Course Information

Prerequisite

The only prerequisite is CS571. However, if you believe you have some of the following background:

familiar with (operating/distributed/computer) systems;
have taken Mason’s undergrad operating systems course (CS471) and got a B- or better;
know how networks work (CS455);
have had industry experience.

You should be in communication with me (the instructor) before the semester begins to request an override.

Who is this course for?

This course is primarily intended for graduate students (CS/ECE/IST) and motivated seniors who want to learn the latest research advances in distributed systems and cloud computing areas, and are interested in building distributed systems used/demanded by existing/emerging data-intensive applications.

Grading policy

Your grade will be calculated as follows:

30% lab assignments (6% for Lab 0, 12% for Lab 1 and 2 each)
10% midterm exam
10% paper reviews
5% class participation
10% final exam
35% final project

Grading rules

The final grade is computed according to the following rules:

A+: >= 95%; A: [90%, 95%); A-: [85%, 90%)
B+: [80%, 85%); B: [75%, 80%); B-: [70%, 75%)
C+: [66%, 70%); C: [63%, 66%); C-: [60%, 63%)
D+: [56%, 60%); D:[53%, 56%); D-: [50%, 53%)
F: < 50%

Office hours