Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Computer Science and Information Systems cut the ribbon on its new Virtual Computing Laboratory on Thursday, Nov 17 as the concluding event of a meeting of the Myrtle Beach Area VMware Users Group.

The new lab, located in room 117 of the Coastal Science Center on Atlantic Avenue, has six computers that were created virtually using VMware, according to John Stamey, associate professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at CCU.

With the expanding need for computer servers, software from VMware—the leader in virtual computing software—is being used to create multiple virtual servers that run on a single machine, according to Stamey.

“VMware has become a very important part of computing infrastructures worldwide,” says Stamey. “Instead of buying computer hardware that performs as desktop computers or web servers, by using VMware we have computing resources that are virtual (residing in computer memory). Computing resources created with VMware are consistent with the green computing movement, using fewer physical resources (metal, manufacturing time) as well as less power.”

In Spring 2012, the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems will offer a certified VMware training class as part of its CSCI 415/515 Systems Administration course. The curriculum will lead to VMware certification for the participants. In Fall 2012, the Department will offer a Linux System Administration course as part of its expanded system administration course in the information systems bachelor's degree program.

Approximately 50 senior information technology professionals and members of the CCU faculty attended the Nov. 17 users group meeting, co sponsored by CCU’s College of Science and the Office for Research and Emerging Initiatives. Speakers included Pete Stulginskis, director of the VMware Academy at Caldwell Community and Technical College in Hickory, N.C.; David Nelson, director of the VMware Academy; Michael Murphy, assistant professor in CCU’s Department of Computer Science and Information Systems; and Paul Gayes, director of CCU’s Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at CCU. The meeting was chaired by Rick Wall, director of information technology for the City of North Myrtle Beach.

For more information, contact John Stamey at 843-349-2552 or email jwstamey@coastal.edu.