DS: Schedule

WeekCommencingLocationKey TopicsLecturesCompulsory ReadingsAdditional Readings
125/09/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerIntroduction + ArchitecturesSlidesBook: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 1 & 2 
202/10/2026
Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton Tower
Architecture (contd.) + Communication Slides

 

Paper: RPC Paper

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 2 & 4;

Papers:UNet; eRPC

309/10/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerFault ToleranceSlides, rpcgen code (in class demo), gRPC(Python)Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 8.1, 8.3

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 4 & 8

Paper: Why Do Computers Stop and What Can Be Done About It?

416/10/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerDistributed Storage - NFS & AFSSlides

Paper: NFS, AFS

 

 

(Only for those who do not have file systems background) Basic FileSystems Reading -- Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces -- Chapter 39, Chapter 40 

Book: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, Chapter 12

Book: Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces -- Chapter 49, Chapter 50

Paper: High Availability NFS

 

523/10/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerDistributed Storage - AFS & GFSSlidesPaper: GFSPaper/Article: GFS: Evolution on Fast-forward
630/10/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerCoordination - Time & Clocks - Physical, Logical, Vector, Distributed snapshotsSlides

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 5.1, 5.2

Paper: Distributed Snapshots

Paper: Logical Clocks, Vector Clocks
706/11/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton Tower

(Continue) Logical, Vector Clocks, Distributed Snapshots

Leader Election, Consensus Basics

Slides

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 5.4.1, 5.4.2

 

Paper: Impossibility of Distributed Consensus with One Faulty

Process

813/11/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerPaxos, RaftSlides

Paper: Paxos, Raft

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 5.3.1 to 5.3.5

Book: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, Chapter 16.4.1

Book: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, Chapter 16
920/11/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerMutual Exclusion, Transactions; Slides

Book: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, Chapter 16.2, 17.3

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 7.1, 7.2

Book: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, Chapter 16 & 17
1027/11/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerConsistency & Replication - Why Replication, Data-centric Consistency Model-Client-centric Consistency ModelsSlides

Paper: Baseball Paper

Book: Distributed Systems (MVS & AST), Chapter 7.3

 
1104/12/2026Lecture Theatre 3, Appleton TowerTBD  

 

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