In this course, students learn microcomputer hardware and software concepts, basic maintenance, and troubleshooting, by attempting to construct a Beowulf cluster. 

See "Course policies" below for details on testing and grading.

Upon completion of this course, students will: 

1. Understand basic microcomputer components.
2. Be able to install operating systems and application software.
3. Understand the characteristics and functions of computer clusters, particularly Beowulf clusters.
4. Be able to diagnose and repair (troubleshoot) the most common failures of cluster construction.

Grades will be based upon degree of constructive participation in the Beowulf construction project.

Students should always come to class prepared to work on the project. Each student may be absent twice without penalty. Each additional two absences without a medical excuse (no others are acceptable) will cost the student three points on the course grade.

See the Course Schedule for details.

Students with a disability who are requesting academic accommodations should contact both the Center for Academic Support (CAS) and the instructor as soon as possible.

COURSE SCHEDULE

CAUTION: COURSE SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT WARNING!

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DATE	TOPIC	ASSIGNMENT
Tues 1/13	Intro to Clusters	Read Sloan, Ch. 1
	http://www.jncasr.ac.in/parallel/rakesh/sld001.htm
Thurs 1/15	Cluster Planning	Read Sloan, Ch. 2
Tues 1/20	Cluster Hardware	Read Sloan, Ch. 3
Thurs 1/22	Linux for Clusters	Read Sloan, Ch. 4
	Install Fedora 8 on two machines
Tues 1/27	Cluster Kits--openMosix (BCCD, Quantian, etc.), OSCAR, Rocks	Read Sloan, Chh. 5, 6, 7
	Class will form 3 teams, one for each kit	Paper #1: How suitable is your kit for building a small cluster in class, without access to the Internet?   Where appropriate, look up available distros.
Thurs 1/29	Work on Paper #1
Tues 2/3	Present Paper #1 to the class.	The class as a whole will choose a kit to use to build a cluster.  Each team will then proceed to build its own head node.  Cluster sizes will depend on how many machines we have available.
Thurs 2/5	Download distros and other necessary materials. Create ISOs as needed. Burn CD/DVDs.	You will need to bring laptops to class.  The College will not permit the cluster machines to be connected to the network.
Tues 2/10	Download distros and other necessary materials. Create ISOs as needed. Burn CD/DVDs.
Thurs 2/12	Install software
2/16 - 2/20	WINTER BREAK
Tues 2/24	Install software
Thurs 2/26	Configure clusters	Read Sloan, Ch. 8
Tues 3/3	Configure clusters
Thurs 3/5	Configure clusters
Tues 3/10	Programming Software	Read Sloan, Ch. 9
Thurs 3/12	Management Software	Read Sloan, Ch. 10
Tues 3/17	Scheduling Software	Read Sloan, Ch. 11
Thurs 3/19	Parallel Filesystems	Read Sloan, Ch. 12
Tues 3/24	Benchmarking	See Sloan, Ch. 2, pp. 28-30
Thurs 3/26	Obtain, Install, and Run Benchmarking Software
3/30 - 4/3	SPRING BREAK
Tues 4/7	Obtain, Install, and Run Benchmarking Software
Thurs 4/9	Obtain, Install, and Run Benchmarking Software
Tues 4/14	Try another distro, such as an (or an additional) OpenMosix live CD.
Thurs 4/16	Configure and test second distro.
Tues 4/21	Configure and test second distro.
Thurs 4/23	Configure and test second distro.
Tues 4/28	Paper #2: Use benchmarking results to report on the performance of your clusters
Thurs 4/30	Finish Paper #2
M 5/4	FINAL EXAMS BEGIN
EXAM DAY	FINAL EXAM

Syllabus last modified October 28, 2008.