Towson University Solutions Showcase

Providing the missing pieces for Maryland’s Business and Government Needs

Solution Exhibitors

Virtualization Solutions

Data Center Consolidation
Contact: Steve Marshall, RESI-ISS
Other exhibitor: Linda Bowyer
Server Virtualization and Storage Area Networks (Storage consolidation) reduce power, space, network and environmental (Air Conditioning) requirements facing modern Data Centers. Server Virtualization allows multiple previously underutilized physical servers to run virtualized on one physical server. Each Virtual Server operates independently from other Virtual Servers located within the same Physical Server. This results in a dramatic reduction in vertical rack space, power consumption, network connections (ports/cabling), and cooling required in the Data Center. Storage consolidation with Storage Area Networks allow “islands of storage” previously located in racked servers to be “consolidated” into a single, high performance, highly redundant storage platform. As a result, single points of failure can be reduced and storage is managed in a much more efficient way. This also reduces provides a reduction in overall vertical rack space. Utilizing these two technologies, companies will find after consolidation, they can continue to grow in the same physical Data Center footprint or square footage, without the need to expand. Many times, the current UPS and Air Conditioning systems do not need to be expanded since the overall demand on these systems is decreased.Finally, Server Virtualization and Storage Consolidation pays for itself quickly since less hardware is required. Since the ratio of Virtual Servers to Physical Servers is approximately 10-15 to 1, the cost of 10-15 Physical Servers can be avoided with virtualization.

Using "Second Life"
Contact: Bridget Sullivan, Department of Art
Other Exhibitors: Jan Baum, Art; James Braman, Computer and Information Sciences; La Tonya Dyer, CIAT; Jesse Trahan, College of Graduate Studies and Research
The Towson Innovation Lab is a 3D virtual campus  in Second Life designed for the use of faculty collaborators, their students, and the Center of the Advancement of Instructional Technology outreach and training programs open to the university community. Second Life is an immersive 3D environment that includes voice, text, video, document sharing, and other collaborative tools. The Towson Innovation Lab gives students  the opportunity to access an international venue for research, attend classes, lectures, meetings, and showcase the results of their academic and creative endeavors. Many educational institutions, government agencies, and businesses  bring distributed teams together in the Second Life virtual workspace for collaborative meetings and learning. As the world's leading 3D virtual world environment Second Life provides hundreds of global organizations, including Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and Kraft Foods the opportunity to host collaborative international working and training events while cutting travel costs and doing business in a more eco-friendly way.

Implementation of MDiMap
Contact: Michael Bentevenga, Center for GIS
Other exhibitor: Ardys Russakis

Open Source Mapping
Contact: Jay Morgan, Department of Geography
One of the more important developments of Web 2.0 was the release of the Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API) in 2005. The Geospatial Research and Education (GRE) Laboratory will demonstrate several Web mapping applications using the Google Maps and OpenLayers APIs, including a new campus map application using Google Maps. The importance of these applications is that they can be relatively easily deployed without the need for expensive hardware and "backend" (server-side) software. The GRE Laboratory, a faculty and student run enterprise of the Geography Department, is a University member of the Open Geospatial Consortium.

Applied Mathematics Laboratory
Contact: Jay Zimmerman, Mathematics Department
The Applied Mathematics Laboratory, by agreement with sponsoring organizations, undertakes research projects of a mathematical nature at the advanced undergraduate level whose analysis, solution and exposition will require the substantial involvement of a team of students and faculty members for (usually) an academic year. The sponsor submits a fee for the research project to Towson University to cover the costs of services, equipment, and faculty. The Applied Mathematics Laboratory forms a team of talented undergraduate and graduate students led by a faculty director from the Mathematics Department and a co-director with particular interest in the problem posed. This team studies the problem, and supplies an honest, intensive effort on the part of its best mathematical talent to study and fully report on the sponsor's project.

Division of Economic and Community Outreach
Division of Academic Affairs

Phone: 410-704-2678
E-mail: outreach@towson.edu