Colloquium Details
Your host is a distributed system!
Speaker: Midhul Vuppalapati, Cornell University
Location: 60 Fifth Avenue 150
Date: March 5, 2026, 2 p.m.
Host: Prof. Lakshmi Subramanian
Synopsis:
The host architecture has evolved rapidly over the past decade: modern hosts have multiple heterogeneous compute devices, multiple memory devices potentially distributed across multiple cache coherence domains, and multiple network devices, all interconnected by an intra-host network. Such a host architecture alters the many fundamental assumptions that once guided the design and optimization of modern operating systems. As a result, applications running atop modern hosts suffer from suboptimal properties and performance, while host resources remain extremely underutilized.
In this talk, I’ll outline my research vision: next-generation operating and distributed systems should be designed with the perspective of each individual host being a distributed system itself! Using examples from my thesis research, I will discuss the many ways in which “host as a distributed system” perspective compels us to revisit classical problems in operating systems, as well as enables green field explorations across the systems stack.
Speaker Bio:
Midhul is a PhD student in the Computer Science department at Cornell University advised by Prof. Rachit Agarwal. He is a recipient of the Cornell University Fellowship, a SIGCOMM Best Student Paper award, SIGMETRICS Best-of-the-rest recognition, and two Cornell CS Outstanding TA awards.
Notes:
In-person attendance only available to those with active NYU ID cards.