CSS 434: Parallel and Distributed Computing - Spring 2012

CSS 434: Parallel and Distributed Computing
Spring 2012
TTh 330-535pm at UW1-041
Prof. Munehiro Fukuda

Professor:

Munehiro Fukuda <mfukuda@u.washington.edu>, room UW1-331, phone 352-3459, office hours: TTh 230-330pm

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. A lab session is planned for each of the first three assignments to get familiar with sockets, MPI, and mobile agents.

Prerequisites:

CSS343.

Work Load and Grading:

Course Work Percentage Achievements Approximately Corresponding Numeric Grade
Program 1 7% 90s 3.5 - 4.0
Program 2 11% 80s 2.5 - 3.4
Program 3 7% 70s 1.5 - 2.4
Program 4 15% 60s 0.7 - 1.4
Paper Review 12%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 20%
Discussions 5%
Lab. Work 3%

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 and a paper review 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.
  1. Paper review: must be done by a team of two students.
  2. Program 4: may be done by a team of two students. If you work with a classmate, you must turn in a confidential evaluation of your partner. If you work independently, you will be awarded +5 extra credits.

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: drs@uwb.edu, TDD: 425-352-5303, and FAX: 425-352-3581). 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 1: is a hands-on exercise for distributed computing with Java sockets. (1% of an entire grade)
  2. Lab Work 2: is a hands-on exercise for MPI programming. (1% of an entire grade)
  3. Lab Work 3: is a hands-on exercise for distributed computing with RMI and mobile agents. (1% of an entire grade)

Group Discussions:

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

Topics covered and tentative 434 winter 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		 Program 1 assigned
2 Apr 3 Interprocess Communication Lab Work 1 (Sockets) 4
(4.1 - 4.3.2)		 pp145-164  
  Apr 5 Group Communication and MPI   4.4, 4.6, 15.4 pp169-174, pp178-180
pp646-659		  
3 Apr 10   Lab Work 2 (MPI)      
  Apr 12 Remote Invocation   5 pp185-228 Program 1 due
Program 2 assigned
4 Apr 17 Operating System Support   7 pp279-334  
  Apr 19 Process Migration   7.4.2 and
non-textbook contents		 pp289-291  
5 Apr 24   Lab Work 3 (RMI and Agents)   Mobile-C
Mobile Agents' Applications		 Reviewer: _____
Reviewer: _____
  Apr 26 Time and Global States   14 pp595-628 Program 2 due
Program 3 assigned
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   Paper Review
Group Discussion 1		   Timewarp
SPEEDES
Distr. Snapshots(Chandy/Lamport)
Distr. Snapshots(Samadi/Mattern)
 Reviewer: Lynn
Reviewer: Fukuda
Reviewer: _____
Reviewer: _____
7 May 8 Distributed Shared Memory   6.5 pp262-274  
  May 10   Paper Review
Group Discussion 2		   Ivy
Dash
Munin
Linda/JavaSpace
 Reviewer: O'Brien
Reviewer: Lebed/Chuang
Reviewer: _____
Reviewer: Honanie
8 May 15 Distributed File Systems   12
16.2.1-16.2.2		 pp521-564
pp683-690		 Program 3 due
Program 4 assigned
  May 17   Paper Review
Group Discussion 3		   Sun NFS
AFS
XFS
PVFS
Plan9 		Reviewer: Woodring
Reviewer: Nguyen
Reviewer: McLean/Aubrey
Reviewer: Dhanju/Anderson
Reviewer: Chang
9 May 22 Distributed Transactions and Replication   17.1-17.3
18		 pp727-740
pp765-816		  
  May 24   Paper Review
Group Discussion 4		   Gossip
Coda
GFS
Bayou
 Reviewer: Hayden
Reviewer: Srinivasan/Dave
Reviewer: Reisman
Reviewer: Ricafrente
10 May 29 Grid Computing
AgentTeamwork at UWB		   No corresponding chapters    
  May 31   Paper Review
Group Discussion 5		   NetSolve
Legion
Condor
Globus
 Reviewer: Romanus
Reviewer: Weingartner
Reviewer: Loomis
Reviewer: Oakes/Winn
11 Jun 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  
  Jun 7 Program 4 Demonstration       Program 4 due (330pm)