“Using Local Virtual Machines to Create OS-Agnostic Workstations” by Milner, Minson, Clark and Dyke
Conference:
Type(s):
Title:
- Using Local Virtual Machines to Create OS-Agnostic Workstations
Session/Category Title:
- Enlightening and Moving Workflows
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Moderator(s):
Abstract:
At the BYU Center for Animation, we have more students than workstations. Since lab seating is arbitrary, each student needs to be able to work on any machine at any time, and each machine must support a wide range of activities, including video game development, animated film production, live class instruction, and homework assignments. For the past three years, we have used VMs in our computer lab disk image to facilitate a hybrid Linux and Windows environment that is flexible, maintainable, and artist-friendly. We present strategies for maximizing performance within the virtual machine, ensuring consistent availability of resources such as filesystems and networks between operating systems, securely authenticating, and making the dual-OS workflow artist-friendly. We outline the architecture, challenges faced, and performance benchmarks, demonstrating the potential of VM-enabled, OS-agnostic lab environments for enhancing small studio or educational workflows and maximizing resource utilization.
