• DESCRIPTION
• GRADING POLICY
• SYLLABUS
• READINGS
• RESOURCES
• PROJECT
• IMPORTANT DATES
• IMPORTANT RULES

DESCRIPTION :

CS672 is a 3-credit course with CS571 as prerequisite. It introduces the main concepts and techniques needed to plan the capacity of computer systems, predict their future performance under different configurations, and design new applications that meet performance requirements. The course is mainly based on the use of analytic queuing network models of computer systems. These techniques are applied to study the performance of centralized, distributed, parallel, client/server systems, Web server and e-commerce site performance. The course also discusses performance measuring tools for operating systems such as Unix and Windows NT. The course provides the students with hands-on experience in performance evaluation through a project.

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GRADING POLICY:

Grades are based on a midterm, a take-home final, and one project. Grades will be numerical on the scale 0-100. Your final numerical grade, G, is computed as follows:

G =	0.35 * Midterm-grade + 0.30 * Final-grade +
	0.35 * Project_grade

The following table is used to convert the final numerical grade to a letter grade:

G	letter grade
[94,100]	A
[88,94)	A-
[83,88)	B+
[78,83)	B
[65, 78)	C
[0, 65)	F

There is no curving. No extra credit assignments will be given after the semester is over to increase grades. The instructor may decide to give an extra-credit assignment during the semester. Everyone will be given the opportunity to do the extra-credit assignment. Several homeworks will be assigned during the semester but will not considered for the final grade. However, students who turn in all homeworks in time and get most of them correct may receive an upgrade in their letter grade if their numerical grade G is very close to the boundary between two letter grades.

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SYLLABUS:

Week 1:	Introduction to Performance Evaluation and Capacity Planning
Weeks 2:	A Capacity Planning Methodology
Weeks 3:	Building Performance Models of Computer Systems
Weeks 4-5:	System Level Models of Computer Systems
Weeks 6-7:	Efficient Solutions to Performance Models
Week 8:	Midterm
Weeks 9:	Multiclass Performance Models of Computer Systems
Week 10:	Performance Models of Client/Server Systems
Weeks 11-12:	Web Server  and E-commerce Performance
Weeks 13:	Modeling Memory Constraints, CPU Dispatching Priorities, Multiprocessing, and Paging.
Weeks 14:	Software Performance Engineering

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READINGS:

Required text books:

1. D. A. Menascé and V. Almeida, Capacity Planning for Web Services: metrics, models, and methods, Prentice Hall, 2001 (this new book will be available in September).
2. D. A. Menascé, V. Almeida, and L. W. Dowdy, Capacity Planning and Performance Modeling: from mainframes to client-server systems, Prentice Hall, 1994.
3. Slides by D. A. Menascé.

1. Introduction to Computer System Performance Evaluation, K. Kant, McGraw Hill, 1992.
2. Probability, Stochastic Processes, and Queuing Theory, Randolph Nelson, Springer Verlag, 1995.
3. Quantitative System Performance, E. Lazowska, J. Zahorjan, G. Graham, and K. Sevcik, Prentice Hall, 1984.
4. The Benchmark Handbook for Database and Transaction Processing Systems, ed. Jim Gray, Morgan Kauffman, 1991.
5. Configuration and Capacity Planning for Solaris Servers, Brian Wong, Prentice Hall, 1997.
6. Sun Performance and Tuning, second edition, Adrian Cockcroft and Richard Pettit,Prentice Hall, 1998.
7. Simulation with Arena, W. David Kelton, Randall P. Sadowski, Deborah A. Sadowski, McGraw Hill, 1998.

1. Proceedings of the ACM Sigmetrics Conference.
2. Proceedings of the Computer Measurement Group (CMG) Conference Proceedings.

RESOURCES

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Students will work in groups of two to three people. Each team will work on a different project and will make a presentation (a final exhibition) to the whole class. The project presentation is scheduled for the day of the final. Please mark your calendars now. Each group has to turn in a written report describing the performance problem being studied, the model built, the data collection procedures used, the various numerical results, and conclusions obtained. Each member of the group must turn in an individual (one-page) report indicating his/her perception of how the work was distributed among the group members and what the contribution of each was. Students are encouraged to report any breakdowns on group organization and operational aspects as early as possible, so that these problems can be overcome. In order for projects to complete successfully, it is very important to plan all activities and to follow a schedule. Starting to work on a project a few days before it is due will very likely cause problems to its successful completion. A Web page will be developed for the group projects and students are expected to "publish" their projects in html.

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IMPORTANT DATES :

First Day of Classes	August 27, 2001.
Labor Day (no classes)	September 3, 2001.
Columbus recess (no classes)	October 8, 2001.
Midterm	October 15, 2001.
Columbus recess makeup class	October 10, 2001.
Final exam available	November 26, 2001.
Project presentations	December 17, 2001.

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IMPORTANT RULES :

No collaboration is allowed among students in any of the individual exams. Students are allowed to discuss with other students the solution of homework assignments. Collaboration in the project is only allowed within the group.

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