This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.
Postgraduate Handbook 2007-2008 (archived)
Module COMP51715: DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING
Department: Computer Science
COMP51715: DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING
| Type | Level | Credits | Availability | Module Cap | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 4 | 15 | Available in 2007/2008 | Durham |
Pre-requisites
- None.
Corequisites
- None.
Excluded Combinations
- None.
Aims
- An understanding of the basic principles of distributed systems provides a foundation for understanding modern distributed systems technologies in this and other modules.
Content
- Technologies: RMI, CORBA, DCOM
- Techniques: message passing, remote procedure call, client-server, shared file systems, distributed objects, distributed shared memory, process groups, distributed transactions
- Distributed algorithms: consensus and election, termination detection, fault tolerance, load balancing, threading, concurrency control
- Distributed file systems and operating systems. Heterogenous systems. Apache
- Advanced XML
- Scripting; PHP
- Overview of fine-grain distributed systems - neural networks, cellular automata, parallel processing
Learning Outcomes
Subject-specific Knowledge
- Specialist knowledge: technologies, techniques and algorithms
- Practical design skills: CORBA, selection of paradigm, XML, building a distributed system, PHP, Apache
- Management: the module project and lab assignments
- Design integration: building distributed systems from more than one technology e.g. PHP/XML/SQL
- The engineering of software systems: emphasis on rapid application development and related approaches to requirements analysis
- Professional skills: module assignments reports, to include documentation standards (and tools) appropriate to the technologies
Subject-specific Skills
Key Skills
Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module
- The module comprises 1 week's intensive directed reading and laboratory exercises; 5 days of lectures, tutorials, and reading and two weeks undertaking a major assignment. The overall workload conforms to the standard SLAT requirement of 150 hours equivalent to 15 credits.
Teaching Methods and Learning Hours
| Activity | Number | Frequency | Duration | Total Hours | Attendance Monitored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 20 | 4 per day in week 2 | 1 hour | 20 | |
| Tutorials | 4 | weekly | 1 hour | 4 | |
| Practical | 5 | daily in week 1 | 6 hours | 30 | |
| Laboratory | 10 | daily in weeks 3,4 | 6 hours | 60 | |
| Preparation and Reading | 36 | ||||
| Total | 150 |
Summative Assessment
| Component | Component Weighting | Element | Length/Duration | Element Weighting | Resit Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laboratory report | 100% | Laboratory report | 100% |
Formative Assessment
Staged written feedback of laboratory and practical work by staff/demonstrators.
Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods
and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative
assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress
procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be
required to leave the University.