| 6.033 - Computer System Engineering | Handout 23 - Issued May 2, 2001 |
Read the rest of "Disconnected operation in the Coda file system" by Kistler and Satya, reading #24.
There is no one-pager for today. Work on your Design Project 2. However, think about these questions while reading the Coda paper:
Applications running on top of the Coda filesystem may be unaware that they can become disconnected from their file server(s). Why does this violate the end-to-end argument? Also, what is the main benefit that results from the design of Coda violating the end-to-end argument?
Read the rest of "Availability in the Echo File System" by Swart, Birrell, Hisgen and Mann, reading #25.
Design Project 2 is due today.
This time the late policy is simple: there are
absolutely no extensions.
There is no hands-on for today.
For lecture read chapters 1, 2, and 4 of Brooks' "The Mythical Man-Month". This book is a classic that all systems people should have on their bookshelf. Although slightly old, it contains a unique perspective and advice on building complex systems. You will probably re-read this book several times during the next couple of decades. We all do.
For lecture read chapters 5, 8, and 11 of Brooks' "The Mythical Man-Month". Also read "When professional standards are lax: the CONFIRM failure and its lessons" by Effy Oz, reading #26.
For this recitation, read Larry Press's "Before the Altair: The history of personal computing" (reading #28) and re-read Butler Lampson's "Hints for Computer System Design" (reading #6). If you have misplaced your copy, an online version is available. Try to think about good examples (from 6.033 or elsewhere) for some of the slogans in Lampson's paper. Try to establish connections between this paper and what we have discussed so far in 6.033. Think about the failed systems that we studied in the class and identify the main reason they failed. Did they violate any of Lampson's hints?
There may be one or two project presentations left over from Tuesday. These teams will present today.In this recitation, we will also be gathering feedback. Bring your criticisms, complaints, comments, and accolades about 6.033.
Finally, after wrapping up the discussion, we will hand out our record of quiz, design project, and one-pager grades. If you discover a mistake in our records, please bring the original paper showing your grade to your teaching assistant as soon as possible, but no later than the end of the quiz on Monday, May 21.
Quiz 3 will be from 1:30pm - 2:20pm (50 minute quiz) on Monday, May 21, 2001. The quiz
will be held in Johnson.
The quiz will cover all material from L18 up to and including the May 17th recitation (R26). The quiz will be open book. That means you can bring along any printed or written materials that you think might be useful. Calculators are allowed, though not necessary. The quiz will be mostly multiple choice, similar to quizzes 1 and 2.
The quiz is being held during finals period. The date was announced earlier in the term, so you should not have problems with scheduling conflicts. If, nevertheless, you have managed to create a conflict, contact Prof. Kaashoek at kaashoek@mit.edu as soon as possible to resolve the problem.
Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte non quand il n'y a plus rien
à ajouter, mais quand il n'y a plus rien à retrancher.
(It seems that perfection is attained not when there is nothing
more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away.)
--
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Terre des Hommes (Wind, Sand and
Stars, 1939, Chapter 3 "The Tool")
An aphorism is not an aphorism unless you know what it means.
-- Winston Churchill
Go to 6.033 Home Page
Questions or Comments: 6.033-tas@mit.edu