The main work of this class is to read frequently and deeply, while
working toward a group research project of publishable quality.
Each student will be individually responsible for writing up a short
summary of every paper. There will be one midterm exam (albeit near
the end), and no final exam. Research projects are a critical aspect
of the course. Your goal is to do some quality systems research;
that is, to add to our understanding of how to build systems.
Research projects must be written up in a term paper, and will be
presented in a poster in a departmental mini-conference.
Suggested project ideas will be provided by the instructors, but you
are strongly encouraged to come up with your own project ideas.
Potential projects include implementation or analysis of some piece of
an OS, a DBMS, or an Internet service; extending one of these systems
with new functionality; or measurement and analysis of existing
systems with the goal of better understanding issues in system
design.