Proposal

Funding is sought to expand the capacity of the “cloud computing” servers running VMWare and maintained by the Technical Services Group (TSG) of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. The primary objective for this funding is to increase the number of concurrent users who can be running Leica Cyclone software, with which users analyze 3 dimensional “point clouds” obtained from the use of laser scanners. Cyclone is currently used in four courses taught by the Geomatics Engineering faculty, including a new undergraduate/graduate level Terrestrial Laser Scanning course which is taken mostly by students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Science. Cyclone software is supporting research activities, and the specific server hardware used for Cyclone is also useful for some other applications in other engineering disciplines as well.

Cyclone software places very heavy demands on the graphics capabilities of computer hardware, and ordinarily this software must be run on well-equipped, high-power workstations at users’ desks. In Spring 2013, a $24,000 Technology Fee grant was awarded for “blade workstations and zero-client terminals,” and that grant accomplished two goals: First, the Geomatics Engineering laboratory (SR 271, Jupiter campus) was modernized by replacing four desktop computers with four zero-client terminals which connect to the server hardware purchased by that grant. Second, despite the heavy hardware demands made by Cyclone, the server hardware financed by the previous award is making it possible for students and faculty to run Cyclone software from any location where Internet access is available. No special hardware is required when running the software by connecting to the VMWare servers over the Internet, and ordinary laptop and home computers can be used by students and faculty wishing to use Cyclone.

It is this server hardware purchased with last year’s Technology Fee grant that we wish to expand by means of this proposal. The current server hardware supports eight concurrent users running Cyclone, with plans to expand this by an additional four users with existing funding (from last year’s Technology Fee award). This limit on the number of concurrent users is posing a problem to any instructor who is confronted with more than this number of students in a class or laboratory session where Cyclone use is required, such as CGN 4930/6930, Terrestrial Laser Scanning. The funding requested by this proposal, $20,000, will allow the purchase of additional server hardware and will allow up to 24 users to concurrently log in and run Cyclone (or, for that matter, other applications on the server). This expansion will allow instructors teaching labs and classes which use Cyclone to have more independent users working with the software during classes and laboratories. These classrooms and computer labs (and users working from other remote locations) will therefore not be required to have expensive high-performance workstations ordinarily needed to run Cyclone.

This proposal, if funded and implemented, will continue to support all of the the goals and objectives set out in last year’s Technology Fee award mentioned above. In addition, this proposal strongly supports portions of the current FAU Strategic Plan. Acquisition of this hardware will enrich the educational experience for graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in degree programs where laser scanning is of interest (Goal I, Objectives A and B of the FAU Strategic Plan). It also continues University efforts to build and sustain a state-of-the-art Information Technology Infrastructure, and at the same time the client-server method being expanded by this proposal has an economy of scale which is financially prudent (Goal IV, Objective D of the FAU Strategic Plan).

May 2014: Order the system through TSG.

Summer 2014: Installation and testing of the new server.

Fall 2014: Start using it in Geomatics Engineering courses