Case Study: Purdue University achieves hands-on big data education and scalable analytics with Rackspace Technology's OpenStack Private Cloud

Purdue uses Rackspace OpenStack Private Cloud to run big data analytics and equip students with the big data skills used by leading web-scale companies

Purdue University, home to the oldest computer science department in the U.S., needed a flexible cloud platform to add hands-on big data analytics to its undergraduate curriculum and better prepare students for jobs at web-scale tech companies. Faculty required an environment that could be rapidly provisioned each semester and support evolving tools and operating systems.

Rackspace delivered a managed OpenStack private cloud with 24x7 support and a 99.99% uptime guarantee, enabling two new courses where instructors can spin up fresh clusters each term. The platform has supported about 200 students (≈86,000 server hours), improved lab flexibility and tool access, earned strong faculty and student feedback, and is being eyed for future research use.

Purdue University

Walid Aref

Professor of Computer Science