6.824: Distributed Systems

Spring 2013
Tues/Thurs, 1-2:30, 32-144


· Information
· Schedule
· Submissions
· Labs: 1 2 3 4
· Questions
· 2012 Web Site
· 2011 Web Site
· 2010 Web Site
· 2009 Web Site
· 2007 Web Site
· 2006 Web Site
· 2005 Web Site
· 2004 Web Site
· 2002 Web Site
· 2001 Web Site
· 2000 Web Site

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Announcements:

May 22: Exam answers.

May 16: The final will be on Monday May 20, from 1:30 to 3:30, at Johnson Ice Rink. It will cover lectures, papers, and labs from the whole course, though it will focus on material starting at lecture 12 (Bayou). Here are some past exams to help you prepare. Please bring copies of the papers, class notes, and any other information you think may be useful. You can bring a computer, but you cannot use any networks or communicate with other people during the exam.

May 15: Thursday's project presentations will start at 12:30 and run until (at least) 3:00; please try to be there for as much time as you can. Also please enter a subject evaluation for 6.824 here.

May 11: Please sign up for an in-class presentation slot here.

May 8: Please sign up for your staff demonstration slot here.

May 8: If you have a few spare minutes, please enter a subject evaluation for 6.824 here.

Apr 29: Please sign up for a second project meeting here.

Apr 4: Please sign up for Project Meetings here.

Apr 4: Project assignment.

Mar 22: Quiz 1 answers. Average 77, std dev 11.

Mar 14: The quiz will be in room 2-190 (not the regular room!).

Mar 12: There will be a quiz on Thursday March 21. It will be at 1:00 in room 2-190 and will last 80 minutes. The quiz will cover lectures, papers, and the labs, up to and including Lecture 11 and Lab 3B. We have posted past quizzes to help you prepare. Please bring copies of the papers, class notes, and any other information you think may be useful. You can bring a computer, but you cannot use any networks or communicate with other people during the exam.

Feb 22: The 6.824 final exam will be on Monday May 20 from 1:30 to 3:30 at Johnson Ice Rink.

Feb 15: Office hours for next week will be Tuesday (2/19) instead of Thursday (2/21), 5-6PM in 36-372. They will resume being on Thursdays after that.

Feb 8: Office hours for the rest of the semester will be Thursdays 5-6PM in 36-372.

Feb 6: Office hours will be held Thursday (2/7) 5-6 PM in room 24-310.

Jan 28: Please use Piazza to discuss labs, lectures and papers. We will look at Piazza regularly and answer questions (unless one of you answers first); the entire class can see and benefit from these exchanges.

Jan 28: See you on Tuesday Feb 5!

What is 6.824 about?

6.824 is a core 12-unit graduate subject with lectures, readings, programming labs, a mid-term quiz, a final exam, and an open-ended project. It will present abstractions and implementation techniques for engineering distributed systems. Major topics include fault tolerance, replication, and consistency. Much of the class consists of studying and discussing case studies of distributed systems.

Prerequisites: 6.004 and one of 6.033 or 6.828, or equivalent. Substantial programming experience will be helpful for the lab assignments and final project.

If you feel you know enough about systems engineering, an alternative subject to 6.824 is 6.829. 6.829 focuses on the engineering of networks. If you are a graduate student in systems or networking, we recommend you take both classes during your graduate career. If you want to learn more about operating systems in particular, you should consider 6.828.


Questions or comments regarding 6.824? Send e-mail to the TA at 6.824-staff@pdos.csail.mit.edu