Course Description

Computer network architecture and protocols. Routing, congestion, and flow control. Client-server models and remote procedure calls. Topics may include algorithms for broadcasting, check pointing, termination detection, and other problems. Prerequisites: Admission to MS in CS program, or consent of department, plus CS 3270 or equivalent.

Course Syllabus

1. Review of Computer Network Concepts
   1. Technologies: Ethernet, Token Ring, ATM
   2. Protocol Layers
   3. Transport Level Protocols
2. Client/Server Computing
   1. Client roles
   2. Server roles
3. Distributed System Protocols and OS
   1. Interprocess Communication with Case Study
   2. Remote Procedure Calls with Case Study
   3. Protocols for Distributed Systems
   4. Network File Systems
      1. File System Characteristics
      2. Access Control
   5. Name Servers
   6. Distributed Operating Systems
      1. Structure of the OS Kernel
      2. Processes and Threads
   7. Clock Synchronization
      1. Physical and Logical Clocks
      2. Clock Synchronization Algorithms
   8. Security
      1. Cryptography and Public Key Encryption
      2. Digital Signatures and Authentication
      3. The Kerberos System
4. Distributed Algorithms
   1. Distributed Transactions
      1. Characteristics of Distributed Transactions
      2. Two-Phase Commit Protocol
      3. Concurrency Control
         1. Locking
         2. Timestamp Ordering
   2. Mutual Exclusion
   3. Deadlock Resolution
   4. Load Balancing
   5. Fault Tolerance/Recovery
   6. Developing Distributed Software Applications