Operating Systems
CSCI-GA.2250-001, Summer 2015

Note: I will post important short-term notices here

General Information

Lecture:	Mon 6:00P- 8:20P Weaver CIWW 1302
Instructor:	Hubertus Franke, frankeh@cs.nyu.edu
TAs/Graders:	Vikram Mullachery, mv333@nyu.edu Xiangbo Liang, xl1129@nyu.edu
Office Hours: and TA Assignment	[0-9] Franke: Mon 8:20 - 9:20 PM after class [A-N] Mullachery: Tue 4:00 - 5:00 PM, 13th floor lounge [O-Z] Liang: Wed 4:00 - 5:00 PM, 13th floor lounge
Prerequisites:	Common CS knowledge and some programming skills.
Text book:	Author: Andrew Tannenbaum Title: Modern Operating Systems Edition: 4th (you will also survive 3rd) Publisher: Prentice Hall ISBN-13: 978-0-12-3591620 or 978-0-13-6006663-2 ISBN-10: 0-13-359162X or 0-13-600663-9

This course is an introductory course in operating systems (OS), focusing on the core concepts of operating systems. The emphasis will be on understanding general concepts that are applicable to a wide range of operating systems, rather than a discussion of the features of any one specific system. Topics that will be covered include:

OS histories, i.e. types of operating systems and what which one stuck,
protected kernels,
processes and threads,
concurrency and synchronization, deadlocks and preventions,
memory management, virtual memory and computer architecture facilitating it (pagetables, segmentation),
file systems,
secondary storage.

Examples will be from Unix/Linux. Programming assignments will be based on C or C++ as Operatings Systems are implemented that way. You will initially not be required to have C or C++ knowledge, but after the first of four labs you will have to move over to C/C++.

This course does not assume that you have taken an Operating Systems course as an undergraduate, or that you have had extensive experience working with one. In fact, if you have taken such a course or have a fair amount of practical experience with OS internals, this course is probably too elementary for you. Please take a look at the course schedule to get a sense of the topics that will be covered: if you can explain most of the terms contained there, you are likely looking for a more advanced course. We will NOT be "hacking" on an operating system but will have lab assignments that deal with the fundamental elements such as different process schedulers and memory management algorithms. It will allow you to get and experiment with the concept rather than spending endless hours debugging tedious operating system code.

Grades

Grades are based on the labs, the midterm and final exam, each being important. The weighting will be:

Lab Assignments 55%

MidTerm 15%

Final 30%

This is a graduate level class, so I am looking for lively interactions during the class and not just presence.
The midterm will be given on TBD.
The final will be given on TBD.

Class Materials, Handouts, Lectures and Assignments (will be made avail before classes)

Date	Topic	Handouts	Readings	Assignments
6/1	Introduction: Computer System Architectures (what does the OS manage)	Class Overview , Introduction to O/S	Chapter 1	lab1 (6/16)
6/8	Processes and Threads	Operating System Structures, Process & Threads	Chapter 2.1 & 2.2
6/15	Scheduling	Process/Thread Scheduling	Chapter 2.3+	lab2 (6/30)
6/22	Concurrency	Concurrency	Chapter 2.3+ , Chapter 6
6/29	Memory Management 1	Memory Management 1	Chapter 3
7/6	MIDTERM (60Mins) + Memory Management 2	Memory Management 1 (cont)	Chapter 3	lab3 (7/21)
7/13	Memory Management 3	Memory Management 2
7/20	I/O	Input/Output	Chapter 5	lab4 (8/4)
7/24 (pulled forward due to conflict on 7/27	File Systems	FileSystems	Chapter 4
8/3	Networking/Advanced Topics/ Review	Networking AdvancedTopics	(slides only)
8/10	FINAL

Computer Accounts and Mailman Mailing List

You are entitled to a computer account on one of the NYU sun machines. If you do not have one already, please get it asap.
Sign up for the Mailman mailing list for the course once it is setup. You can do so by clicking mailing_list
If you want to send mail just to me, use my-last-name AT nyu DOT edu not the mailing list.
Questions on the labs should go to the mailing list. You may answer questions posed on the list as well. Note that replies are sent to the list.
I will respond to all questions; if another student has answered the question before I get to it, I will confirm if the answer given is correct.

Several labs (programming assignments) across the semester will provide practical implementations of operating system concepts such as processor scheduling and memory management. These assignments are accepted in C or C++.

Labs (aka programming assignments)

Due several lectures later (date given on assignment).
Graded and form part of your final grade.
Penalized for lateness. The penalty is 2 points per day. Start your lab early and finish on time !!!
Computer programs YOU must write.

Doing Labs on non-NYU Systems

You may solve lab assignments on any system you wish, but ...

You are responsible for any non-nyu machine. I extend deadlines if the nyu machines are down, not if yours are.
Be sure to test your assignments on the nyu systems. In an ideal world, a program written in a high level language like Java, C, or C++ that works on your system would also work on the NYU system used by the grader. Sadly, this ideal is not always achieved despite marketing claims that it is achieved. So, although you may develop your lab on any system, you must ensure that it runs on the nyu system assigned to the course.
If somehow your assignment is misplaced by me and/or a grader, we need a to have some timestamp ON AN NYU SYSTEM that can be used to verify the date the lab was completed. So once the lab is completed and safely located on an NYU system, do not touch it since that will change the time stamps on the file. Best is
When you complete a lab and have it on an nyu system, email the lab to the grader and copy yourself on that message. Please use one of the following two methods of mailing the lab.
1. Send the mail from your CIMS account. (Not all students have a CIMS account.)
2. Use the request receipt feature from home.nyu.edu or mail.nyu.edu and select the when delivered option.
Keep the copy until you have received your grade on the assignment. I realize that I am being paranoid about this. It is rare for labs to get misplaced, but they sometimes do and I really don't want to be in the middle of an I sent it ... I never received it debate. Thank you.

Obtaining Help with the Labs

Good methods for obtaining help include

Asking the TA during office hours (see web page for their hours).
Asking me during office hours or after class (see web page for my hours).
Asking the mailing list.
Asking another student, but ...
Your lab must be your own.
That is, each student must submit a unique lab. Naturally, simply changing comments, variable names, etc. does not produce a unique lab.

Graduate cs.nyu.edu courses:	http://cs.nyu.edu/webapps/summer2015/courses
Graduate cs.nyu.edu schedule:	http://cs.nyu.edu/webapps/summer2015/Graduate/courses
Academic integrity policy:	http://cs.nyu.edu/web/Academic/Graduate/academic_integrity.html

Operating Systems
CSCI-GA.2250-001, Summer 2015

General Information

Course Description

Grades

Class Materials, Handouts, Lectures and Assignments (will be made avail before classes)

Computer Accounts and Mailman Mailing List

Labs (aka programming assignments)

Doing Labs on non-NYU Systems

Obtaining Help with the Labs

See also

Operating Systems CSCI-GA.2250-001, Summer 2015

General Information

Course Description

Grades

Class Materials, Handouts, Lectures and Assignments (will be made avail before classes)

Computer Accounts and Mailman Mailing List

Labs (aka programming assignments)

Doing Labs on non-NYU Systems

Obtaining Help with the Labs

See also

Operating Systems
CSCI-GA.2250-001, Summer 2015