High-Performance Services and Infrastructures

Recommended Prerequisites

Introductory courses (1st cycle of studies) on Computer Networks and Operating Systems.

Management of Internet Infrastructures and Services.

Teaching Methods

The teaching methodology relies on two types of complementary activities that are strongly correlated both in terms of timing and content: lecture-based teaching, stimulating the discussion, interactivity, analysis and critical reasoning; execution of lab assignments.

Learning Outcomes

The core objectives of this course are to study and discuss – both at theoretical and practical levels – the management of high-performance IT infrastructures, including its planning and management (specification and design of data centres, O&M, resource management, energy efficiency in the data centre), the planning and administration of those services and the supporting communication mechanisms (resilience, quality of service, SLA-management, energy efficiency).

Throughout the course, students acquire key competences in terms of comprehension, analysis and synthesis of the covered topics, critical reasoning, planning and organization, problem solving, teamwork, autonomous study, and practical knowledge application.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Planning and administration of high-performance infrastructures (datacenter, O&M, resource management, energy efficiency). Planning and administration of high-performance services. Resilience of high-performance communications (network virtualization, high-performance networking technologies, software-defined networking). Quality of Service in high-performance communications. Energy efficiency in high-performance communications.

Head Lecturer(s)

Tiago José dos Santos Martins da Cruz

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Synthesis work: 15.0%
Exam: 40.0%
Laboratory work or Field work: 45.0%

Bibliography

- R. Schiesser, IT Systems Management (2nd Edition, 2010)

- G. Santana, Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals: Understanding Features, Designs, and Techniques for Highly Efficient Data Centers (2013)

- M. Portolani, Data Center Fundamentals (2004)

- complemented with selected papers, internet resources and book chapters for each specialized topic.