Lab on a Stick

Abstract

Lab on a Stick (LoaS) is a portable, modular, and scalable way to teach networking, systems administration, and computer security related material to students of all ages. The LoaS model empowers educators to develop customized virtual laboratory environments hosted on commonly available USB flash drives that are easily distributable. The students can complete various networking or computer security related exercises in a classroom environment, or take the entire laboratory home to continue work at their own pace. A portable, decentralized virtual environment has many benefits over centralized approaches which are illustrated through four different use cases that each employ one of two different variations of the LoaS model. Lab on a Stick has been shown to be useful for full semester classes in higher education, cybersecurity summer camps for junior high and high school students, as well as for students who would like to extend their learning beyond what is traditionally offered in the classroom. This paper details the key benefits provided by the Lab on a Stick model, and also includes performance information gathered after evaluating LoaS on various USB 2.0 and 3.0 flash drives.