CSCE 662 Distributed Processing Systems Spring 2012

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Course Summary

Time and Place: TR 11:10 AM - 12:25 PM; Room: HRBB 126

Instructor: Dr. Radu Stoleru – 330B H.R. Bright Building (office hours: TR: 12:30PM - 2:00PM, or by appointment)

Announcements

11/26/2011: Class website is up.

Prerequisites

CSCE 313/463 or CSCE 612

 

This course has several homework assignments that have a programming component. Therefore you must be proficient in C and Java programming on Unix systems.

 

Description

The goals of this course are for students to gain an understanding of the principles and techniques (e.g. locking, concurrency, scheduling, and communication across the network) behind the design of distributed processing systems, such as:

                        

and to gain practical experience designing, implementing, and debugging real distributed systems.

At the end of this course you will understand the following aspects of a distributed system, in no particular order:

• Implement and structure distributed systems programs
• Write programs that can interoperate using well-defined protocols
• Debug highly concurrent code that spans multiple programs running on multiple cores and machines
• Reason about distributed algorithms for locking, synchronization and concurrency, scheduling, and replication
• Use standard network communication primitives such as UDP and TCP
• Employ and create common paradigms for easing the task of distributed systems programming, such as distributed filesystems, RPC, and MapReduce. Be able to clearly elucidate their benefits, drawbacks, and limitations.
• Identify the security challenges faced by distributed systems programs;

Textbook

"Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms," by A.S. Tanenbaum, M. van Steen, Addison Wesley, 2nd edition, 2007 

Other Interesting Reading

These books are thought to complement the textbook. Perusing them may help you better understand some issues discussed in class. More reference material will be added as we go along.

• “Distributed Operating Systems,” by A. Tanenbaum, Prentice Hall
• “Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design," by G. Coulouris, J. Dollimore, T. Kindberg, Addison Wesley
• “Distributed Operating Systems & Algorithms," by R. Chow and T. Johnson, Addison Wesley
• “Distributed Operating Systems; Concepts and Practice," by D.L. Galli, Prentice Hall

Assessment Method

This course will have one midterm exam (20%), one final exam (20%), homework assignments / machine problems (40%) and one class project (20%).

The grading scale is as follows: A: <= 90% < B <= 80% < C <= 70% < D <= 60% < F

The midterm and final exams are in-class, closed-book, closed-notes. The final exam is not comprehensive.

Late-Submission Policy: Homework assignments are due at 11:59PM on their due date, on CSNET. You are allowed to submit late, without late penalty, one homework. The late homework can be submitted up to 4 days late. After exhausting the "late option", your late homework will be penalized at 20% (of that homework grade) per day.

Academic Integrity

The Aggie Honor Code applies. (Check http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu for details.)

Disabilities Policy Statement

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Cain Hall, Rm. B118, or call 845-1637.

Updated: 11/26/2011