UMBC CMSC 491F/691F UMBC | CSEE | CMSC 491F/691F | Spring 2000

CMSC 491F/691F

File Systems & Mass Storage

Instructor: Dr. Ethan Miller (elm@csee.umbc.edu)
Time: 4:30 - 7 PM Wednesday
Room: ECS 210I (CSEE conference room)
Office hours: Wed 3-4 PM, Thu 4-5 PM
Prerequisites: CMSC 421 or CMSC 621 (instructor's permission required for undergraduates)

Overview

In this seminar, we will discuss a wide variety of issues regarding file systems and mass storage. Students in the seminar are responsible for reading each paper before the class in which it is discussed, and are expected to participate actively in class discussions. Each paper will be "presented" by someone in the class (student or instructor); this person will briefly summarize the key points in the paper and help lead the subsequent discussion.

We will cover the following topics during the semester:

  1. Introduction to File Systems
    1. History
    2. Background
  2. Storage Devices
    1. Disks & disk arrays
    2. Tapes
    3. Benchmarks & performance
  3. Modern Uniprocessor File Systems
    1. Disk layout
    2. Caching policies
  4. Distributed File Systems
    1. Data distribution
    2. Replication & consistency
  5. High-Performance & Parallel File Systems
  6. Tertiary Storage & File Migration
  7. Storage in a Mobile Environment
  8. Extending the File System
  9. File Systems for Multimedia

Project

All students in CMSC 491F/691F must complete a project in an area related to file systems & mass storage. Students may work alone or in groups up to 3 people on any storage-related topic of their choosing. There will be regular checkpoints during the semester to ensure that the project remains on schedule to be completed by the beginning of May. Please see the project information page for specific deadlines and more information.

Quizzes

There will be four short (10 minute) pop quizzes during the semester. The quizzes will be closed book, but all of the questions will be easy to answer if you've read the papers — the purpose of the quizzes is to ensure that you're doing the reading. You'll get a pass/fail grade for each quiz; if you aren't in class when the quiz is given, you receive a fail for that quiz unless you have an acceptable excuse (medical or work-related) for missing class. You must pass three out of the four quizzes in order to pass the class; other than that requirement, the quizzes have no effect on your grade.

Exams

There will be a take-home final in the class. This exam will consist of a few essay questions based on the material we've covered in class. Your answers will be graded for thoughtfulness and insight as well as for grammar, spelling, and writing style. However, the final exam will not involve detailed mathematical calculations, and there won't be a single right answer for any question.

Grading

Grades in the class will be based on three things: participation in class discussions (30%), the take-home final exam (20%), and the semester project (50%). Note that your project grade includes a score for your presentation and paper, and is thus not based solely on the quality of the research work that went into the project (though quality of research is a strong consideration as well).


Syllabus | News & Notes | Reading List | Project Info

This page has been visited by people.

Last updated 15 Dec 1999 by Ethan Miller (elm@csee.umbc.edu)