CIS 620 Advanced Operating Systems

Spring 2014

Section 50: 8:00pm-8:50pm MW, BU 208

Prerequisite: CIS 545

Instructor: Timothy Arndt / Office location: BU 331
Office Phone: (216) 687-4779 / Office hours: MW 1:00pm-4:00pm
E-Mail: / Home Page:

Texts:

Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms 2nd Edition, Tannenbaum and Van Steen, Prentice Hall.

Interprocess Communication in Linux: The Nooks and Crannies, Gray, Prentice-Hall. (Available to read free online for CSU students through Safari Tech Books Online)

Other readings from books on Safari Tech Books online.

Last day to drop F, January 24 (without W grade), F, March28 (with W grade).

Final Exam: Monday May 5, 8pm-10pm

Grading

Assignments (3 or 4) 30% Project/Presentation 20% Midterm Exams (2) 26.67% Final Exam 13.33%

I reserve the right to change the weighting and number of assignments.

The following grading scale will be used to calculate final grades (subject to curving if class grades on exams are substantially below expected):

Total percentage earned / Total percentage earned
93 - 100% / A / 80 - 82% / B-
90 - 92% / A- / 70 – 79% / C
87 - 89% / B+ / 69% and below / F
83 - 86% / B

Course policy

(1) Class participation and preparation

  • Class participation and regular attendance are expected. If a student misses a class, the student is responsible for bringing herself/himself up-to-date on class material and assignments.
  • All students are expected to read the assigned chapters prior to coming to class.

(2) Exams

  • Exams will be based on the combination of: material covered in lectures, the assigned reading from the textbooks, material covered in the notes, and lab practice.
  • All exams are closed books and closed notes.

(3) For exams, problems will be multiple choice/true false/short answer as well as problem solving and descriptive problems. For problem solving type questions, mistakes in arithmetic will result in only small deductions while failure to use the correct technique will result in a larger deduction. Any assumptions that you make in answering these types of questions should be written as part of the answer to the question. A small deduction will be made if your answer is very hard to read, so be neat. Illegible answers will receive no credit. For descriptive type questions, if you describe some other entity rather than one asked for, you will receive no credit.

(4) Homework assignments

  • All homework assignments are due at the beginning of class on the specified date. An assignment turned in one day late will get a 10% penalty, two days late will get a 20% penalty, etc. Assignments turned in after the beginning of class on the due date will be counted as one day late and will receive a 10% penalty.
  • All assignments must be individually and independently completed. Should two or more students turn in substantially the same solution or program, in the judgment of the instructor, the solution will be considered a group effort. All involved in a group effort homework will receive a zero grade for that assignment.
  • No late assignment will be accepted after the assignment is graded and returned.

(5) Make-up exams:

  • Make-up exams will only be given in case of serious need and only when the instructor is notified prior to the exam time. If this is not done, the grade is automatically 0 for that exam.
  • Written verification for the student’s inability to take an exam will be required.

(5) Class cancellation:

  • If I need to cancel class for any reason, I will try to put an announcement on the course web page as early as possible.

(6) Submission of programming assignments:

  • Programming assignments are to be done on one (or more) of the departments Unix machines such as merlin, camelot, etc. The departments server, grail, may not be used!
  • All programming is to be done in C
  • When your assignment is complete, you will send me an e-mail message. When I have finished grading your assignment I will send your results by responding to your e-mail message. Therefore, you should only send me this message from an account that you normally monitor!
  • I will test your program by running it from your account; therefore you must set permissions so that I have all necessary permissions. Put your program and all other pertinent files in a subdirectory. In order to access that directory you must give execute permission (‘x’) to others for your home directory as well as any others in the path to the directory where you have your files. That subdirectory should have read and execute permissions for others (‘r’ and ‘x’) and, if your program creates output, others should have write permission (‘w’) as well. All of the files in the directory need to have read permission for others. The executable files need to have execute permission for others set, and if your program will overwrite some output file, the file should have write permission for others. The best way to ensure that everything is working correctly is to test the program from someone else’s account! Even if it works well when you run it, it is not correct until I am able to run it from my account.
  • In the subdirectory containing your program you must have the following files: all source code files, executable files, data files (if required), a text readme file explaining each step required to test the program. Each source code file should be fully documented. Note that I will not compile your program. You must have the executable files ready. Do not modify your files after the due date since that will result in your losing points.
  • In your e-mail message to me your subject line should say: Assignment X, CIS 620 Section Y. In the body of the message you must have the following information: your name, your CSU id, your section, the complete path of the directory where I can find your files, any other information required to test your program. Do not send attachment files in this mail (i.e. a Word document readme file).
  • Failure to follow these rules will result in the loss of points on your assignment.

(7) Grading mistakes

  • All grading mistakes must be corrected within one week of the return of the assignment or exam. No exceptions.
  • It is your responsibility to verify that your exams/assignments have been graded correctly.

UNIVERSITY POLICIES

Diversity statement: This classroom will be a safe and respectful environment that will respect all differences, i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, religion, and will not tolerate discrimination in any form.

Disability statement: Educational access is the provision of classroom accommodations, auxiliary aids and services to ensure equal educational opportunities for all students regardless of their disability. Any student who feels he/she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Disability Services at (216) 687-2015. The office is located in MC 147. Accommodations need to be requested in advance and will not be granted retroactively.

Academic Honesty: All student work should reflect a devotion to academic honesty. As found in The Code of Student Conduct: “The Cleveland State University Academic Community values honesty and integrity and holds its members to high standards of ethical conduct. Academic dishonesty is, therefore, unacceptable, and students must be prepared to accept the appropriate sanctions for any dishonest academic behavior as outlined in this policy on academic misconduct.” (p. 18) Such conduct includes cheating, plagiarism, and tampering. The full code can be found at: or by contacting the Department of Student Life.

Academic Misconduct: Any form of academic misconduct will earn an immediate grade of U/F for the course. In addition, your name will be forwarded to the Academic Misconduct Review Committee, for a hearing concerning your suspension from the University. To be clear, I consider any and every instance of academic misconduct to be a major infraction. I strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the various forms of academic misconduct in the CSU Code of student Conduct. All the work that you hand in must represent your own independent and unique work. It should be distinct from that of every other student in class. If you have questions about this, please ask—it is best to resolve these issues in advance.

All students will adhere to the Viking Creed: We, the Members of the Cleveland State University community, as active citizens in a living and learning environment, bring to our campus a shared vision where “community” means:

Sharing a clear vision of our common purpose / Treating all people fairly, justly and respectfully
Embracing and celebrating our diversity / Collaborating toward a common goal
Exhibiting caring and trust involving students at all levels / Connecting Cleveland State University with our Greater Community
Embracing CSU as the metropolitan education center of Cleveland / Learning in and out of the classroom
Celebrating ourselves through traditions / Taking responsibility to lead, to listen and to serve
Sharing power and influence / Committing to life-long learning and personal growth
As member of the Cleveland State University community, we have an individual and a shared responsibility to practice the Viking Community Creed in order to create a campus of inclusion, respect, integrity and purpose

Cancellation of Class due to Weather: Class will not be cancelled due to weather unless the University is closed. Check CSU’s main webpage ( for announcements. If CSU is open, class will proceed as scheduled, including any quizzes, exams or deadlines that arescheduled.