NetLab at Cabrillo Provides Training for the 21st Century

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By Ryan Masters
Santa Cruz Sentinel
February 18, 2016 — Aptos, CA

(Photo above: Cabrillo College Computer Information Systems Program Chair Gerlinde Brady looks in on the servers, routers and switches that power the NetLab Data Center. Credit: Shmuel Thaler)

[Editor’s note: Santa Cruz Tech Beat published Cabrillo Receives $1M Grant for Tech Lab, 5/21/15.]

NetLab provides training and certification from the most sought-after professional development institutes, including Cisco Networking Academy, VMware IT Academy, EMC Academic Alliance, Linux Professional Institute, CompTIA, Palo Alto Networks and Red Hat Labs.

From a small server room on the Cabrillo College campus, hundreds of information computer technology students from 20 different Northern California community colleges have been accessing top-notch training and professional certification programs.

NetLab, which provides access to real networking lab equipment over the Internet, has completed its first semester of operation and the data is positive.

“Very successful on many levels,” said Gerlinde Brady, the computer and information systems program chair and instructor responsible for obtaining the initial $995,270 grant from the Bay Area Community College Consortium, which made NetLab possible.

According to Brady and data center administrator David Hovey, NetLab produced 62 classes, 576 users and 8,460 user hours across the 20-institution network it served during the fall 2015 semester.

“There’s plenty of room for growth,” said Hovey, a 2014 Cabrillo College graduate. “We have the capacity for 30 schools, depending on what they want to teach.”

NetLab provides training and certification from the most sought-after professional development institutes, including Cisco Networking Academy, VMware IT Academy, EMC Academic Alliance, Linux Professional Institute, CompTIA, Palo Alto Networks and Red Hat Labs.

“NetLab offers 500-plus labs covering everything from basic computer skills to advanced courses in cyber security, virtualization, data storage, operating systems, systems administration and network configuration and design,” said Brady. “Many NetLab users are tech employees looking to upgrade certifications and skills. We also have students who have received job offers at companies like Cisco after completing certifications.”

Continue reading article here: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20160215/NEWS/160219797

Tagged Cabrillo College, NetLab