M.I.T. DEPARTMENT OF EECS
| 6.033 - Computer System Engineering |
Handout 17 |
Assignment 8: April 9 through April 17
For Recitation, Thursday, April 9 (R17: More Fault-Tolerance)
The reading for today is "High-availability computer systems" by Gray and
Siewiorek, reading #28. This paper is a heavy duty paper; read it with care.
It introduces some terminology and tries to build an appreciation of the
difficulty in attaining continually available systems.
In addition, read "The space shuttle primary computer system" by Spector
and Gifford, reading #30. This paper is quite long; you can skim much
of the paper, but as you do so slow down enough to figure out the following
things: How are they using redundancy? What is force-fight voting? What are
alibis?
The second Design Project will be available today on the Web. Form a
3-person team with two other students as soon as possible, and send an
e-mail message to your recitation instructor some time before next Thursday
listing the members of your team. All students in a team should have the
same recitation instructor, since he will be grading your Design Project 2
paper. Note that the
student page of the 6.033 Web site contains an up-to-date list of
potential team members.
We will hand out example questions for Quiz 2 today. Quiz 2 is next
Friday (April 17).
For Lecture, Monday, April 13 (L18: Transactions)
Second lecture on fault-tolerant computing. No specific reading assignment
for today. Take some time to think about Design Project 2.
For Recitation, Tuesday, April 14 (R18: RAID)
Today's reading is
"Disk system architectures for high performance computing" by Katz et al.,
reading #29. This paper describes how to build high-availability storage
systems using disk arrays; its terminology is used by industry today.
Sections I through IV can be skimmed; the key section to focus on is
Section V. (If you aren't familiar with how disks work, it is worth reading
the first four paragraphs of section II carefully and also paying a little,
but not much, more attention to section IV.)
No reading report due this week. Study for the quiz.
Also, you might want to spend some time thinking about Design Project 2.
For Lecture, Wednesday, April 15 (L19: Implementing Transactions)
Second lecture on transactions (third on fault-tolerant computing). No
assigned reading today. Even more time for you to work on Design Project 2,
and to study for the quiz.
For Recitation, Thursday, April 16 (R19: Cirrus Banking Network)
Read the Cirrus banking paper, reading #32, "The Cirrus banking network"
by Gifford and Spector. This paper talks about the other kind of
ATMs--Automated Teller Machines. It describes one ATM network and how it
achieves security and high-availibility so you can get your money from an
ATM anytime and anywhere.
You should have sent your recitation instructor
e-mail listing your three-person Design Project 2 team by today.
For Quiz 2, Friday, April 17
For latest Quiz 2 information, see the
News page on the 6.033 web site.
System aphorism of the week
KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.