Case Study of a Virtual Lab Environment Using Virtualization Technologies and a Desktop As A Service Model

In laboratory practicals, students explore scientific and technical phenomena.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused students to have limited access to their labs for health reasons. The basic idea of a virtual model of a real laboratory test bench is not new, but the use of industry-level software to create a so-called digital twin—and, beyond that, the possibility of using this software environment inside a virtual PC—is a simple and reusable solution.
The research question is the following: What requirements should a virtualization concept for virtual labs using a digital twin fulfill in the context of educational institutions and how can these be implemented?
To answer this question, this work describes in detail the various evolutionary steps of a technical concept for an adoption of virtual desktop infrastructure. The virtual lab concept owns inherent conceptual properties such as scalability and platform independence, as well as 24/7 remote access.