The Lab.
A closed-loop, physical system you can safely use in the classroom to give your students access to all the fun stuff that would otherwise be off-limits. Stuff like malware analyse, reverse engineering, penetration testing, back-end server programming in Python (and more), building websites, managing Linux servers, databases such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, Neo4j for a Graph Database, DNS, raw data sets in JSON and CSV formats, and much more.
It has everything from Foundation to Year 12 built-in, enabling teachers to provide a single platform for building websites, RESTful APIs, game mods, secure-the-box challenges, a tiny Internet in a box, and so much more.
It's essentially Digital Technologies and Digital Solutions in a box. It's The Internet in a box.
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Contact.
Please reach out to us if you've got questions or would like to know more. We can very likely make The Lab work for your specific classroom needs.
The goodies.
Cybersecurity.
The Lab ships with everything needed to run cybersecurity workshops and assessments. It currently ships with:
CTFd for running Red and Blue Team competitions
OWASP Web Goat & Juice Shop for learning how-to exploit web applications
WordPress installations to practice exploiting real-world applications
Binary exploitation War Games
A malware library to reverse engineer and understand
Return-Orientated Programming (ROP) challenges
Programming.
The Lab ships with a lot more than just security related labs. Preparing students for the task of programming is going to set them up for life, so we've got their backs (and yours):
A Git platform for students to store and share their work, just like the real-world
Bespoke "Half-Baked" challenges: complete the code, such as writing a client to a REST API or writing the SQL to finish off an existing code base
Everything needed to build server-side software in Python, Go, Rust, C, C++, and Java
Optional Virtual Machines with Visual Studio Code ready to go, assisting students with low-powered machines laptops or tablets
Packages.
One of the biggest issues faced by teachers is having access to packages such as Python Flask, Pandas, SQLAlchemy, and more. The Lab has a built-in repository of these packages so your students can use pip, apk, etc. from their laptops and Lab VMs.
A
bandersnatchinstallation populated with the packages most commonly used by studentsAn Alpine Linux package mirror allowing students to fully manage their Alpine Linux VMs internally
A file server that contains common software solutions studentd will need like Python, Visual Studio Code, and more, plus the ability for teachers to upload more content for future downloads
Data.
Data is at the centre of most applications, so we've packed The Lab with gigabytes of data, in all manner of formats from JSON to CSV. We've also built in several database engines that are live and ready to be used.
MinIO Object Store for accessing raw data files using the infamous AWS S3 protocol
A shared set of MySQL and PostgreSQL installations for exploring SQL and using industry standard database solutions
A Neo4j Graph Database for exploring other ways of storing and working with data
And REST APIs exposing all of this data in a manner that makes it accessible straight away for students working on the front-end
Networking.
Computing networking is another critical subject to cover. It under-pins everything we do online. Students need a strong understanding of the key concepts if they're going to move into a job in technology. The Labs helps by providing:
GNS3 labs for building networks
Code examples for working with raw networking concepts like sockets, HTTP, TCP/IP, and more
Everything needed to build a custom chat protocol and write the clients and servers
Gaming.
Some students just love games so much and that's the path they want to take. The Lab ships with a MineTest and Veloran server templates that can be used to host those games.
Students can write mods for MineTest or Veloran and share them with others inside the The Lab
Learn Systems Engineering and DevSecOps skills hosting the servers
Learn about the Client/Server relationship and study TCP and UDP networking using games
Student safety.
Closed-loop.
The Lab is a closed-loop system. It does not connect to the Internet, nor does it connect to the Education Queensland network or any other network. It cannot connect to wireless networks other than its own, and the router it ships with has no mobile network (4G/5G) connectivity.This ensures:
Any student data you upload or input never leaves the system unless you want it to
Students cannot use The Lab to bypass your IT or networking policies
The teacher is in full control
Even we cannot access The Lab remotely
Refresh.
The Lab's functionality allows the teacher or school to purge all existing and running labs, allowing you to completely delete and refresh the whole system, purging it of any and all data, including any student data you may have input into the system.
This functionality makes it easy to reset the The Lab between terms.
The Tech Stack.
Proxmox.
To make The Lab possible, we use the industry standard, highly regarded Proxmox Hypervisor. This allows not only us, but also teachers, to create and manage VMs that can provide virtually anything to the student using The Lab.
The Lab also makes the Proxmox interface available to teachers so they can customise the The Lab to meet their needs. Just note this has a learning curve attached to it as virtualisation technologies are quite complex.
Mikrotik.
Talk about the best networking routers in the world! Mikrotik blows everyone else out of the water with their RouterOS solution, RouterBOARDS, and more. We've opted for using Mikrotik because they're stable, secure, and extremely powerful.
We believe there's no other networking solution that can bring stability and security to The Lab, protecting you and your students.
Alpine & Debian.
All of the virtual machines (VMs) are based on either Alpine Linux or Debian Linux. These are free, open-source, and highly regarded distributions. Alpine, for example, is used by millions of Docker images to support their software stack. Debian is used across the globe in enterprise production environments and is the grand father of Ubuntu Linux.
(It's thanks to Alpine Linux that we're able to bring you 100+ student micro VMs. It runs on as little as 64 MB of RAM.)
Terraform.
Yet another industry standard used by millions. Terraform allows us to employ the idea of "Infrastructure As Code" (IAC) to build and manage the infrastructure. We can manage Proxmox and its hundreds of VMs, the whole Mikrotik networking stack, DNS, and more, using a single code base.
Terraform is the industry standard across enterprises globally for managing billions of dollars of infrastructure across multiple Cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, GCP, and more.
Ansible.
And finally we have Ansible. When it comes to managing the operating system and software, Ansible is again the industry standard. We use Ansible to manage all of the software stacks being used across The Lab to ensure they're being implemented correctly across system builds.
Ansible is owned by the infamous RedHat. It's used by millions of people across the planet to manage billions of dollars worth of infrastructure. Ansible complements Terraform extremely well.
Contact.
Please reach out to us if you've got questions or would like to know more. We can very likely make The Lab work for your specific classroom needs.
Helping Australia's teachers thrive.