Intro to Emulation, Virtualization, Containerization:
During this module, participants will learn about:
- What is the difference between emulation, virtualization, and containerization?
- Why does the difference matter for long-term preservation?
- How, why, and when does the EaaSI platform make use of each?
Questions for Discussion/Reflection
- Let’s say you have software in a collection that is compatible with virtualization. How would you decide whether to emulate or virtualize?
- How often would you revisit the decision to emulate or virtualize?
- Unfortunately, systems for digital preservation and access are themselves susceptible to age and obsolescence. How can or should such platforms be designed to protect collections in the long term?
About EaaSI
The EaaSI program builds on previous work to apply the Emulation-as-a-Service (EaaS) framework for access and use of preserved software and digital objects. The project is focused on scaling the technological framework necessary for multiple institutions to configure, share, and access software and configured environments. EaaSI is focused on a distributed, community-driven architecture that sits on top of existing digital preservation infrastructure. This directly complements existing efforts by the Software Preservation Network and others to address key aspects of software preservation including legal advocacy, research about local software preservation needs, institutional capacity building for software preservation, collection development, professional development and training, and workflow recommendations.
About the EaaSI Training Module Series
Phase 2 of the EaaSI program of work (July 2020 – June 2022) will include a series of Training Modules, with one new Module to be released approximately every three months (a total of eight by the conclusion of Phase 2). These Training Modules are intended to supplement and expand on concepts alluded to in the EaaSI User Handbook, opening the design and functionality of the platform to wider feedback, comment, and discussion. Though particular features and elements of interface design may change between releases of the EaaSI platform, these Modules should remain consistent in elaborating on our infrastructure.
Each Module contains: a slideshow presenting a core piece of Emulation-as-a-Service functionality and its relationship to EaaSI goals and use cases; a set of questions for practitioners to discuss and/or reflect; and recommended resources from the EaaSI team for further exploration of the topic. Modules are intended to stand on their own but be easily adaptable to an in-person or virtual workshop session.
Supplementary materials:
- Emulation & Virtualization as Preservation Strategies, David S. H. Rosenthal
- “Containers vs VMs”, Red Hat (accessed 2021-07-23)
- Ten simple rules for writing Dockerfiles for reproducible data science, Nust D, Sochat V, Marwick B, Eglen SJ, Head T, Hirst T, et al.