Syllabus CS [4|5]113

Operating Systems Theory (Fall 2019)

Class hours: Tuesday/Thursday 12:00 - 1:15pm
Location: Sarkeys Energy Ctr, M0204

Instructors

Dr. Christan Grant

Email: cgrant@ou.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 1:30 - 3:00
Location: Devon Energy Hall 234

Note: Any email messages to the professors or teaching assistants must include cs5113 or cs4113 in the subject line. Any email without this string in the subject line will likely be filtered as junk.

External Tutors

The William Kerber Teaching Scholars will be available for questions during the times listed below. Note that these assistants can provide general help with programming, compiling and editing, but will not know about the class projects. All of their office hours will be held in DEH 115.

CS ADP Senior Melissa Wilson and CS Senior Nathan Huffman are available at the following times:

Day	Times
Mondays	8a - 11:45a 1p - 5p
Tuesdays	10:45a - 11:45p 1p - 5p
Wednesdays	8a - 11:45a 1p - 5p
Thursdays	10:45a - 11:45p 1p - 5p
Fridays	8a - 11:45a 1p - 5p

The above times are subject to change

Prerequisites

The prerequisite for this course is Introduction to Operating Systems, CS 3113 or equivalent. Students are expected to have experience critically reading research papers. Student should have some experience building or evaluating large systems.

Course Details

This first half of the course will cover the key distirbuted operating systems topics. These topics includes, advanced architectures, processes, communication and coordination. The second half of the course the class will be reading and presenting important distributed systems papers.

Student Outcomes

In addition to learning the approprate material, by the end of the semester, students will increase their:

C: An ability to design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs.
I: An ability to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates comprehension of the trade-offs involved in design choices.

Learning Management System

Course website is http://github.com/oudalab/cs5113fa19. We will also use the Canvas learning system. This course website can be reached through canvas.ou.edu. Please check system page regularly to keep informed of all announcements, updates, and changes.

Course Materials

Required Textbooks:

M. van Steen and A.S. Tanenbaum, Distributed Systems, 3rd ed., distributed-systems.net, 2017. (ISBN 978-1543057386)

Note, a free digital copy may be available online from the author.

Computer Accounts and Software

Increasingly, software is developed and executed in “the cloud”. This semester the class will make heavy use of a popular cloud infrastructure. Students should be able to deploying containers virtual machines with various configurations, across linux servers. All students enrolled in class should also have a CS account and access to a Linux-based systems in the CS department. For most computer science students, an account will be automatically created. If not, you can send an email to the course instructors. All code written for this course MUST run using the compilers or interpreters that will be specified for the assignments. It is your responsibility to ensure that your code runs on these systems. For compatibility reasons, we recommend developing and testing on a Linux-based machine.

Course Policies

Attendance: You are expected to attend all of the class lectures.
Readings: For each lecture day, the course schedule lists a set of readings. You are responsible for this material before class begins.
Laptop Computers: It is the responsibility of each student in this class to have a working laptop computer with ample battery (at least 2 hours of life under moderate usage) and wireless Internet connectivity. You must bring the laptop computer to class. If your computer requires repair during the semester, it is your responsibility to make arrangements to have another computer available and to get the necessary software installed. There exist campus resources (including financial help) to repair broken computers; please see the instructors if you would like information about these programs. Note that temporarily borrowing a computer from a fellow student in the class can present a number of problems, including the potential for academic misconduct.
Newsgroups and Email: The newsgroup on Canvas should be the primary method of communication (outside of class). This allows everyone in the class to benefit from the answer to your question, and provides students with more timely answers since the TAs and instructors check Canvas at least once a day. Matters of personal interest should be directed to email instead of to the newsgroup, e.g. informing the instructors of an extended personal illness.
Incompletes: The grade of “I” is intended for the rare circumstance when a student who has been successful in a class has an unexpected event occur shortly before the end of the class. We will not consider giving a student a grade of “I” unless the following three conditions have been met:
1. It is within two weeks of the end of the semester.
2. The student has a grade of C or better in the class.
3. The reason that the student cannot complete the class is properly documented and compelling.
Religious Holidays: It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays.
Classroom Conduct: Because cell phones and laptops can distract substantially from the classroom experience, students are asked not to use either during class, except in cases in which they are required as part of a classroom exercise. Disruptions of class will also not be permitted. In the case of disruptive behavior, we may ask that you leave the classroom and may charge you with a violation of the Student Code of Responsibilities and Conduct. Examples of disruptive behavior include:
- Allowing a cell phone or pager to repeatedly beep audibly.
- Playing music or computer games during class in such a way that they are visible or audible to other class members.
- Exhibiting erratic or irrational behavior.
- Behavior that distracts the class from the subject matter or discussion.
- Making physical or verbal threats to a faculty member, teaching assistant, or class member.
- Refusal to comply with faculty or teaching assistant direction.

