The SAGElab is a joint workplace of the CESNET association and the Faculty of Information Technology of the Czech Technical University in Prague. The purpose of the laboratory is to support the teaching of subjects and education of professionals in the fields of network technologies, multimedia and virtual reality and to create an environment for research and development of new network applications. The laboratory is used for lectures by experts in many areas of research and development, where it is necessary to work with visualizations of large data, for distance lectures, for independent work of graduates, PhD students and employees on research and development in the field of networking and multimedia technologies and for cooperation with external workplaces in the Czech Republic and within the international community of laboratories with a similar focus.
CESNET is building a national e-infrastructure including a high-speed network, computing and storage capacities and means for distance collaboration. The development of the e-infrastructure cannot be done without close cooperation with research institutes of universities and research institutions and the recruitment of new experts in the fields. Therefore, in 2011, a Memorandum of Cooperation was concluded between CESNET and the Faculty of Information Technology of the CTU in Prague. On the basis of long-term informal cooperation between the two institutions, the core of the laboratory was established during the CESNET Development Fund project No. 464/2012 entitled Network Visualization Environment for Remote Collaboration in 2012-2014. The laboratory was subsequently developed in terms of technical equipment and breadth of expertise.
The laboratory is equipped with a large-scale, high-resolution visualization device and high-speed connection to a computer network. The 8K+ resolution (9600 x 4320 px) visualisation equipment consists of thin-framed LCD displays and is controlled by the SAGE and SAGE2 software systems, allowing the simultaneous display of the output of a range of applications that can be run on local computers, on CESNET e-infrastructure computing resources or on computers at remote collaborating institutions. The laboratory is also equipped with a range of other resources for teaching, research and development in the areas of networking and multimedia technologies. The technical equipment was purchased with funds from the CESNET Association and the Faculty of Information Technology of the CTU in Prague.