CSS 434: Parallel and Distributed Computing - Spring 2017

CSS 434: Parallel and Distributed Computing
Spring 2017

MW 330-530pm at UW2-340

Prof. Munehiro Fukuda


Professor:

Munehiro Fukuda <mfukuda@u.washington.edu>, room UW1-271T, phone 352-3459, office hours: MW 250-320pm and 540pm-610pm, your slide preview hours: F 200-230pm

Course Description:

This course introduces the concepts and design of distributed computing systems. Topics covered include message passing, remote procedure calls, process management, migration, mobile agents, distributed coordination, distributed shared memory, distributed file systems, fault tolerance, and grid computing.

The first five weeks focus on the basic mechanism and the Java programming techniques for message passing, process management, and migration. We will use Java sockets, MPI: Message Passing Interface, Java RMI, and UWAgent: a Java-based mobile agent system the professor and his former CSS students have designed. The last five weeks discuss advanced topics, where the instructor will overview each topic; each student will review a topic-related research paper; and all of us will be involved in group discussions on those papers.

Four programming assignments are given: (1) A chat server design with Java sockets, (2) A parallel-computing application programming with MPI Java, (3) A functional/performance comaprison between Java RMI and UWAgent, and (4) A distributed file system implementation using Java RMI. Two lab sessions are planned for each of the first three assignments to get familiar with sockets, MPI, RMI, and mobile agents.

Prerequisites:

CSS343.

Work Load and Grading:

Course Work Percentage Achievements Approximately Corresponding Numeric Grade
Program 1 9% 90s 3.5 - 4.0
Program 2 10% 80s 2.5 - 3.4
Program 3 9% 70s 1.5 - 2.4
Program 4 12% 60s 0.7 - 1.4
Paper Review 10%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
Discussions 4%
Lab. Work 6%

Textbooks:

75% of the lecture covers the following textbook, while the rest focuses on some advanced topics such as MPI, mobile agents, and some research-oriented topics. To help your understanding, I recommend you should buy this textbook.
  1. Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design,, 5th Edition, George Coulouris, Jean Dollimore, Tim Kindberg, and Gordon Blair, Addison-Wesley Publishers, 2012

References:

Some Programming Textbooks:

The following books and manuals are useful for system, network, and MPI programming.

Policies:

All programming assignments except program 4 are to be done independently. Any collaboration of work will result in severe penalty. You may discuss the problem statement and any clarification with each other, but any actual work to be turned in, must be done without collaboration.

Any homework is due at the beginning of class on the due date. The submission may be postponed only in emergencies such as accidents, sickness, sudden business trips, and family emergencies, in which case you may turn in yor homework late with a written proof. No make-up exams will be given except under exceptional circumstances. Barring emergencies, I must be informed before the exam.

To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disability Resources for Stuents (DRS) in UW1-175, (email: uwbdrs@uwb.edu, TDD: 425-352-5303, and FAX: 425-352-5114). If you have a documented disability on file with the DSS office, please have your DSS counselor contact me and we can discuss accommodations.

Course Goals:

The overall goal of CSS 434, "Parallel and Distributed Computing" includes: To strengthen your understanding of fundamental concepts, you are recommended to solve the problems that are given on the final page of each lecture slide, (while some of them will be solved in class discussions.). To review research papers, you must visit the library, search for them, and get prepared for presenting your paper review with the power point. Finally, you need to work in the Linux laboratory, (UW1-320) for testing and evaluating the performance of your distributed program. Therefore, as with most technical courses, besides ability and motivation, it takes time to learn and master the subject. Expect to spend an additional 10 to 15 hours a week outside of class time on the average.

Assignments:

This is a research-flavored course. Each assignment specificaiton only gives you a topic and a guideline in order to work on the assignment. The answer and the quality of assignment work just depend on your enthusiuasm for assignment work. Therefore, there are no specific key answers.
  1. Program 1 (pdf, word): learns how to use Java-based TCP communication through a design of chat client and server program.
  2. Program 2 (pdf, word): exercises how to write a parallel-computing application using MPI Java.
  3. Program 3 (pdf, word): compares RMI and mobile agenets in terms of programmability and performance. Click here to download the UWAgent manual.
  4. Program 4 (pdf, word): designs and implements a very simple distributed file system.
  5. Paper review:requires each student to review a notable research project and to present his/her understanding in the class.
Please read assignment.html to understand the environment you use for assignments and the submission/grading procedures.

