H3C Solution for Taxation Training Classroom Scenarios

I. Background

The Tax E-Learning platform of the Tax E-Learning application issued by the Education Center of the State Administration of Taxation is an integrated system that combines the learning system, training system, management system, and evaluation system. This platform addresses the needs for customer training, online examination, online question answering, and online face-to-face lectures, with physical isolation between internal and external networks for switching between internal and external networks.

II. Solution overview

The taxation training classroom adopts the H3C Learningspace solution.

H3C Learningspace is a cloud-based classroom desktop solution that is independently developed by H3C based on a hybrid architecture with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Virtual OS Infrastructure (VOI) for education scenarios. This solution combines both the cloud flexibility of VDI, such as centralized resources (including systems, applications, and data) for on-demand virtual desktop allocation to students, and the cost-effectiveness of fat clients to meet the demands of new curriculum reform, 3D modeling, video processing, and other high-load requirements with low investment.

The construction solution consists of three major parts: data center, transmission network, and terminals. The data center includes a server cluster, distributed storage, Learningspace system (management client, teacher client, and student client), agentless anti-virus software (optional), load balancing function (optional), and value-added application systems (optional). The transmission network includes the management network, business network, storage network, and terminal access network. The terminals include the fat or thin clients for students and teacher clients.

The Space Console management platform allows for centralized management and control. Fat or thin clients can access the data center to obtain desktops, and the teacher client can subdivide the authority to control all terminals and desktop behaviors in the classroom.

III. Solution features

Easy deployment with 10 times efficiency improvement

Through a unified web-based management console, H3C Learningspace offers remote O&M as well as centralized management and monitoring of data center resources. The system health, total number of courses/classrooms/users, desktop running status, resource utilization rate, and abnormal warning information are all displayed on the overview page. Each module can be clicked to display more detailed information.

Automatic installation: In addition to all the necessary programs pre-installed in the all-in-one device before delivery, the bare-metal installation, underlying virtualization, distributed storage, and management platform programs are provided and packaged in an image file. After the image file is imported, the follow-up steps are automatically executed until the installation is completed.

One-click inspection: This function can be used for post-maintenance and fault locating upon the completion of deployment. The hidden problems and corresponding optimization suggestions are automatically displayed for the inspection.

Template optimization: The course for mirroring operation can execute hundreds of performance optimization operations for the operating system to improve the desktop experience with the automatic optimization tool.

Automatic upgrade: After an upgrade package is uploaded to the management platform, the upgrade package is automatically detected and downloaded by all terminals, and then executed in the background of the server and on terminals without the need for manual operation.

Learningspace assigns complex code programming work to R&D engineers and presents users with simple operations, reducing manual participation and increasing efficiency.

Test exams and save efforts

Paperless exams are gradually replacing paper exams with many advantages such as confidentiality, environmental protection, and efficiency. Learningspace has a built-in test platform that supports automatic deployment of the test environment.

Random test: Teachers can conduct assessments in the form of individual quizzes, whole-class quizzes, and random quizzes on demand. The system automatically evaluates and grades the assessment when it is completed, and the results are counted into the student score system and updated on the score wall in the campus space for teachers to use as a reference to measure students' class performance.

Custom test: The platform supports a variety of test scenarios, such as National Computer Rank Examination (NCRE) Level 1 or Level 2, as well as the American Translators Association (ATA) and NCRE test room deployment standards. It also offers test-specific mirroring in which the retention period of exam desktops (complete desktop environment with files and data) can be customized, so that any objections to exam results can be traced back later.

It is time consuming to go over paper examinations or manually deploy a PC environment for tests. However, Learningspace is set up with a lot of automated operations for hands-off and time-saving purposes.

No hardware-based copying with a cloud drive

Learningspace is embedded with the cloud drive function that is served by distributed storage, providing multiple data security guarantees. Each student or teacher is assigned a private campus cloud drive to store their personal data permanently during the school year, and the cloud drive can be accessed not only in the cloud environment, but also in the campus network, eliminating the embarrassment of forgetting to bring a USB disk and preventing virus spread. The cloud drive supports categorized query and file sharing, achieving flexible data sharing and increasing learning fun with the homework space function.

Security strategy for security enhancement

In terms of security, Learningspace adopts a variety of security mechanisms and guarantees to alleviate security concerns.

Cluster technology: Each classroom's student desktops are evenly distributed across all cloud hosts to avoid pressure overload on a single host, ensuring that no hosts are idle while others have extremely high utilization rates, and all cluster resources can be provided to a classroom in a centralized manner when other classrooms are not in use, improving the performance by 10 times.

Dual hot standby: Cluster splitting is supported, allowing each cluster to carry services independently. After the network is recovered, the separated clusters can be merged again to resume the original services. The school's computing, storage, and network resources used during exams and grading are physically isolated from regular services, with no impact on regular services.

Permission reclamation: Data will not be cleared if the student client is powered off, the desktop is shut down orrestarted, or even the hardware is damaged, to cope with students' misoperation and ensure the exam's security. The student desktop will be restored only when the teacher clicks to end the class on the teacher client. After the faulty terminal is replaced on site with a new one, the virtual machine retains its original state and reconnects automatically.

Offline teacher client: The teacher client detects abnormal interactions with the cloud desktop platform in real time and immediately switches between offline and online mode. In offline mode, teachers cannot use the cloud desktop data center for screen broadcasting, screen monitoring, voice broadcasting, student speech, voice discussion, remote support, or student redirection.

Various terminals and quality guarantee

Different types of terminals are used for various scenarios and greatly expand the application scope. VDI is adaptable and flexible, so it can be used in common business scenarios, used for horizontal expansion, and used to meet the high-performance 3D rendering requirements with the vGPU technology. VOI local computing allows users to use all the terminal's capabilities while saving server resources and reducing investment costs.

Various types of products are available, including ARM architecture, x86 architecture, split equipment, all-in-one equipment, traditional cost-effective equipment, and new high-performance equipment, all with a compact size, integrated body design, and low noise. The thin client has an embedded chip with 1/30 of power consumption compared with a PC, while the fat client uses a desktop-level CPU with super high performance. In addition, the client has no fan, mechanical hard disk, and other perishable components, so it has a longer service life, saves money, and reduces electronic waste compared with a PC. The client adopts the self-developed Space OS, so it can be remotely controlled after connecting with the network.