George Mason
University
School of Information Technology and
Engineering
Computer Science Department
Spring 2004: CS571, Section 001:
Operating Systems
UNDER 
CONSTRUCTION
[ this frame last updated: April 28, 2004 ]
Meets: Mondays, 7:20PM-10:00PM,
Room ST1-122
First Class: Monday, January 26
Spring Recess: March 7-14
No Class Meeting: Monday, March 15 (Dr. Foxwell on travel)
Last Class: Monday, May 3
Final Exam/Project: May 10
Instructor: Harry J. Foxwell, Ph.D.,
571-203-6704, hfoxwell@cs.gmu.edu
Course Web Page: http://cs.gmu.edu/~hfoxwell
Office Hours: TBD
TA: Youn-Hee Kim, ykim9@gmu.edu (for appointments, etc), ykim9@cs2.gmu.edu (for homework, programs, etc)
TA Office Hours: ST-2 room 422A, TUE 12:00pm-2:00pm and WED 4:30pm-6:30pm
Textbook: Operating
System Concepts with Java, Sixth Edition, Silberschatz, Galvin,
and Gagne, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., ©2004, ISBN:
0-471-48905-0,
Textbook
Web Site
Announcements:
- In the event of inclement weather that may cause a class delay or
closing, please call 703-993-1000,
listen to your local radio/TV news, or check the main GMU web site.
- If you will miss a class for some reason, please notify Dr.
Foxwell via phone or email.
- Monday, January 26, 2004...UNIVERSITY CLOSED DUE TO SNOW
- Monday, March 8, 2004...NO CLASS MEETING...SPRING BREAK>
- Monday, March 22, 2004...midterm exam, projects and papers due
- Dr. Foxwell will be in classroom ST1-122 on March 8 (usual time and place) to discuss or advise on projects and papers
Course
Description:
From Catalog: CS571: Operating Systems
(3:3:0). Prerequisites: CS 310 and 365. Models
of operating systems. Major functions including processes, memory
management, I/O, interprocess communication, files, directories,
shells, distributed systems, performance, and user interface.
We will learn about and discuss core operating system concepts, with
some emphasis on observing/measuring OS behaviors under stress or
resource exhaustion. We will also explore contemporary
issues/trends in OS development. Readings will include textbook
chapters and published research papers; course content will generally
focus on UNIX-related operating systems (Solaris, Linux, OS X).
Assignments will include written reports, brief student presentations,
and programming projects.
Topic
Schedule (some topics may span more than one class session):
- Chapter 4: Processes
- Chapter 5: Threads
- Chapter 6: CPU Scheduling
- Chapter 7: Process Synchronization
- Chapter 8: Deadlocks
- Chapter 9/10: Memory Management and Virtual Memory
- Chapters 11-14: File Systems and I/O
- Chapters 15-17: Distributed Systems
- Performance Modeling
Class meets from 7:20pm to 10:00pm; we will start on time, so please
don't be late. Generally, we will break the class into two
segments, with a short
break at approximately 8:40pm. The first class segment will
usually focus on core curriculum topics; the second segment will
usually focus on contemporary OS issues, OS observation and measurement
techniques, and on student interaction and discussion/presentation of
assignments.
Reading
Assignments (all students):
- Read and adhere to the Academic Policies and
Honor Code
- Read and adhere to the Responsible
Use of Computing policy
- Textbook:
- Chapters 1,2,3, 22 (complete before Feb 2)
- Chapters 20, 21 (complete before Feb 16)
- Appendix E (complete before Feb 16)
- Appendix D (complete before Mar 22)
- ...additional Chapter assignments TBD
Writing Assignments
:
- Short research papers(4-5 pages)
- Summarize and critique, and give a brief presentation in class
on a published OS research paper. Topic assigned by instructor or
approved student-selected topic
- Detailed/longer research papers
- In-depth exploration of assigned topic or approved student-selected topic. Includes discussion of core OS principles; may include program/data analysis
Research Paper Topics (Single OS Instance)
Research Paper Topics (Distributed Computing)
Project Assignments (all
students):
- mid-semester project (required)
- final project (project OR long research paper OR final exam)
Written assignments should be submitted electronically, not later than the specified due date, via email
attachment. Please use PDF (prefered), PostScript, HTML, or
StarOffice/OpenOffice format; Microsoft formats are okay, but then I'll
have to convert them.
Grading:
Subjective: assignments and
participation:
A: consistently above and beyond course/assignment
requirements
B: meets and occasionally exceeds course/assignment
requirements
C: minimally meets course/assignment requirements
F: fails to meet minimal course/assignment
requirements
Objective: (see also Graduate
Policies for other grade categories)
A : 94-100%
A-: 88-93%
B+: 83-87%
B : 78-82%
C : 65-77%
F : 0-64%
Other
Resources:
CS571-002,
taught by Dr. Hakan Aydin
CS Department listing of past courses and
syllabi
A Sysadmin's Unixersal
Translator (ROSETTA STONE)
The table of equivalents/replacements/analogs of Windows software in Linux
Linux Trace Toolkit
Fast Kernel Tracing
DTrace
Inside Microsoft Windows 2000, Third Edition: Chapter 6: Processes, Threads, and Jobs
Tools for Windows
Windows Services for UNIX
Unix Timeline