Instructor: Dr. Steven Robbins
Office: 3.02.01A SB
Phone: 458-5544
Address: srobbins@cs.utsa.edu
Course Homepage: /classes/cs6553s2004/
Office Hours: TTh 11:00 - 12:15, TTh 8:15 by appointment
Class Times: TTh 7:00 - 8:15 pm in room 2.02.20 HSS

Texts:

• The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis: Techniques for Experimental Design, Measurement, Simulation and Modeling, by Raj Jain

Prerequisites: CS 5513 and CS 5523

Course Objectives:

• To understand the basic methods of performance evaluation.
  
• To learn how to specify performance requirements, evaluate design alternatives, compare systems, tune systems, identify bottlenecks, characterize workloads, determine the number and size of components, and do forecasting
• To use these methods in a major project and to gain experience with presentation.

We will cover most of the text and will be analyzing the performance of various aspects of computer systems at UTSA. A major part of the course is a term project. There will be smaller homework projects throughout the semester.

• 30% Midterm (Tentative date: Tuesday, March 2)
• 30% Assignments (programs and problem sets)
  
• 40% Final Project and Presentation

Notification of final grades:

If you wish to receive your final grades by email, send me an email message some time after the last class and before the final. The message should have the subject line
CS 6553 Grade Request
and the message should have a valid return address. After I have graded the final exam and determined the letter grades for the course I will reply to your email message.

Friday, March 12, is the last day to drop this course. No make-up exams will be given except for university sanctioned excused absences. If you must miss an exam (for a good reason), it is your responsibility to contact me before the exam. Leave a message at the above number or send me email.

Unless otherwise stated, all assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date. There will be a 10 percent penalty for assignments turned in after that time. Do not miss class to finish an assignment. Turn in what you have for partial credit. Assignments which are more than 12 hours late will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made.

You must keep copies of the source code for all assignments for this course at least until you receive the your final grade for the course. At any time during the semester you may be asked to demonstrate any of your programs.

You are to do the assignments without collaboration. You can ask me questions about any aspect of an assignment. General discussion with others on the system or on an approach to a problem is constructive and is okay. However, since your grade is based on your assignments, they must be your own work. Students who hand in programs or written assignments which are identical or nearly identical are cheating. Students may not work on the programming assignments together. This type of scholastic dishonesty usually results in immediate failure in the course and can lead to additional disciplinary action.