Proper Academic Conduct

Feel free to discuss all assignments with the instructors or the TAs.
Code (projects and homework): you may discuss code solutions with other students. However:
1. You may not look at or share code with others;
2. If you discuss a solution with anyone, you must document their names in your assignment;
3. If you use an external resources (e.g. StackOverflow.com) you must document this in your code.
Make sure that your computer account is properly protected. Use an appropriate password, and do not give your friends access to your account or your computer system. Do not leave printouts, computers or thumb drives around a laboratory where others might access them.
Programming projects will be checked by software designed to detect collaboration. This software is extremely effective and has withstood repeated reviews by the campus judicial processes.
Upon the first documented occurrence of inappropriate collaborative work or of taking a solution from a network resource, the instructors will report the academic misconduct to the Campus Judicial Coordinator. The procedure to be followed is documented in the University of Oklahoma Academic Misconduct Code (http://integrity.ou.edu). Both the provider of a solution and the receiver of a solution will be treated equally in the misconduct process.

Grading

Points for this class will come from a variety of sources. The different components are weighted as follows:

	Percentage
Class Summaries	20%
Reviews	20%
Projects	20%
Midterm	20%
Final	20%
	100%

To perform well, this class demands a lot of critical reading and reviews. Students are highly-encouraged to complete and submit assignments early at every opportunity. Undergraduate students will have a fewer assignments.

Of the 17 homework assignments, or topic summaries, graduate students must submit 15 and undergraduate students must submit 12. Of the 13 review papers, graduate students must submit 11 reviews and undergraduate students must submit 9 review papers. If students submit more of the required assignments, the highest scores will be kept. Each homework assignment will be submitted through Canvas. No late assignments will be accepted.

Updated grading:

Reviews (20%) – Class and paper reviews

Presentations (5%) of the reviews grande
Graduate: top 11 of 14 reviews will be counted
Undergraduate: top 9 of 14 reviews will be counted

Midterm (20%) Final (20%) Project (20%) Summaries (20%) – (including exam questions)

Graduate: top 16 of 19 exam questions will be counted
Undergraduate top 15 of 19 exam questions will be counted

The course contains one group large group project with four phases. Instructions will be given in the first half of the semester and deadlines will be across the second half. In the project, all but the first part will be done in groups. Part one of the project will be a type of hello world to distributed systems to ensure everyone has fundamental knowledge. The second deadline is to make sure groups have integrated and have initial funcionality. The third deadline, individuals will have to design and implement unit tests for the other groups. The final report and project will be due on the fourth deadline. All students will be encourage to complete assignments well before each deadline. Early submissions may receive extra credit. All deadlines will be on class days before the start of class.

See the class schedule for more detail on assignments.

