CSE6331: Cloud Computing (Spring 2022)

Instructor:Leonidas Fegaras
Office Number:ERB 653 (Engineering Research Bldg)
Email Address:
Faculty Profile:https://www.uta.edu/profiles/leonidas-fegaras
Office Hours:Tuesday and Thursday 4:00-5:30pm
Section Information:CSE 6331-005
Time and Place of Class Meetings:Tuesday and Thursday 5:30-6:50pm ERB130

Mode of Teaching:
On Campus. The majority of course instruction, exams and projects delivered on-campus or at designated instructional sites, in-person.

Description of Course Content:
The focus of this course is on data management techniques and tools for storing and analyzing very large amounts of data. Topics that will be covered include: cloud computing; virtualization; distributed file systems; large data processing using Map-Reduce; data modeling, storage, indexing, and query processing for big data; key-value storage systems, columnar databases, NoSQL systems (Cassandra, BigTable, HBase, MongoDB); big data technologies and tools (Hive, Pig, Spark, Flink); large-scale stream processing systems (Storm, Spark Streaming); data analytics frameworks (Mahout); big data applications, including graph processing, recommendation systems, machine learning, clustering, classification, prediction, and stream mining.

Student Learning Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, students:

Prerequisites:
Prerequisites: CSE 3330/CSE 5330 (Database Systems I) or equivalent. Students are expected to have a working knowledge of Java and some knowledge of SQL. Students without adequate preparation are at substantial risk of failing this course.

Required Textbooks and Other Course Materials:
There is no required textbook for this course but students are expected to read many online tutorials and references (links will be given out in class).

Descriptions of major assignments and examinations:
There will be eight programming assignments, a midterm exam, and a final exam.

Attendance:
At The University of Texas at Arlington, taking attendance is not required but attendance is a critical indicator in student success. Each faculty member is free to develop his or her own methods of evaluating students' academic performance, which includes establishing course-specific policies on attendance. As the instructor of this section, I allow students to attend class at their own discretion. However, while UT Arlington does not require instructors to take attendance in their courses, the U.S. Department of Education requires that the University have a mechanism in place to mark when Federal Student Aid recipients "begin attendance in a course." UT Arlington instructors will report when students begin attendance in a course as part of the final grading process. Specifically, when assigning a student a grade of F, faculty report the last date a student attended their class based on evidence such as a test, participation in a class project or presentation, or an engagement online via Blackboard. This date is reported to the Department of Education for federal financial aid recipients.

Grading:
The final grade will be based on Final grades will be assigned according to the following scale: 
     A: score >= 90, B: 80 <= score < 90, C: 70 <= score < 80, D: 60 <= score < 70, F: score < 60.
Sometimes, lower cutoff points are used for the final grades, depending on the overall performance of the class. Students are expected to keep track of their performance throughout the semester which Canvas facilitates, and seek guidance from available sources (including the instructor) if their performance drops below satisfactory levels.

Exams:
Exams will be taken on campus at the specified date and time (they cannot be taken on-line). Both exams are open notes (all notes must be securely bound in one notebook), closed books. The final exam will cover the material from the first lecture up to and including the last lecture. Once the exam grades are posted, you will have 10 business days to dispute your grade and get your exam re-evaluated. No re-evaluation will be entertained after the 10 day period. No makeup exam will be given unless there is a justifiable reason (such as illness, sickness or death in the family). If you miss an exam and you can prove that your reason is justifiable, you should arrange with the instructor to take the makeup exam within a week from the regular exam time. For any other case, you will get a zero grade for the missed exam.

Programming Assignments:
There will be 8 programming assignments. The programming assignments must be done individually. Details will be given out in class. Late assignments will be marked 20 points off per day (out of 100 max). So, there is no point submitting a project more than 4 days late! This penalty cannot be waived, unless there was a case of illness or other substantial impediment beyond your control, with proof in documents from the school.

Software:
Most programming will be done in Java but some will be done in Scala, Pig, and Hive. The projects can be done on any PC/laptop, such as on Linux, Windows, or Mac. Students are expected to have a working knowledge of Java and some basic knowledge of SQL. Students will develop their programs on the cloud computing platform SDSC Expanse, which is part of XSEDE, supported by NSF. Students will get a free account but there will be usage limits. Detailed instructions will be given out in class. The programming assignments will be related to Hadoop Map-Reduce, Spark, Hive, Pig, etc.

How to do Well in this Course:
Students who get the most out of this course will be the ones who put in the most effort. If you want to do well, attend all the lectures, read the assigned reading material, and start early on your programming assignments. If you are having difficulty, the instructor and the GTA will be more than happy to help you. In addition to regular office hours, the best way of communication with the instructor or the GTA is through email. If you can not make it to the scheduled office hours but really need help, contact one of us for an appointment.

Institution Information:
UTA students are encouraged to review the below institutional policies and informational sections and reach out to the specific office with any questions. To view this institutional information, please visit the Institutional Information page, which includes the following policies among others:

Face Covering Policy:
While the use of face coverings on campus is no longer mandatory, all students and instructional staff are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings while they are on campus. This is particularly true inside buildings and within classrooms and labs where social distancing is not possible due to limited space. If a student needs accommodations to ensure social distancing in the classroom due to being at high risk they are encouraged to work directly with the Student Access and Resource Center to assist in these accommodations. If students need masks, they may obtain them at the Central Library, the E.H. Hereford University Center's front desk or in their department.

Attendance:
The University of Texas at Arlington, taking attendance is not required but attendance is a critical indicator of student success. Each faculty member is free to develop his or her own methods of evaluating students' academic performance, which includes establishing course-specific policies on attendance. As the instructor of this section, I allow students to attend class sessions at their own discretion. However, while UT Arlington does not require instructors to take attendance in their courses, the U.S. Department of Education requires that the University have a mechanism in place to mark when Federal Student Aid recipients "begin attendance in a course." UT Arlington instructors will report when students begin attendance in a course as part of the final gradingprocess. Specifically, when assigning a student a grade of F, faculty report must the last date a student attended their class based on evidence such as a test, participation in a class project or presentation, or an engagement online via Canvas. This date is reported to the Department of Education for federal financial aid recipients.

Emergency Exit Procedures:
Should we experience an emergency event that requires evacuation of the building, students should exit the room and move toward the nearest exit. When exiting the building during an emergency, do not take an elevator but use the stairwells instead. Faculty members and instructional staff will assist students in selecting the safest route for evacuation and will make arrangements to assist individuals with disabilities.

Tentative Course Schedule:

As the instructor for this course, I reserve the right to adjust this schedule in any way that serves the educational needs of the students enrolled in this course. - Leonidas Fegaras.

Emergency Phone Numbers:
In case of an on-campus emergency, call the UT Arlington Police Department at 817-272-3003 (non-campus phone), 2-3003 (campus phone). You may also dial 911. Non-emergency number 817-272-3381

Last modified: 02/04/2022 by Leonidas Fegaras