CS 603: Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems

List of topics:

Motivations:

• Load normalization
• Fault tolerance
• Replication
• Additional concurrency
• Enhanced security
• Cost-per-unit for expansion

Structure and Definitions:

• Tightly-coupled vs. loosely-coupled
• server-based systems
• centralized vs. distributed control
• heterogeneity
• object-oriented structuring
• layered approaches

Connection & Communication:

• OS facilities
• The OSI model
• topology
• communication speed, reliability, protocols
• RPC & message duality
• existing technology

Naming and Location:

• global naming
• mobility
• hints, servers, late binding
• multilevel & symbolic addressing
• Timing & Synchronization:
• Lamport clocks
• global ordering
• n-phase locking
• timestamp transactions
• deadlocks, detection and avoidance

Programming Support:

• Programming language constructs
• Special algorithms
• Software tools & techniques

Transactions and Consistency:

• failure atomicity
• view atomicity & serializability
• distributed commit algorithms
• nested transactions
• shadowing
• version control
• voting schemes
• failure modes

Reliability & Availability:

• stable storage
• distributed checkpointing
• replicated copy control
• network partitions
• resolution protocols
• forward progress & "safety"
• partitions, failures & resolution

Security:

• encryption
• secure channels
• covert channels
• capabilities
• byzantine failures
• containment

Case Studies:

• Amoeba
• Argus
• Clouds
• Cosmos
• Domain
• Eden/Emerald
• Hydra
• Locus
• Mach/Camelot
• R*
• RAID
• Sprite
• V

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