CSS 434: Parallel and Distributed Computing
Spring 2021
MW 330-530pm online
Prof. Munehiro Fukuda

Professor:

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:

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	10%	70s	1.5 - 2.4
Program 4	11%	60s	0.7 - 1.4
Paper Review	10%
Midterm Exam	20%
Final Exam	20%
Discussions	4%
Lab. Work	6%

Textbooks:

1. Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design,, 5th Edition, George Coulouris, Jean Dollimore, Tim Kindberg, and Gordon Blair, Addison-Wesley Publishers, 2012

Some Programming Textbooks:

• Parallel Programming with MPI, Peter S. Pacheco, Morgan Kaufmann, 1997.
• Java in Distributed Systems: Concurrency, Distribution and Persistence, Marko Boger, Wiley, 2001.
• Java Network Programming, 3rd Edition, Elliotte Rusty Harold O'Reilly 2009.

Policies:

• Lab work: can be done in a team with your classmates. However, each student must submit source code and execution outputs individually.
• Paper review: must be done in team of two students.
• Program 4 (Distributed File System): will be done independently this year. The professor gives you the key answer to the file system client. Each student will implement the file system server.

Any homework is due at the beginning of class on the due date and must be submitted to Canvas. Once the submission window gets closed, no late submission is accepted even through email (firm). 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 UW1-080, (email: uwbdrs@uwb.edu, Phone: 425-352-5307, 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.

The class follows the religious accomodation policy. Please check the Syllabi Guidelines and Resources webpage.

This course is scheduled to run synchronously at your scheduled class time via Zoom. These Zoom class sessions will be recorded. The recording will capture the presenter’s audio, video and computer screen. Student audio and video will be recorded if they share their computer audio and video during the recorded session. The recordings will only be accessible to students enrolled in the course to review materials. These recordings will not be shared with or accessible to the public.

The University and Zoom have FERPA-compliant agreements in place to protect the security and privacy of UW Zoom accounts. Students who do not wish to be recorded, please do not turn on their video. However, for exam proctoring, the instructor will ask you to turn on your video and to see your faces during an exam.

Course Goals:

• To learn fundamental concepts that are used in and applicable to a variety of distributed computing applicaitons,
• To realize fundamental concepts in four programming assignments: a chat server, a parallel-computing application, a mobile agent, and a distributed file system, and
• To improve your ability of reviewing, grasping, and comparing the key idea of research papers

Assignments:

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.

Laboratory Work:

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:

Topics covered and tentative 434 spring schedule:

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Week	Date	Topics	Lab and Discussions	Chapters	Reading	Assignment
1	Mar 29	System Models		2	pp37-79
	Mar 31	Networking		3 (3.3 - 3.3.4, 3.4.1)	pp89-98 pp106-111
2	Apr 5	Interprocess Communication	Lab Work 1a (Sockets)	4 (4.1 - 4.3.2)	pp145-164	Program 1 assigned
	Apr 7	Group Communication and MPI	Lab Work 1b (Sockets)	4.4, 4.6, 15.4	pp169-174, pp178-180 pp646-659
3	Apr 12		Lab Work 2a (MPI)
	Apr 14	Remote Invocation	Lab Work 2b (MPI)	5	pp185-228	Program 1 due on Apr 16 Fri at 11:59pm
4	Apr 19	Operating System Support	Lab Work 3a (RMI)	7	pp279-334	Program 2 assigned
	Apr 21	Process Migration	Lab Work 3b (Agents)	7.4.2 and non-textbook contents	pp289-291
5	Apr 26	Process Migration (1 day buffer)	Lab Work 3b (Agents)	7.4.2 and non-textbook contents	pp289-291
	Apr 28	Time and Global States		14	pp595-628 Demo Talk	Reviewer: Fukuda
6	May 3	Midterm exam online		2 - 6	pp37-98, 106-111, 145-164, 169-174, 178-228, 279-334, and 646-659
	May 5		Paper Review Group Discussion 1		JADE Timewarp SPEEDES Distributed snapshots	Reviewer: ----, ---- Reviewer: Nain, Lin Reviewer: ----, ---- Reviewer: Fukuda Program 3 assigned Program 2 due on May 7 Fri at 11:59pm
7	May 10	Distributed Shared Memory		6.5	pp262-274
	May 12		Paper Review Group Discussion 2		Ivy Dash JavaSpace (Linda) GlobalArray Spark	Reviewer: Wong, Pradana Reviewer: ----, ---- Reviewer: Connolly, Waranowitz Reviewer: Avelar, Shao Reviewer: Sterner, Gersbach
8	May 17	Distributed File Systems		12 16.2.1-16.2.2	pp521-564 pp683-690
	May 19		Paper Review Group Discussion 3		Sun NFS AFS PVFS Plan 9	Reviewer: Hovsepian, Greeness Reviewer: Randhawa, Barsoom Reviewer: Alschitz, Yun Reviewer: Tan Program 4 assigned Program 3 due on May 21 Fri at 3:30pm
9	May 24	Distributed Transactions and Replication		17.1-17.3 18	pp727-740 pp765-816
	May 26		Paper Review Group Discussion 4		Cassandra (Gossip) Coda Hadoop JGroup (ISIS)	Reviewer: Park, Kwon Reviewer: Martin, O'Dore Reviewer: Xu, A. Tran Reviewer: Seto, Lim
10	May 31	Holiday (No School)
	June 2	Job Management in Grid/Cloud	Paper Review	No corresponding chapters	Condor NetSolve YARN	Reviewer: ----, ---- Reviewer: ----, ---- Reviewer:Schwartz, Lara
11	June 7	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 11	Program 4 Deadline				Program 4 due on June 11 Fri at 11:59pm