Submission Format

For written student submissions should only be .txt files, portable document format .pdf, or Markdown.md. Files of type .doc, .docx, or .rtf will not be accepted. Compressed files should be of type .gz or .tar.gz. Files of the .rar format will notmbe accepted. Other file types, particularly coding files, may be used in the class. The expected file type will be stated. Often, files packaged under non-Unix/Linux flavored operating systems, such as Windows, have a non-negative number of compatibility issues with our grading systems. If the graders cannot open files for these reasons, the project will not receive credit.

Late Policy

No late work will be accepted! Work completed and submitted early may earn extra credit.

Midterm and Final Exams

As required by the university, the course will have both a midterm and a comprehensive final exam. Both undergraduate and graduate students will need to take both exams. The midterm will take place in class. The final exam will take place on Monday, 12/09, from 1:30–3:30 am in Sarkeys Energy Center M0204.

Final Grade Scale

Grade cut-offs will be at or below the traditional 90, 80, 70, etc. cut-offs.

Grade questions

All grading questions must be addressed within one week of the graded exam being returned.

Please note that when an exam/assignment is brought with grading questions, we may examine the entire exam/assignment and your final grade may end up lower.

Canvas Grade Summary

Canvas has a grade book that is used to store the data that are used to calculate your course grade. It is the responsibility of each student in this class to check their grades on Canvas after each assignment is returned. If an error is found, bring the graded document to any of the instructors or TAs, and we will correct Canvas.

Student Evaluations:

The College of Engineering utilizes student ratings as one of the bases for evaluating the teaching effectiveness of each of its faculty members. The results of these forms are important data used in the process of awarding tenure, making promotions, and giving salary increases. In addition, the faculty uses these forms to improve their own teaching effectiveness. The original request for the use of these forms came from students, and it is students who eventually benefit most from their use. Please take this task seriously and respond as honestly and precisely as possible, both to the machine-scored items and to the open-ended questions.

Miscellaneous

Course Evaluations

Reasonable Accommodation

The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course are requested to speak with the professor as early in the semester as possible. Students with disabilities must be registered with the Office of Disability Services prior to receiving accommodations in this course. The Office of Disability Services is located in the University Community Center at 730 College Avenue; the phone is 405-325-3852 or TDD only is 403-325-4173.

Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact one of the instructors as soon as possible to discuss. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based temporary disability. Please see http://www.ou.edu/eoo/faqs/pregnancy-faqs.html for commonly asked questions.

Technical Support

For OU IT support, please phone (405) 325-HELP. For help with issues pertaining to any CS department machine (in room DEH 115). There is a OU SharePoint site that you can use for reference https://sooners.sharepoint.com/sites/OUCSTutorials. Please contact the system administrator John Mueller at jmueller@ou.edu.

Title IX Resources

For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24.7, counseling services, mutual no-contact orders, scheduling adjustments and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office 405-325-2215 (8-5) or the Sexual Assault Response Team 405-615-0013 (24.7) to learn more or to report an incident.

Reporting Incidents

The University is also committed to ensuring that all students, faculty, and staff are aware of their options should they experience sexual misconduct or harassment. Those who wish to report an incident to the University may do so by contacting the Sexual Misconduct Office at (405) 325-2215 or smo@ou.edu, or by completing the online complaint form found here. Incidents of sexual misconduct or harassment may also be reported to confidential University resources, such as counseling services at (405) 325-2911 or OU Advocates. OU Advocates is a 24-hour confidential crisis line available to the entire OU community for advocacy assistance with medical services, reporting options, academic support, and much more. OU Advocates can be reached at (405) 615-0013. More information about reporting options and available support resources can be found here.

24-Hour Reporting Hotline

As an additional measure of protection for our students, faculty, and staff, the University implemented the 24-Hour Reporting Hotline. This hotline takes reports of bias, discrimination, physical or mental harassment, or misconduct by members of the University community. Callers will be referred to resources as needed and reports will be forwarded to campus departments as appropriate. The 24-Hour Reporting Hotline can be accessed by calling (844) 428-6531 or going online to ou.ethicspoint.com.

Emergency Protocol

During an emergency, there are official university procedures that will maximize your safety.

