CSC 456 seminar/survey paper

Proposed topic writeup due in class on October 15th; Survey due last day of class, Thursday, December 12th.

This assignment is required for CSC456 students only.

Overview
The goal of this assignment is to get each CSC 456 student to explore a particular topic in depth, write a survey on the topic, and present at least one interesting aspect to the entire class. You may work in groups of two with respect to topic presentation. However, the surveys themselves must be individual (i.e., written in your own words). The assignment will help develop your skills in exploring the literature, providing a critique (both the positive aspects and problems solved, as well as the shortcomings and challenges remaining/emerging), and presenting your ideas both verbally (through a class presentation) and in writing. You should provide accurate references to related work you mention in the survey. There is no specific requirement on the length of the survey, but I'd expect something with at least 2000 words would be necessary for the level of coverage requested. Below are some suggested topics, along with a few starting points. Please also use the readings and seminars from last year's schedule as possible topics. I emphasize that these are just starting points. Please feel free (and encouraged) to choose a topic outside of those listed below.

Distributed file systems

Address Space Management Micro-kernel operating systems Virtual machines Operating systems for sensors and small mobile devices OS support for highly concurrent online servers Synchronization within the operating system Instructional operating systems

Systems dependability, reliability, and debugging

Operating Systems Security