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Module

CSC3121 : Distributed Systems

  • Offered for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Dr Paul Ezhilchelvan
  • Owning School: Computing
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 1 Credit Value: 10
ECTS Credits: 5.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

To explain how concepts and techniques from computer networking, operating systems, and object-oriented programming can be combined to develop distributed systems. The course will cover the underlying theory of event ordering, logical and physical clocks, and then the practical aspects of distributed system structuring using the client-server approach.

Outline Of Syllabus

Structuring distributed applications: using client-server and remote procedure calls; also, how atomic transactions, with their 'ACID' properties provide a reliable way of sharing of information; design challenges in remote procedure calls and in realizing ACID properties; the solutions commonly deployed to address these challenges, together with their conceptual underpinnings.
Ordering of events: using logical and physical clocks.
Practical aspects: analysing a distributed system design and designing a total order delivery system.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion141:0014:0014 hours preparation on assessment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture101:0010:00In person lecturing
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion112:0012:00Exam revision and completion of exam
Structured Guided LearningLecture materials101:0010:00Recorded lectures (10)
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching41:004:00PiP guidance on assessments
Structured Guided LearningStructured non-synchronous discussion81:008:00Support for assessment and deep learning
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study421:0042:00Guidance through structured discussions
Total100:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Techniques and theory are presented in lectures. Assessments seek to provide students with the experience of applying concepts and algorithms in solving challenging design problems. Experience from interacting with middleware and graph DB companies would be used to show how taught concepts are applied in practice, e.g., in distributed ledger (aka blockchain) and database systems.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Written Examination901A100Closed book examination
Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Description Semester When Set Comment
Prob solv exercises1MInvestigating and criticising a given system design for application scenarios 800 words (max)
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessments are designed to test the students' knowledge as well as understanding of the concepts and techniques that underpin the organisation of distributed computing.
Coursework will particularly emphasise the importance of causal order related issues in the design of distributed systems and crash-tolerance in client-server systems. For example, it will describe an application scenario and require the student to reason why the system design is flawed.

Reading Lists

Timetable