Severe Weather

If you receive an OU Alert to seek refuge or hear a tornado siren that signals severe weather

LOOK for severe weather refuge location maps located inside most OU buildings near the entrances
SEEK refuge inside a building. Do not leave one building to seek shelter in another building that you deem safer. If outside, get into the nearest building.
GO to the building’s severe weather refuge location. If you do not know where that is, go to the lowest level possible and seek refuge in an innermost room. Avoid outside doors and windows.
GET IN, GET DOWN, COVER UP.
WAIT for official notice to resume normal activities.

Link to Severe Weather Refuge Areas

Severe Weather Preparedness - Video

Armed Subject/Campus Intruder

If you receive an OU Alert to shelter-in-place due to an active shooter or armed intruder situation or you hear what you perceive to be gunshots:

GET OUT: If you believe you can get out of the area WITHOUT encountering the armed individual, move quickly towards the nearest building exit, move away from the building, and call 911.
HIDE OUT: If you cannot flee, move to an area that can be locked or barricaded, turn off lights, silence devices, spread out, and formulate a plan of attack if the shooter enters the room.
TAKE OUT: As a last resort fight to defend yourself.

For more information, visit http://www.ou.edu/emergencypreparedness.html

Shots Fired on Campus Procedure - Video

Fire Alarm/General Emergency

If you receive an OU Alert that there is danger inside or near the building, or the fire alarm inside the building activates:

LEAVE the building. Do not use the elevators.
KNOW at least two building exits
ASSIST those that may need help
PROCEED to the emergency assembly area
ONCE safely outside, NOTIFY first responders of anyone that may still be inside building due to mobility issues.
WAIT for official notice before attempting to re-enter the building.

OU Fire Safety on Campus

4.10 FINAL EXAM PREPARATION PERIOD (via faculty handbook)

Pre-finals week will be defined as the seven calendar days before the first day of finals. Faculty may cover new course material throughout this week.

4.10.1 Student-Faculty Policies and Information

(A) Assignmentsor projects worth less than 10 percent combined total of a student’s grade may be assigned at any time prior to pre-finals week and may be due during pre-finals week. However, no assignmentsor projects may be due on the last two days of pre-finals week. Quizzes may be given during pre-finals week, but cannot account for more than 3% combined total of the final grade. Exams may not be given during pre-finals week.

(B) Assignments, take-home examinations, in-class examinations, or projects worth more than 10 percent of a student’s grade must be scheduled at least 30 days prior to the first day of finals and must be due or given prior to pre-finals week. Any assignment that is to take the entire semester to complete may be accepted or presented during the first three weekdays of pre-finals week provided the syllabus explicitly states that the assignment can be turned in prior to pre-finals week.

(C) Special casesdeviating fromthe Final Exam Preparation Period policy must be clearly stated in the course syllabus and approved by the chair of the department through which the course is offered. If the professor is the chair of the department, the professor must have these special cases approved by the dean of the college in which said department resides. If the professor is the dean of the college in which the course is taught, the professor must have these special cases approved by the Senior Vice President and Provost.

(D) Special requests made by a student for an extension of assignment deadlines into pre-finals week may be granted subject to the discretion of the instructor.

(E) Final Exam Preparation Period policies must be placed in the course syllabus underneath the University Policy section. This policy applies only to 16-week courses during the spring and fall semesters.

This policy excludes make-up assignments, make-up tests, and laboratory examinations. It also does not apply to classes meeting one day a week for more than one hour or to classes without a university-scheduled final exam time during finals week.

All University laboratory classes and graduate courses are exempt from this policy.

No Student Government Association (SGA) Registered Student Organizations (RSO’s) may hold meetings, banquets, or receptions or sponsor or participate in any activity, program, or related function that requires student participation during pre-finals week.

Violations to this policy should be reported to the chair of the department in which the course is taught or, in special circumstances, to the dean of the college and may be grounds for grade appeal.