A virtual machine architecture for creating IT security labs

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E-learning offers a flexible alternative to traditional education, yet current systems for IT security struggle to provide hands-on experience due to distance limitations. Conventional computer laboratories, essential for practical exercises, face challenges such as immobility and high costs for creation and maintenance. To address this, a new architecture is introduced that enables students to learn IT security principles while gaining practical experience through an online laboratory environment. This approach utilizes virtual machines to create safe user workspaces, allowing traditional labs to be replicated online, thereby increasing accessibility and reducing costs. The framework includes technical solutions to ensure effective functionality, reliability, security, and performance. Lightweight security laboratories are constructed on hosting computers with proper resource allocation and configurations. A management framework monitors and administers these virtual machines, detecting and recovering from critical failures in real time. To mitigate the risk of misuse, security management solutions are implemented to isolate laboratory resources at both system and network levels. This initiative aims to enhance e-learning in IT security education, complementing rather than replacing conventional laboratory teaching, and demonstrates the feasibility of reliable, secure, and cost-effective online hands-on security laboratories.