It is noted that construction and support of laboratory facilities in an educational institution is a complex task, the solution of which requires significant resources. It is shown how the use of virtualization technologies of network infrastructure components allows more complete use of the available equipment of the laboratory complex, to intensify the learning process and to instill in students the practical skills of building modern data transmission systems. The approach is used to modernize the laboratory complex of the educational institution by distributing the computing resources of routers and the server of the real carrier network between virtual routers and virtual workstations, and communication resources of physical channels between the corresponding virtual channels. To simulate workstations in the laboratory complex, a typical workstation virtualization solution (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, VDI) is used.