Labs in Tabs.
Real machines for every student, right in the browser.
VMTabs is a virtual lab service for schools, colleges and training programs. Build a virtual machine once, and every student gets a private copy on their own network, ready in a browser tab. Everyone signs in with their school account. Run it as a hosted service, or install it on-site on your own servers. Nothing to install for students, either way.
From one machine to a whole class in three steps
Build
Install a VM from an ISO, or upload a ready-made image (qcow2, VMDK, OVA). Set it up the way the lab needs, then save it as a template.
Deploy
Enroll your students, pick the template and press Deploy. Each student gets their own copy on a private network that classmates can't reach.
Learn
Students open the console in a browser tab, with nothing to install. Unused VMs shut down on their own, and everything is cleaned up at the end of term.
Built for hands-on courses
Routing & switching labs
Give every student several private networks, such as WAN, LAN and DMZ, wired to the right network card of each template. Their own routers and firewalls connect the segments; VMTabs provides the gateway, DHCP and internet on the outside.
A private network for every student
Each student's VMs share their own isolated network, with optional DHCP and web-only or full internet per course.
Console in the browser
Keyboard, mouse, Ctrl+Alt+Del and paste, in any modern browser, on school computers or students' own laptops and Chromebooks.
Templates, images and ISOs
Build from ISO images, import pre-built appliances, make new versions of a template, and share them with colleagues.
Power that looks after itself
Idle VMs shut down after a timeout you choose, and courses can auto-delete every student VM on a set date.
Made for classes
Courses, projects and rosters; CSV import; Teacher and Student views; and separate organizations for schools or departments.
Single sign-on (SSO)
Admins, instructors and students sign in once with the school accounts they already use, or open VMTabs straight from Canvas or Blackboard. No extra passwords to hand out, no juggling logins across browser tabs, and a full audit log records who did what.
Hosted or on-site: your choice
The same VMTabs, with the same features, updates and support, wherever it runs.
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Hosted
We run VMTabs for you
- No servers to buy, set up or patch
- We look after the lab servers, updates and security fixes
- Ready in days: sign in, build a template, deploy
- Your own secure web address for your school
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On-site
Installed on your own servers, on campus
- Student data and lab traffic stay in your data center
- Your hardware, your network, your security policies
- Works on campus-only networks as well as over the internet
- Installed with one setup script; we provide updates and support
A subscription that fits your program
Every plan includes updates and support, and hosting when we run it for you. Plans are sized by the number of students, billed per term or per year: one predictable price, with no metered VM-hours and no billing or usage-alert emails flooding your inbox.
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Classroom
One instructor and their courses
- Private lab network for every student
- Templates, VM images and ISO library
- Idle shut-down and end-of-term clean-up
- Single sign-on for instructors and students
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Department
A team of instructors sharing labs
- Everything in Classroom
- Shared templates and network designs
- Routing & switching labs
- Department admin and Teacher view
- SSO for admins, instructors and students
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Campus
Several schools or departments
- Everything in Department
- Separate organizations, each with its own admins
- Bulk student import and campus-wide settings
- Priority support
Every plan is available hosted or on-site. Contact us for pricing for your institution.
Built for educational institutions
Most schools let us host VMTabs, so there are no servers to buy, set up or patch. If your labs or student data need to stay on campus, VMTabs can also run on servers in your own data center, with the same features. Either way, instructors build and deploy labs from any browser, and students start working the moment a lab is deployed.
Student information is used only to run your labs. VMTabs keeps only what a lab needs: usernames, names, optional email addresses, enrollments and the lab machines themselves. A built-in privacy guide helps your FERPA or privacy officer review it.
- Hosted for you, or on-site on your own servers
- Single sign-on for admins, instructors and students
- No tracking, analytics or advertising
- Students see only their own machines
- Each school or department kept separate
- Automatic clean-up at the end of term