Last modified: February 1, 2000 12:48 pm
Advanced Concepts in Operating Systems: Distributed, Database, and Multiprocessor Operating Systems by Mukesh Singhal and Niranjan G. Shivaratri, McGraw-Hill, 1994.
There will be two exams during the semester. Both will administered as in-class, closed-book exams. The midterm exam will be given on March 9 (the class meeting just prior to Spring Break). The final exam will be given in the regularly scheduled exam period on May 11 from 5:30 to7:30 in the evening. The midterm exam will count 20% of your grade while the final exam will count 35% of your grade.
Homework assignments will be made throughout the semester. These will count 15% toward your grade. Homework assignments are to be completed on an individual basis. You are welcome to discuss the material with other people; however, the homework solutions that you turn in should reflect your own work.
Each student is required to turn in a glossary that provides definitions for 30-35 terms related to distributed operating systems. These should be terms that were unfamiliar to you before the start of this class. Your definitions should be short (a couple of sentences) and should reference related terms.
The glossaries are due before the start of class on Thursday, April 27 and will count for 10% of your grade. Like the homework assignments, glossaries must be completed on an individual basis.
Each student is required to write a 10-15 (typeset, single spaced, with standard margins) page paper that surveys one aspect of current research in operating systems. The paper should present your interpretation of the approaches taken by at least two related research activities (i.e., approaches taken by two different research groups.). If there are more than two groups working on the problem, you should briefly mention the approaches taken by all groups, but do not need to give in-depth coverage to more than two groups.
Each term paper is to be written by an individual student. I am primarily interested in your interpretation of the research. All quoted material (whether taken from a Web site or paper) must be appropriately attributed. Moreover, quoted material should be used appropriately. That is, quoted material should not constitute a significant portion of your paper.
You are required to turn in a one page summary of your term paper by April 13. This summary should include a brief description of the research activity that you plan to survey along with citations for six reference materials (a mix of published papers and Web sites).