Textbook

• Tanenbaum, A. and van Steen, M., ``Distributed Systems,'' Prentice Hall, 2002, ISBN 0-13-088893-1.

Prerequisite

• CMPSC-F355 (F605) Operating Systems ``Operating Systems'' or permission of instructor.
• Strong programming skills and understanding of computer networks are expected.

Description

The topic of the course is distributed systems, including middleware, as well as operating system support for distributed systems. The course addresses such issues as communications between distributed entities, identification of mobile and distributed entities (naming), synchronization and consistency in distributed systems, and fault tolerance. Security issues will be considered, time permitting. As a part of the course, students will develop a working distributed system.

Homework

There will be three major programming projects in three different languages: C/sockets, C/Corba, and Erlang, as well as several pencil-and-paper assignments. Late returns will not graded (no exceptions, unless you had a medical condition).

Exams

There will be two 75-minute intermediate exams and the final exam.

Tentative Schedule

Grade Calculation

The estimation of your course grade will be calculated using the following weights for the components of the grade: each intermediate exam - 20%; homework assignments - 30%; final exam - 30%. I reserve the right to amend your final grade, based on my own judgement. This is a graduate course, so the lowest passing grade is ``C.''