A+ Pod - Quick Reference Page


This quick reference page provides a summary of the specifications of the A+ Pod.

The A+ Pod is a 100% virtual machine pod consisting of four virtual machines. Linked together through virtual networking, these virtual machines provide the environment for a student or team to perform the A+ labs.

Topology Supports... Documentation
A+ Pod
A+

You may request virtual machine templates for the A+ Pod from CSSIA.

 

Lab Topology

A+ Pod

Virtual Machines

The virtual machines in the A+ Pod are listed below. The Virtual Machine Deployment Names are provided as a suggested naming convention.

Virtual Machine Topology Name Virtual Machine Deployment Name
WinXP NISGTC_A+_WinXP
Win7-01 NISGTC_A+_Win7-01
Win7-02 NISGTC_A+_Win7-02
Win2k8 NISGTC_A+_Win2k8

Storage Requirements

The A+ course will consume 53 GB of storage per each master pod instance.

Details of the storage requirements for each of the lab virtual machines in the A+ Pod are provided in the table below. Some fluctuation in the numbers may occur.

Virtual Machine vCPU vRam GB Storage
(thin provisioning) GB
Win XP 1 .5 4
Win7-01 1 1 15
Win7-02 1 1 15
Win2k8 1 1 19
Total Recommended 4 3.5 53
 

Virtual Machine Templates

The Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) provides virtual machine templates to install on the pod.

To request access to the preconfigured virtual machine templates from CSSIA:

  1. Go to the CSSIA Resources page: https://www.cssia.org/cssiaresources/
  2. Select CSSIA VM Image Sharing Agreement.
  3. Complete and submit your access request by following the instructions on the request form.
  4. CSSIA will provide, via email, password-protected download links. Access to the download links is provided only to customers who are current with their NETLAB+ support contract and are participants in the appropriate partner programs (i.e., Cisco Networking Academy, VMware IT Academy, Red Hat Academy, and/or Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity Academy).
  5. Once all virtual machines have been downloaded, they can be deployed following the steps in the appropriate pod installation guide. Each virtual machine is deployed individually.