Distributed Systems

Code:

EIC0036

Acronym:

SDIS

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Operating Systems and Networks

Instance: 2007/2008 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	http://web.fe.up.pt/~pfs/aulas/sd2007/
Responsible unit:	Informatics Section
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LEIC	0	Plano de estudos de transição para 2006/07	4	5	5	-
MIEEC	0	Syllabus since 2007/2008	5	-	5	-
MIEIC	150	Syllabus since 2006/2007	4	-	5	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Upon completing this course, the students should be able to understand the basics of the design and implementation of simple distributed applications, and also, they should be able analyze simple distributed solutions and evaluate their adequacy to the problems they aim to solve.

Program

Introductory concepts on distributed systems and network computing. Communication models: message passing, remote invocation. Distributed objects. Namimg: identification and addressing. Synchronization. Replication and consistency: fault tolerance. Security concepts. Infrastructures supporting distributed systems.

Mandatory literature

Tanenbaum, Andrew S.; Distributed systems. ISBN: 0-13-088893-1
Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Maarten van Steen; Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms, 2/E, Prentice-Hall, 2007. ISBN: 9780132392273

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical classes are expositive classes, usually complemented with transparencies. Whenever necessary, we will present some examples to make the topics easier to understand. The contents exposed follow the ones on the Tanenbaum and van Steen’s book. Notes and articles on the contents, which do not belong to the bibliography mentioned, will be provided or indicated as it becomes necessary.

Theoretical-practical classes are used to explain the theoretical concepts and to discuss the programming problems proposed.

The practical exercises proposed will require the use of tools available on the recent operating systems or of public domain, which will be part of CICA and DEEC’s computerized resources. The operating system of reference is Unix, in its variants Linux and Digital Unix.

Software

Unix
Jini 1.2 ou Jini 2.0
JDK 1.4 ou JDK 1.5

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Subject Classes	Participação presencial	56,00
Programming Tests.	Exame	5,00		2007-12-14
Final exam.	Exame	2,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
Study to keep up with classes	Estudo autónomo	28	2007-12-21
Preparation and conclusion of programming assignments, in addition to work in-class.	Estudo autónomo	28	2007-12-21
Preparation to final exam.	Estudo autónomo	16
	Total:	72,00

Eligibility for exams

Do not exceed the absence limit and obtain a minimum of 30% in the programming test.

Calculation formula of final grade

0,4 P + 0,6 E
where,
P – Practical Exam Grade = Frequency Grade
T – Theoretical Exam Grade

Examinations or Special Assignments

Practical Test
- individual resolution of programming problems similar to the ones presented in class.
- done in computer rooms
- duration of 2h
- the documentation to be consulted will only be given in the test

Practical Exam
- The structure is similar to that of frequency practical test.

Theoretical Exams
- duration of 2h
- exam without consultation of personal documentation

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Similar to the one of the normal regime.
On special evaluation periods, the examination is identical to the one used in the classification improvement.

Classification improvement

Done, in the specific periods, according to the submission to a theoretical exam similar to the one done in the regular evaluation period (and with the same weight), and also to a practical exam similar to the practical tests previously described (and with the same weight).
Yet, the classification improvement of grades equal or superior to 18 marks will be done with an oral exam, which will be about theoretical and practical aspects.

Observations

As pre-requirements to obtain good marks in this course, we expect that the students have:
- knowledge of programming in C, C++ or Java;
- knowledge of using Unix;
- Basic Knowledge of operating systems and computer networks.

The students are asked to have an honest academic behavior. The cases of abuse of trust shall be reported to the Course Director.