Network virtualization tools – analysis and application in higher education

The education of networking professionals requires not only the knowledge of theory but also acquiring practical skills. For this purpose, specialized networking laboratories equipped with the required diverse technology have been built for years. However, building them is lengthy, expensive, and ultimately laboratories have several limitations, for example in terms of flexibility, sustainability, financial and energy demands, etc. In recent years has begun to intensively evolve the trend of virtualization, both networks as well as computers, that is allowing the development and deployment of more flexible types of virtualized lab solutions. Usually, a general computer hardware and virtualization software are used to operate them. We consider, that this trend of virtualization becomes important and decisive for the coming period. The article focuses therefore on a wider analysis and description of available virtualization solutions specifically aimed at the teaching of network-related university subjects and networking education. At the same time, the article offers a look at our way of using these tools in our everyday teaching process and what experience we have gained from their implementation and usage.