Laboratory Work:

We have three laboratory assignments in that we will understand the usage of and programming with Java sockets, MPI, and mobile agents. They are intended to mitigate your learning curve of new programming paradigms and ease your programming work. The grading is based on your attendance.
  1. Lab Work 1a: is a hands-on exercise for Java sockets. (1% of an entire grade)
  2. Lab Work 1b: is a hands-on exercise for Java object serialization and deserialization. (1% of an entire grade)
  3. Lab Work 2a: is a hands-on exercise for setting up and running MPI programs. (1% of an entire grade)
  4. Lab Work 2b: is a hands-on exercise for MPI programming. (1% of an entire grade)
  5. Lab Work 3a: is a hands-on exercise for RMI. (1% of an entire grade)
  6. Lab Work 3b: is a hands-on exercise for distributed computing with mobile agents. (1% of an entire grade)

Group Discussions:

We are planning to have four group discussions where the class will be divided into several groups, each discussing about a given topic and presenting the discussions in the class. Click here for more detials.

Topics covered and tentative 434 spring schedule:

Note that this is an approximate ordering of topics. Chapters will take about the allotted time and not all sections in all chapters are covered.

Week Date Topics Lab and Discussions Chapters Reading Assignment
1 Mar 27 System Models   2 pp37-79  
  Mar 29 Networking   3
(3.3 - 3.3.4, 3.4.1)
pp89-98
pp106-111
 
2 Apr 3 Interprocess Communication Lab Work 1a (Sockets) 4
(4.1 - 4.3.2)
pp145-164 Program 1 assigned
  Apr 5 Group Communication and MPI Lab Work 1b (Sockets) 4.4, 4.6, 15.4 pp169-174, pp178-180
pp646-659
 
3 Apr 10   Lab Work 2a (MPI)      
  Apr 12 Remote Invocation Lab Work 2b (MPI) 5 pp185-228  
4 Apr 17 Operating System Support Lab Work 3a (RMI) 7 pp279-334 Program 1 due
Program 2 assigned
  Apr 19 Process Migration Lab Work 3b (Agents) 7.4.2 and
non-textbook contents
pp289-291  
5 Apr 24 Time and Global States   14 pp595-628
Demo Talk

Reviewer: Fukuda
  Apr 26   Paper Review
Group Discussion 1
  OpenMosix, OpenSSI, LinuxPMI
Timewarp
SPEEDES
Distributed snapshots
Reviewer: Trygg
Reviewer: Muche
Reviewer: Mostrom
Reviewer: Greisel
6 May 1 Midterm exam in class   2 - 6 pp37-98, 106-111, 145-164, 169-174, 178-228, 279-334, and 646-659  
  May 3 Distributed Shared Memory   6.5 pp262-274 Program 2 due
Program 3 assigned
7 May 8   Paper Review
Group Discussion 2
  Ivy
Dash
Munin
vNUMA
Linda/JavaSpace
Reviewer: Wu
Reviewer: Carpenter
Reviewer: Uy
Reviewer: Kinney
Reviewer: Taylor
  May 10 Distributed File Systems   12
16.2.1-16.2.2
pp521-564
pp683-690
 
8 May 15   Paper Review
Group Discussion 3
  Sun NFS
AFS
Amazon S3
PVFS
Plan9
Reviewer: Leontev
Reviewer: Qiu
Reviewer: Greif
Reviewer: Chong
Reviewer: McKennon

  May 17 Distributed Transactions and Replication   17.1-17.3
18
pp727-740
pp765-816
Program 3 due
Program 4 assigned
9 May 22   Paper Review
Group Discussion 4
  Gossip
Coda
Hadoop
ISIS(JGroup)
XTREEM FS
Reviewer: Berg
Reviewer: Simanovich
Reviewer: Singletary
Reviewer: Faraon
Reviewer: Rocheeva
  May 24 Grid Computing
AgentTeamwork at UWB
  No corresponding chapters    
10; May 29 Holiday (No School)        
  May 31   Paper Review   NetSolve
Legion
Condor
Reviewer: Lin
Reviewer: Porter
Reviewer: Stanton
11 June 5 Final exam in class   6.5, 12, 14, 16.2.1-16.2.2, 17.1-17.3, 18 and grid computing pp262-274, 521-564, 595-628, 683-690, 727-740, and 765-816  
  June 7 Program 4 Deadline       Program 4 due (330pm)