Please find a proposal for a new subject Distributed Operating Systems
in http://www.cse.unsw.EDU.AU/~gernot/Stuff/dios.{ps,tex}.

The background to this is

 - we presently do no distributed systems teaching whatsoever. The
   demise of Concurrent Computing, and the failure to mount a successor,
   means that we are not offering our students any instruction in this
   important area

 - the original COMP4216 Dist OS subject was never as good as it was
   supposed to be, too theoretical, and in desperate need for an
   overhaul. With the introduction of Advanced OS (and no-one to help
   me) I did not have the capacity to do this. Instead I integrated
   distribution issues into advanced OS. Makign AdvOS a sort of
   successor to DistOS. However, the distribution material doesn't fit
   into the general look-and-feel of Adv OS, which is really an in-depth
   look at OS implementation issues.

 - During recent negotiations between the School and Softway (now
   Aurema) the company has expressed strong interest in such a subject,
   to the degree that they have committed themselves to participate in
   design and delivery. This is in line with School policy to increase
   industry links and involvements.

Obviously the subject proposal form is short on specifics (as they
always are). The actual design of the subject is to happen during this
year. It will involve myself, Lucy Chubb from Aurema (and Adjunct Senior
Lecturer), and other interested academics from the School. I see the new
subject as an advanced-level systems offering, but not in the category
of "tough and challenging but loads of fun" 9242 belongs to. It will be
accessible to all interested final year students. It is to be offered in
Session 1, first time next year. (I propose an Order of "Hero of
Operating Systems" for students doing a clean sweep of HDs in all three
OS subjects :-)


Concurrently with the introduction of this subject I propose to revise
COMP9242 to remove most of the overlap in the syllabus. The proposed new
handbook entry for COMP9242 reads:

    Covers operating systems in a breadth and depth that is significantly
    beyond the third year/level 2 OS subject. Focus will be on specific
    issues like performance as well as on the latest OS research
    areas. Topics selected from: Microkernels, user-level servers;
    performance; kernel implementation; device drivers; scheduling for
    real-time; effects and control of hardware caches; security and
    protection; persistent systems; security; dealing with large, sparse
    address spaces; experimental systems. A laboratory running a
    state-of-the-art microkernel system will be used to provide hands-on
    experience with low-level implementation of OS components.
    
The present handbook entry reads:

    Covers operating systems in a breadth and depth that is
    significantly beyond the third year/level 2 OS subject. Focus will
    be on specific issues like performance as well as on the latest OS
    research areas. Topics selected from: Microkernels, user-level
    servers; object orientation; distributed systems: distributed
    process management, distributed file systems, naming, distributed
    shared memory, replication, coherency, naming; persistent systems;
    security; dealing with large, sparse address spaces; experimental
    systems. A laboratory running a state-of-the-art microkernal system
    will be used to provide hands-on experience with low-level
    implementation of OS components


I will start the revision this year and teach 9242 in line with the new
handbook entry. [ Note that due to the "selected from" it will probably
still conform to the present handbook. ]

Gernot