Harvard CS144r/244r

Fall 2009

Cloud Computing and Its Applications

M, W 2:30-4, MD 223

Instructor: Professor H. T. Kung

Beyond all the hype, what is cloud computing really about? What is its impact on computer applications and services? This course examines these questions and provides opportunities for hands-on experience. Focus will be placed on mobile applications, an emerging area of cloud computing expected to grow rapidly in the next several years. The coursework will involve survey of related literature; design and implementation of protocols, algorithms and systems; lab experiments; project formulation; and the resulting presentation and reporting. Depending on their interests and background, students may choose to work on a subset of these tasks, or define their own. Example course projects could be "cellphone clones in the cloud," "automated load balancing with virtual machines," "Android phone on a netbook," "ad-hoc clouds in the field," and "process migration with virtual machines." Some of these projects will be linked to new research projects we have here at Harvard in this area.