influential operating systems...

CARSTEN WEINHOLD

Faculty of Computer Science Institute of Systems Architecture, Operating Systems Group

INFLUENTIALOPERATING SYSTEMSRESEARCH

TU Dresden IOS: Introduction

RESEARCH

This Semester in One Slide

What is research?

What is systems research?

What are foundational works in systems research?

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LECTURE PLAN

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17.4. Benchmarking & Statistics

24.4. Security

8.5. Software-Based Fault Isolation

15.5. Fault Tolerance

29.5. File Systems

5.6. MULTICS

12.6. Real-Time

19.6. Multiprocessors

26.6. Large-Scale Systems

3.7. Transactional Memory

10.7. Assignment


ASSIGNMENTyou write a survey paper, about 6 pages

topic proposals with 2–3 research papers

may require additional reading

every topic has a mentor for questions

handout of topics: June 20th

assignments due: August 31st

you get feedback for your writing

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WHAT IS RESEARCH

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research, noun, ˈriˌsərtʃ studious inquiry or examination; especially: investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws

— Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary


WHAT IS RESEARCH

Investigation or experiments aimed at:

discovery and interpretation of facts

revision of accepted theories or lawsin the light of new facts

practical application of such new or revisedtheories or laws

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WHAT IS RESEARCH

Operating Systems Research

Not: Write a kernel for the sake of it.

OK: Rethink the interface between hardware and software.

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ALGORITHM

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Research as an Algorithm do { find_interesting_problem(); learn_state_of_the_art(); perform_experiments(); report_results();

} while (!dead);


FIND A PROBLEM

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Approach Ⅰ: Lucky Coincidence


FIND A PROBLEM

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Approach Ⅱ: I have a hammer — give me a nail.


FIND A PROBLEM

�11

Approach Ⅲ: Join the Mainstream


FIND A PROBLEM

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Approach Ⅳ: Pick Random Buzzwords

transparentredundant

multithreading

virtual

informed

prefetching

efficient

secure

energy-aware

scheduling

I/O

management

deterministic

timeclo

ud

storage

transactio

nal

transparentredundant

multithreading

virtual

informed

prefetching

efficient

secure

energy-aware

scheduling

I/O

management

deterministic

timeclo

ud

storage

transactio

nal


FIND A PROBLEM

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Approach Ⅴ: Reinvent the Wheel


FIND A PROBLEM

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Approach Ⅵ: Explore New Hardware Features

Approach Ⅶ: Funding-Driven Research


READING PAPERS

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Other people already worked in the field: results available in conference, workshop, or journal papers.

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READING PAPERS

The long way:

1. Start with a paper. Read it.

2. For every unknown citation in this paper: goto 1.

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READING PAPERS

Shortcut (prone to information bias):

1. Look at larger set of papers.

2. Combine their citations.

3. Read those papers that are cited most.

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PAPER STRUCTURE1. Title

2. Abstract

3. Introduction

4. Related Work (may also come later)

5. Design / Implementation

6. Experiments and Results

7. Conclusion

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PAPER TITLES

Exciting Cosmic Rays Don’t Strike Twice: Understanding the Nature of DRAM Errors and the Implications for System Design

Generic DROPS — OS Support for Distributed Multimedia Applications

Provocative Are Microkernels Virtual Machine Monitors Done Right?

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ABSTRACT & INTRO

abstract and introduction are similar

motivation

approach in contrast to others

overview of results and contributions

abstract is for experienced readers

introduction is for people who need more details

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HOW TO READ

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Phase Ⅰ5–10 min.

read abstract and headings,skim citations

understand the problem

Phase Ⅱ1–2 hours

read the whole paper understand the solution

Phase Ⅲdays – weeks

mental process: reimplement, weaknesses, connections

understand the bigger picture


LET’S DO RESEARCHset up an experiment

show the problem

adjust experiment

one piece at a time

understand changes

get early feedback

coffee discussions

group meetings 22

experiment

understand

modify


REPORT RESULTS

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Workshops6–8 pages preliminary results and ideas

Conferences10–14 pages

complete implementation and evaluation of an idea

Journals≥ 20 pages

exhaustive discussion of larger research area


VENUESTop-Tier Conferences

Symposium on Operating System Principles (SOSP)

Symposium on Operating System Design and Implementation (OSDI)

USENIX Annual Technical Conference (ATC)

Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems (ASPLOS)

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VENUES

Second-Tier / Specialized Conferences

File Systems and Storage Technologies (FAST)

Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN)

European Systems Conference (EuroSys)

High-Performance and Embedded Architectures and Compilers (HiPEAC)

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VENUESHot* workshops: HotDep, HotPower, HotPar, HotOS

Journals: ACM Transactions on …

run-of-the-mill workshops

Things to Avoid

1st workshop on …

Exciting Location’s International Conference on Beach Surfing

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CONFERENCESorganizers set up a program committee

experts (profs, postdocs) from the field

… but their PhD students will do the work

people submit papers, PC reviews them

often in multiple rounds

open / single-blind / double-blind

sometimes with a rebuttal phase

PC selects best papers for presentation 27


WHEN TO SUBMIT

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You don’t decide when your research is done.

The reviewers do.


YAY

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“The PC is happy to inform you …”


NAY“The PC is sorry to inform you …”

rejection is the norm, not the exception

at least you get helpful reviews

viable strategy: submit to get feedback

but: increased reviewer workload

common points of criticism

language, motivation, evaluation

fix and resubmit. 30


COLLABORATION

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COLLABORATION

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COLLABORATION

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RANKINGSresearchers are constantly evaluated

to get funding

to get a job

to estimate credibility

ranking systems:

publication count

citation count

H-Index 34


RANKINGS

The Dark Side of Research

optimize for ranking, not for scientific merit

citation cartels

publish or perish

open access vs. paid-subscription

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A POLEMIC

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Systems Software Research is Irrelevant Rob Pike (then Bell Labs, today Google)

2000


WORKSTATION

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1990 200033 MHz MIPS R3000 32 MB of RAM10 Mbps Ethernet

600 MHz Alpha or Intel512 MB of RAM100 Mbps Ethernet

UnixX11TCP/IP

UnixX11TCP/IPNetscape

CC++

CC++Java


IRRELEVANT

no new kernels anymore

Linux is just UNIX redone (and worse)

Microsoft is more innovative

“the web“ happened by surprise

standards dictate 90% of new systems

industry focus is on gadgets, not software

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18 YEARS LATER…

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Systems Research is Still Here.

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