Computing framework incorporating bring your own component strategy for Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing nations face severe cash constraints and require access to computing resources. This is necessary for  the purposes of teaching, research and executing official tasks. Students and employees that cannot afford end-user computing devices cannot execute  tasks requiring access to computers. This is because HEIs adopt bring your own device (BYOD) strategy. In a BYOD strategy, students and employees of  HEIs who can afford end-user computing devices bring theirs to work i.e. the HEI. Such computing devices become inaccessible to the concerned users  when they become faulty or are lost due to theft. This paper proposes bring your component (BYOC) paradigm. BYOC is a modular computing system  (MCS) that requires students and employees to bring components of end – user computing systems. In this way, students and employees are not  required to bring the entire end-user computing entity unit but some components. The BYOC also enables the sharing of underutilized computing  resources via an aerial fiber optic network. Evaluation via simulation shows that the use of the BYOC outperforms the existing BYOD.