Preparation for MapReduce recitation

Like GFS, this paper uses the term "master", which is outdated language that the community is moving away from (see here and here for examples of alternate terms). We use the word "controller" below in place of "master", just like in GFS.

After reading through Section 3, you should be able to understand and explain Figure 1 (the "Execution overview") in detail (explaining that figure is a great test of your MapReduce knowledge, as you get ready to prepare for a future exam). After reading Sections 5 and 6, you should understand the real-world performance of MapReduce. An example question that you should be able to answer: How do stragglers effect performance?

As you read, think about the following:

Question for Recitation

Before you come to this recitation, you'll turn in a brief answer to the following questions (really—we don't need more than a sentence or so for each question). Your TA will be in touch about exactly how to turn that in.

Your answers to these questions should be in your own words, not direct quotations from the paper.

As always, there are multiple correct answers for each of these questions.

Notes

Supplemental notes for this recitation. These, along with our Sunday office hours are intended to help students who had to miss a recitation due to isolation, but they're also a useful resource for preparing for exams.