COMP9334: Capacity Planning ofComputer Systems and Networks

Week 1-A: Course Overview

Lecturer: Prof. Sanjay Jha

NETWORKS RESEARCH GROUP, CSE, UNSW

Course web site

www.cse.unsw.edu.au/˜cs9334

Everything is posted on the course web site

Course outline (PLEASE READ THIS THOROUGHLY)Lecture notesProject specificationsLab instructions, allocations and locationsSample problemsNotices: Your responsibility to check this from time totime for important updates/changes to schedule

Page 1

Personnel

Staff

LIC: Sanjay JhaLab Coordinator: Lukas Li

Consultations

With Lecturer:See course outline for time, @ K17, Room 611

E-mail: cs9334@cse.unsw.edu.auPlease use this e-mail address for course related queries,rather than our personal e-mail addresses

If you cannot make it for consultation or want to discusssomething personally, schedule an appointment

Page 2

Course objective

You will learn techniques for performance evaluation ofcomputer systems and networks

You will learn how to solve capacity planning problemsusing mathematical modelling and optimization

These techniques are building blocks to the design ofsystems to meet performance specifications

Page 3

Textbook

Lecture notes come for multiple sources, a number based onMenasce.

Performance by Design: Computer Capacity Planning by Example,Daniel A. Menasce, Virgilio A.F. Almeida, and Lawrence W. Dowdy,Prentice Hall PTR, 2004

Web site: www.cs.gmu.edu/˜menasce/perfbyd/

Page 4

Reference texts

The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis: Techniquesfor Experimental Design, Measurement, Simulation, and Modeling,Raj Jain, Wiley, 1991

Data Networks, Dimitri Bertsekas and Robert Gallager, PrenticeHall, Second Edition, 1992

An Introduction to Queueing Systems, Sanjay K. Bose, KluwerAcademic/Plenum Publishers, 2002

Introduction to Operations Research, Frederick S. Hillier andGerald J. Lieberman, McGraw-Hill, Seventh Edition, 2001

Page 5

Reference texts - contd

Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking, S. Keshav,Addison-Wesley, First Edition, 2012

Performance Modeling and Design of Computer Systems:Queueing Theory in Action, Mor HarcholBalter, CambridgeUniversity Press, 2013

Internet Measurement: Infrastructure, Traffic and Applications, M.Crovella and B. Krishnamurthy, Wiley, 2006

Page 6

Assumed knowledge

Communications basics:

Basic data transferLANs and WANsProtocol conceptsTCP/IP, HTTP, and similar(I will review these concepts where necessary).Pre-requisite COMP 9021

Page 7

Assumed knowledge (cont.)

Computer systems architecture:

Basic computer organizationMemory hierarchy, virtual memoryProcess scheduling:

Round robin, context switchProcess priority structures

Basic concepts of client-server systems

Page 8

Assumed knowledge (cont.)

Mathematics:

Calculus: differentiation, integration (High Schoollevel)Linear algebra: vectors, matrices, linear equationsProbability

Self Study notes on basic probability theory linked toclass home page

Page 9

Assumed knowledge (cont.)

We assume you have basic programming skills

Sample code will be given in Matlab.

You can choose any programming language to docomputation and simulation but Matlab is preferred.

You may wish to download Octave, free GPL compatiblewith Matlab

Web site: http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/

Page 10

Assessment

Lab Check class home page for deadlines

Project Check class home page for deadlines

Mid-semester class test Check class home page for deadlines

Material covered TBA

Final Exam Check class home page for deadlines

Material covered TBA

Individual work, no plagiarism, penalties apply to late submissions

Exam questions test critical thinking and problem solving,memorising things will not help

Page 11

Assessment (cont.)

Lab Mid-semester class test

Project Final examination

Total A (100 marks) E (100 marks)

Your final mark M will be computed as the harmonic mean

M =2AE

A+ E

To obtain a minimum Pass grade, you MUST achieve

M ≥ 50 and A ≥ 40 and E ≥ 40

Page 12

How to learn?

Lectures

Key concepts, illustration by small examplesBe interactive through Q & ATake notes on the slides

Sample problems

A chance to test whether you have understood theconcepts introduced in the lecturesAttempt first before you check the solution we provide

Page 13

How to learn? (cont.)

MessageBoard

Use it to discuss anything that is course-related, e.g.Concepts from the lecturesProject queriesAssignment queriesSample problem solutions

Don’t think your question is silly, others may have thesame problem

The key is understanding, not memorisation

Page 14

Last but not least

Nothing in the world is perfect

Creative thinking and reflective learning are twoimportant and valuable attributes we wish you todevelop through this course

Page 15