UMBC               Fall 2001
CMSC625        Modeling and Simulation of Computer Systems
Instructor

Dr. Padma Mundur
Computer Science  & Electrical Engineering Department
Office : ECS 217
Phone : (410) 455 3019
Email : pmundur@cs.umbc.edu
Class homepage : http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~pmundur/courses/CMSC625/
Office hours:  Tue and Thu 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm (and by appointment and email)

Teaching Assistant
Poonam Munshi
Office hours:  Tues and Thu 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm (and by appointment and email)

Meeting Time and Place

Monday and Wednesday  5:30 pm - 6:45 pm     Room: Physics 201


Important Dates
Midterm Exam :  October 29, 01
Final Exam :  12/17/01 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Project Due :  December 10, 01
Last Day of Class: December 10, 01

Course Description
This course is deemed essential for every practising computer scientist. List of Topics:

  1. Performance issues in client/server environments
  2. Web server and intranet performance issues
  3. Capacity planning of client/server systems
  4. Workload characterization and forecasting
  5. Using standard industry benchmarks
  6. Performance models using queueing networks
  7. Performance Measurement
Course Objective
At the end of the course, the student will have developed skills in three areas: i) a deeper understanding of the theory behind various performance issues and the associated models for computer systems ; ii) a practical knowledge in designing and implementing a performance evaluation study of a fairly complicated networked computer system architecture using modern software tools; iii) a familiarity with the current research in the performance modeling field.

Grading There will be about 3 - 5 homework assignments.  All homework must be done independently.  No late homework is accepted.

You will be required to work on a semester-long project requiring substantial work.  Project work requires working in a team of 2-3 students.  A detailed description of the project will be provided on the second or the third day of class. Teams will also be assigned at the same time.  A final project report is due on the date shown above.  A demonstration of the project will be scheduled for each team around the same time (1st week of December).  You are also required to pass intermediate milestones. No late projects are accepted.

Midterm and final exams are closed book and conducted in class during the times shown above. Final exam is comprehensive (but more weightage will be given to topics from second half). Makeup exams and incompletes are allowed only under extraordinary circumstances as per University policy.

Important: You are required to obtain a passing grade in each of the grading categories mentioned above to pass the course.

Academic Honesty

Each individual is responsible for his or her own homework. Under no circumstances should written or printed materials be shared. With respect to the project, I would like to see a healthy competition among teams to generate innovative ideas and come up with the best project at the end of the semester.  Photo IDs may be required for admission to exams.