Overview
This unit aims to teach both the principles and practice of distributed systems, but with an emphasis on the practical side. Theory will focus on architectural, communication, synchronisation issues (e.g. client/server and peer to peer architectures, message-oriented communication, naming, threads, remote method invocation). The issues involved in the provision of reliable and secure distributed systems will also be addressed, as will the social impact arising from the ubiquity of distributed systems. Practice will involve consolidation of the key theoretical material through the development of software applications. Note: If you have undertaken COIT23005 Distributed Systems Development then this unit cannot be enrolled.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisite unit: COIT20256 Data structures and Algorithms
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 3 - 2017
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit Evaluation
The assignments give practical knowledge and it is good to replace the examination with another assignment.
The feedback is reasonable and the unit can have three assignments.
- Compare and contrast distributed systems with non-distributed systems.
- Discuss the social issues arising from ubiquitous distributed systems.
- Solve problems in the distributed systems domain by applying the principles taught in the unit to real problems.
- Develop distributed applications.
- Critique the issues involved in developing reliable and secure distributed systems.
Australian Computer Society (ACS) recognises the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA is in use in over 100 countries and provides a widely used and consistent definition of ICT skills. SFIA is increasingly being used when developing job descriptions and role profiles.
ACS members can use the tool MySFIA to build a skills profile at https://www.acs.org.au/professionalrecognition/mysfia-b2c.html
This unit contributes to the following workplace skills as defined by SFIA. The SFIA code is included:
- Systems Design (DESN)
- Systems Integration (SINT)
- Program ming/Software Development ( PROG),
- Database/Repository Design (DBDS)
- Testing (TEST)
- Network Support (NTAS)
- Release and Deployment (RELM),
- Application Support (ASUP).
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 20% | |||||
2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 35% | |||||
3 - Examination - 45% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Knowledge | |||||
2 - Communication | |||||
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
4 - Research | |||||
5 - Self-management | |||||
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
7 - Leadership | |||||
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||
2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 35% | ||||||||
3 - Examination - 45% |
Textbooks
Distributed Systems Concepts and Design
5th Edition (2012)
Authors: George Coulouris, Jean Dollimore, Tim Kindberg and Gordon Blair
Addison-Wesley
Boston Boston , MA , USA
ISBN: 978-0-13-214301-1
Binding: Hardcover
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.8
- NetBeans IDE 8 or higher
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
g.chaudhry@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
An Introduction to Distributed Systems
Chapter
Chapter 1 & Chapter 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Interprocess Communication
Chapter
Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Distributed Objects & Remote Invocation
Chapter
Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Process and Thread Management – Operating System Support
Chapter
Chapter 7
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Vacation
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Replication and Fault Tolerance
Chapter
Chapter 18
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assignment 1 Due: Week 5 Friday (15 Dec 2017) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Distributed File Systems
Chapter
Chapters 12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Name Services
Chapter
Chapters 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Coordination and Agreement
Chapter
Chapter 15
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Transactions and Concurrent Control
Chapter
Chapter 16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Distributed Transactions
Chapter
Chapter 17
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assignment 2 Due: Week 10 Friday (26 Jan 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Security in Distributed Systems
Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing
Chapter
Chapter 11
Chapter 19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Web Services
Chapter
Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Unit coordinator
Dr Ghulam Chaudhry
School of Engineering & Technology
Central Queensland University
Sydney NSW 2000
Email: g.chaudhry@cqu.edu.au
1 Written Assessment
Your task for this assignment is to write a review article on the topic of Distributed Systems. Compare and contrast non-distributed systems, distributed systems, and mobile distributed systems discussing the main points. Compare and contrast the fault-tolerance requirements in distributed systems and mobile distributed systems. Discuss the inter-process communication in distributed systems.
The assignment specification and marking criteria can be found from the unit website.
Week 5 Friday (15 Dec 2017) 11:45 pm AEST
Assignment 1 due
Week 7 Friday (5 Jan 2018)
Assignment 1 results release
The assignment will be assessed by the format, technical contents, and referencing. The detailed marking criteria can be found from the unit website.
- Compare and contrast distributed systems with non-distributed systems.
- Discuss the social issues arising from ubiquitous distributed systems.
- Critique the issues involved in developing reliable and secure distributed systems.
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
2 Practical and Written Assessment
Your task for this assignment is to design, implement, test and document a remote invocation framework which is similar to Java RMI but lightweight. The purpose of this assignment is to assess your competency in Java TCP Networking, Multi-threading and Object Serialization Programming.
The assignment specification and marking criteria can be found from the unit website.
Week 10 Friday (26 Jan 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Assignment 2 due
Week 12 Friday (9 Feb 2018)
Assignment 2 results release
The assignment will be assessed by the design, software implementation using Java TCP Networking, Multi-threading, Object Serialization, and Client/Server model. The assignment will also be assessed by the documentation for how to install and use the remote invocation framework. The detailed marking criteria can be found from the unit website.
- Solve problems in the distributed systems domain by applying the principles taught in the unit to real problems.
- Develop distributed applications.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
Examination
Dictionary - non-electronic, concise, direct translation only (dictionary must not contain any notes or comments).
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.