CMPSCI 377: Operating Systems

Homework 2

Due: Dec 7, 2015

Note: Please submit your solutions via moodle.
  1. Introspection question: In the every first homework, you were asked the following question: "Write a brief paragraph explaining why you are taking this class and your goals/expectations from the course (i.e., what you expect to learn from it)."

    Given your answer, look back at the semester and write a paragraph discussing whether those goals and expectations have been met for this class. Note: there is no right or wrong answer to this question, so you should feel free to answer candidly.

  2. Term paper: The purpose of this question is to write a term paper on cloud computing. Refer to the class lecture from Nov 24 that discussed cloud computing. Based on this background, write a term paper that addressed the following issues
    1. What is cloud computing? Explain infrastructure, platform and software coulds with examples.
    2. Give a brief description of Amazon's EC2 infrastructure cloud. See EC2 overview and discuss briefly the features of EC2 and pricing. You do not need to discuss every functionality - just the basics will do.
    3. Briefly compare Microsoft's Azure compute cloud and Google Compute Engine to Amazon's EC2. Comment in a few sentences on any similarities or differences between them
    4. Give a brief description of Google's AppEngine platform cloud. See App Engine overview and discuss features, benefits and pricing.
    5. Based on your understanding of Amazon's EC2 and Google's App Engine, can you think of scenarios when one can/should be used over the other?
    The term paper should be 2-3 pages in legth. Be succint. Do NOT blindly cut and paste material you find on the web. Try to understand (to the extent possible) the material and write the term paper in your own words. Provide citations for ALL references (web, books etc) that you used to prepare your term paper.