Textbook (Recommended) and Other Requirements

The Volgenau School of Information Technology & Engineering George Mason University 4400 University Drive Fairfax. VA 22030-4444 TCOM 690 – 004 Cloud Computing Syllabus – Fall 2012 Thursdays 7:20 - 10:00 – Class Room: T 2022

Instructor: Dr. Reza Eftekari E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 703-402-3617

Course Description

The course will present the state of the art in cloud computing technologies and applications as well as providing hands-on project opportunities for students to build their own cloud networks and experiment with different technologies. This course requires no prior coding experience. The course will explore potential research directions, as well as the technologies that will facilitate the creation of a global marketplace for cloud computing services that support scientific, industrial, business, and consumer applications. Topics will include: telecommunications needs; architectural models for cloud computing; cloud computing platforms and services; security, privacy, and trust management; resource allocation and quality of service; cloud economics and business models; pricing and risk management; interoperability and internetworking; legal issues; and novel applications. Course projects will expose students to different tools and technologies used to build and utilize clouds and the related security, privacy and trust management issues.

Cloud Computing: Principles and Paradigms, Wiley, 2011. James Broberg (Editor), et.al.

Amazon Web Services: Access to Amazon Web Services (the student will incur a modest charge, e.g., $30)

Prerequisites

Graduate or Senior standing

Religious Holidays

A list of religious holidays is available on the University Life Calendar page. Any student whose religious observance conflicts with a scheduled course activity must contact the Instructor at least 2 weeks in advance of the conflict date in order to make alternative arrangements. Privacy

Instructors respect and protect the privacy of information related to individual students. Issues relating to an individual student will be discussed via email, telephone or in person. Instructors will not discuss issues relating to an individual student with other students (or anyone without a need to know) without prior permission of the student.

Assessable work other than final exam will be returned (if applicable) to individual students or team (if applicable) directly by the Instructor. Faculty and staff will take care to protect the privacy of each student's scores and grades.

Disability Accommodations

The Office of Disability Services (ODS) works with disabled students to arrange for appropriate accommodations to ensure equal access to university services. Any student with a disability of any kind is strongly encouraged to register with ODS as soon as possible and take advantage of the services offered.

Accommodations for disabled students must be made in advance – ODS cannot assist students retroactively, and at least one week's notice is required for special accommodations related to exams. Any student who needs accommodation should contact the Instructor during the first week of the semester so the sufficient time is allowed to make arrangements. The accommodations provided will be limited only to those specified on the ODS form.

Honor Code

Students are expected to uphold the principles of scholarly ethics. On admission to Mason, students agree to comply with the requirements of the GMU Honor System and Code.

Communications

Registered students will be given access to the Blackboard Learning System for this course. Blackboard will be used as the primary mechanism to disseminate course information, including announcements, lecture slides, projects and other assignments, and scores for assignments, discussions and final exam.

Communication with the Instructor on issues relating to the individual student should be conducted using students’ GMU email, via telephone, or in person - not in the public forums on Blackboard. For urgent messages, you should also attempt to contact the Instructor via telephone (703-402-3617) and e-mail. Federal privacy law and GMU policy require that any communication with a student related in any way to a student's status be conducted using secure GMU systems – if you use email to communicate with the Instructor you MUST send messages from your GMU email account. Grading

Grades will be awarded in accordance with the GMU Grading System for graduate students. See http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/apolicies/ under Grading System for more information.

Method of Instruction

TCOM 690-004 is an intensive 15-week course commencing on Thursday, August 30, 2012, and ending on December 15, 2012. This course consists of 15 face-to-face sessions from 7:20 PM to 10:00 PM on Thursdays.

Method of Evaluation

Grading Weights

 Student Information Sheet 5%  Class Participation 15%  Project I 22.5%  Project II 22.5%  Final 35%

Grading Guide for Written Assignments

 Submits Assignments On-Time 20%  Met Basic Requirements 20%  Followed Recommended Outline 12%  Scholarly/Graduate Quality 12%  Organization and Presentation 12%  Prose and Writing Style 12%  Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation 12%

Examination

The Final Exam is to be held in-class and is intended to test the student’s knowledge of the materials discussed in the readings and lectures. A list of written questions that will appear in the exams will be provided by the instructor in advance. Be prepared to write about the material discussed in class in concise, intelligible English. Examination is comprehensive over the work performed during the course and the course lecture material. You will be expected to interpret the material of the course, not to repeat it via memory. The examinations are intended to enhance the student’s learning experience and challenge the student to correctly apply the course material. The final exam will be held during the scheduled final exam session posted on the calendar of this syllabus. The final exam will be closed notes, closed book (one Index Card, front and back, will be allowed). Make sure to bring paper and pen to the exam.

Make-up exams will only be given to students with highly legitimate excuses. You must present solid proof of your reasons to do so in advance.

Failure to submit the project on the due date may result receiving a 0 on the project or a deduction of 20% of the project grade (depending on the extent of the delay).

Information Sheet

Each student must complete the information sheet posted on Blackboard. A hard copy should be provided to Dr. Eftekari by the due date. A picture of only yourself clearly showing your face should be inserted within the submission.

Class Participation

The instructor will periodically initiate discussions among the students. Part of the grade in the class will be based on the quality and extent of participation of each student in these in-class discussions. You will not receive points solely based on attendance.

Other Policies

 Although attendance is not mandatory, it is assumed that you will attend all lectures as success in the course depends heavily on this component.  All course materials may be accessed through Blackboard by visiting http://mymason.gmu.edu  Important announcements will be posted on Blackboard so please make sure to follow the bulletin board periodically. The bulletin board on Blackboard may also be used for discussions between students.  All students are under the Honor code. Please make sure you read the code to resolve any uncertainties. Any violation of the code will not be tolerated at any time.  You may direct your questions to the instructor via email or phone. You may also request an appointment to meet with the instructor if you need to.  Students with special requests/circumstances need to contact the instructor within a week after these special circumstances arise.  Final grades will be posted to PatriotWeb, which is the only vehicle for students to obtain those grades. A student with a "hold" on his/her PatriotWeb account will be unable to access final grades until the hold has been removed by the Registrar.  It is very important for you to make sure you understand everything at the end of each lecture. Please do not hesitate to ask questions during the class time or as needed (e-mail to the Professor). Since there are a wide variety of topics covered in this course, it is also very important that you go over the materials after each class to make sure you fully understand the concepts. Do not wait until the exam to go over the materials. Lecture Schedule: (Subject to Change by Professor)

ENTS 649B Fall 2012 CLASS SCHEDULE

DATE CLASS TOPICS

8/30 1 Introduction and Networking

9/6 2 Overview of Cloud Computing

9/13 3 Information Assurance and Cloud Computing (Project I Assigned)

9/20 4 Enterprise Cloud Computing and IaaS

9/27 5 Service and Utility-oriented platforms for Cloud computing

10/4 6 Industry Speaker and Hands-on Demo (Amazon AWS)

10/11 7 Project I Due - Class Presentation and Discussion

10/18 8 Project I – Remaining Class Presentations and Tools and technologies for types of Clouds (Project II Assigned)

10/25 9 Cloud Economics and Business Models

11/1 10 Clouds Computing Legal Issues and Cloud Forensics

11/8 11 SLA Management: Service Provider’s Perspective and Future Cloud Computing Topics

11/15 12 Project II Due - Class Presentation and Discussion (4 Teams)

11/29 13 Project II – Remaining Class Presentation (3 Teams) and Ad Hoc Topics

12/6 14 Course Review and Preparation for Final

12/13 15 Final Exam – Closed Book (One Index Card, front and back, will be allowed)