Announcements
- 09/29/2016: Change of class schedule in last couple of weeks.
- 08/24/2016: Paper summary site is online. Create an account ASAP with your umich.edu email address to get reviewer access!
- 08/02/2016: Welcome to EECS 582!
Administrivia
| Course | EECS 582, Fall 2016, 4 Units, CN: 30987 |
| Meetings | 1005 DOW, M/W: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM (Lectures/Discussion) 1005 DOW, F: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Projects/Makeups) |
| Instructor | Mosharaf Chowdhury (ANY email regarding this course should have a title starting with “EECS582” for a timely response) |
| Office Hours | 4820 BBB. By appointments only. |
| Paper Summaries | Submit at http://eecs582.eecs.umich.edu/papers/ |
Course Description
EECS 582 will discuss advanced topics and research issues in computer and operating systems. We will take a broad view of systems research and consider common issues that emerge across individual machines to large-scale datacenters. The course schedule can broadly be divided into two tracks. In the first, we will consider the traditional computer and the challenges its operating system must address. In parallel, we will consider the datacenter as a computer, and we will observe how the designs of big data and cloud computing systems (e.g., MapReduce, Spark, HDFS) face and address many common challenges. This class will focus on identifying and understanding the enduring principles and practices in computer systems design and implementation across systems at different scale, and it will prepare students to carry out substantial independent systems research projects.
Tentative Schedule and Reading List
Prerequisites
The formal prerequisite for this course is EECS 482 (Introduction to Operating Systems), equivalent coursework from another university, or permission from the instructor. Courses in database systems, distributed systems, and networking are also helpful. The informal prerequisite is a strong interest in graduate systems research. You need (or need to acquire) strong technical skills to carry out a substantial design and implementation effort.
Undergrads must receive explicit permission from the instructor to enroll.
Policies
Honor Code The Engineering Honor Code applies to paper summaries and exams.
Paper Reviews Read all the papers of each day carefully and write your own paper review. Being able to critically judge others’ work is crucial for your understanding. For papers that require summaries, you must address a number of questions including:
- What is the problem addressed by the paper, and why is this problem important?
- What is the hypothesis of the work?
- What is the proposed solution, and what key insight guides their solution?
- What is one (or more) drawback or limitation of the proposal, and how will you improve it?
The paper reviews of each day must be submitted electronically at least 24 hours prior to the corresponding class. Late reviews will not be counted. You can miss up to four paper reviews during the term without penalty. Each missing review beyond the fourth one will result in 25% decrease in grade for paper reviews. Meaning, failing to turn in eight or more reviews on time will result in a zero for all paper reviews.
Reviews will be randomly picked to be graded as “weak,” “average,” and “strong.” Allocate enough time for your reading and write reviews carefully.
Paper Presentation The course will be conducted as a seminar. Each presentation should last at most 20 minutes followed by a class discussion of the designated paper(s). Each student will be assigned to present a paper at least once throughout the semester. When the number of students exceed the number of papers, some papers will be presented by a team of two students. In the presentation, you should:
- Motivate the paper and provide background.
- Discuss the high level idea, approach, and/or insight (using examples, whenever appropriate). Do not go into details because the other students are expected to have read them for paper summaries; focus ONLY on primary contributions.
- Explain the difference between this paper and related work (including other readings of the same day or prior days).
The slides for your presentation must be emailed to the instructor at least 24 hours prior to the corresponding class. You should use this template for making your slides in powerpoint.
Participation You are expected to attend all lectures (you may skip up to 2 lectures due to legitimate reasons), and more importantly, participate in class discussions.
Midterm Exam There will be an open-book, take-home midterm exam based on the mandatory readings of the class up to that point in our regular meeting place. Each student must complete the exam solely by her or his own efforts. The exam must be completed within the specified time.
Final Project The largest component of the course is a class project. You will work in groups of at most three people on an instructor-approved problem and have original contribution. Surveys are not permitted as projects; instead, each project must contain a survey of background and related work. You must meet the following milestones (unless otherwise specified in the announcements section above) to ensure a high-quality project at the end of the semester:
- Form a group of 2-3 people as soon as possible.
- Turn in a 2-page draft proposal (including references) by September 23. Remember to include the names and Michigan email addresses of the group members. Schedule a 15-minute meeting to pitch your idea and to get early feedback.
- Keep revising your initial idea and get more feedback until we reach an agreement. However, your team and project proposal must be finalized and approved by me on or before October 7.
- Each group must present mid-semester progress during class hours on November 14 and November 16.
- Each group must present their final results during a poster session on December 12.
- Each group must turn in an 8-page final report and your code via email on or before 11:59PM EST on December 16. The report must be submitted as a PDF file, with formatting similar to that of the papers you’ve read in the class. The self-contained (i.e., include ALL dependencies) code must be submitted as a zip file. Each zip file containing the code must include a README file with a step-by-step guide on how to compile and run the provided code.
I am always available during office hours to discuss projects, and you may also make appointments at other times. It is crucial that you start working on your project early, or you are unlikely to finish in time.
Grading
| Paper Reviews | 20% | Written summaries of 2-3 papers per week. |
| Paper Presentation | 15% | At least one paper presentation per student. |
| Participation | 10% | Preparation and participation in classroom discussions. |
| Midterm Exam | 15% | Open-book, take-home exam. |
| Final Project | 40% | Substantial research project with a final paper and poster presentation. |