The Commonality Lab Environment
While pursuing my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity at Champlain College, I discovered that a traditional academic environment will fail to challenge students with prior experience in their industry.
The Commonality Lab serves as my own personal solution to the constraints I have seen, providing me a place to challenge myself over time for meaningful professional development.
Why build a lab?
Concepts in IT, Windows & Linux Administration, Network Engineering, and Cybersecurity appear deceptively simple until you implement them at a larger scale.
While college research / work study centers like the Leahy Center provided me with valuable soft skill development, they primarily benefit students who haven't exceeded a foundational level when it comes to technical knowledge.
Advanced certifications like the CCNP Enterprise and CCIE require hands-on experience with enterprise-grade equipment.
In a college environment where you only work with virtual machines, you won’t be able to configure, troubleshoot or optimize a network with servers that provide services for hundreds of users.
Senior Year
My lab environment and the tumultuous journey it has had embodies the fundamental principle that meaningful education comes from interdependent dedication and expertise among those pushing beyond the limits of inflexibility.
Pictured is a diagram (albeit outdated) of the lab environment, it is not cabled to represent the potential for experimentation on a daily basis.
- WatchGuard T80 Next Generation Firewall, entryway into multi-vendor equipment
- Cisco ISR 4331 Routers – Used for practicing advanced routing topics.
- Cisco Catalyst C3850, C3560G & C3560X Switches – PoE multilayer switches in 3 tier network plan.
- Dell 18.5 in KMM Console for shell access to both the server & storage array.
- Dell PowerEdge R730XD 2U server – 56 cores, 128GB RAM, 6TB storage.
- Hosts an medium-sized Windows Server VM infrastructure set to grow even further.
- Redundant Domain Controllers, DHCP Servers, DNS Servers
- Air-gapped Root CA and intermediate signing server
- Network Policy Servers, Veeam Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Docker Containerization for various lab services eg. Immich backup of Lab Graphics
- GNS3 Virtual Machine for virtualized CCNP Enterprise simulations
- Hosts an medium-sized Windows Server VM infrastructure set to grow even further.
- Dell PowerVault NX3230 – 36TB dedicated VM storage array
- APC Rack-mounted Uninterruptible Power Supply
Conclusion
My lab environment and the tumultuous journey it has had embodies the fundamental principle that meaningful education comes from interdependent dedication. The collaboration of multiple people pushing the envelope all the way to the top.
Feedback from multiple faculty members confirms that this project alone has sparked discussions in favor of updating institutional policies, reflecting both support and resistance towards this level of student innovation and professional growth.