Resource management strategies for remote virtual laboratory experimentation

The paper presents a software system for resource management designed for remote virtual laboratory experimentation. This resource management system is part of a joint effort called SynchroMedia involving researchers from INRS (Institut National de Recherche Scientifique), UQAM (Universite' du Quebec a Montreal) TELUQ (Tele-Universite), ETI (Ecole de Technologie de l'Information) and ETS (Ecole de Technologie Superieure), educational and research institutes, to integrate new multimedia technologies in post-secondary teaching methodology. Besides traditional videoconferencing and data sharing, a special emphasis is given to virtual laboratories where students can perform experimentation remotely using either a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or standard Internet and intranet communication links. A distributed resource management system is being proposed to simplify the tasks involved in the preparation and execution of remote laboratory experimentation.