructed (within a single PC) to the same basic design as the University's main cluster to ensure that programs developed on VCNet will run unaltered on the main cluster. As well as examining how such a system was constructed, the authors assess its performance and review other possible alternatives.