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| ECE6960 Data Center Architecture Spring 2025 |
Course Description
The course will cover the state-of-the-art hardware and software architecture of datacenters that power almost all the cloud services we use today. We will discuss the specific requirements for datacenter hardware and software architecture and how these requirements influence the design of datacenters. We will explore new trends in processor architecture (both general-purpose and domain-specific), memory architecture, storage architecture, network architecture, system software architecture, and software architecture of datacenters.
Topics to Cover (Tentative)- Google case study
- Software layers, killer application, development styles
- Metrics, tail latency, profiling
- Metrics, energy proportionality, power management
- Topologies, control plane, data plane
- Memory and storage disaggregation, tiered memory
- Post Moore CPUs, accelerators
- 2.5D and 3D packaging, near-data processing
Syllabus and Course Introduction
Lecture time: MW 2:55 - 4:10 PM
Class: Bard Hall 140
Textbooks:
Paper reviews are due before each class in Canvas.
Instructor
Prof. Mohammad Alian
Office: 322 Rhodes Hall
Office Hours: MW 4:15 - 4:45 PM
Email: malian@cornell.edu
Schedule (Tentative)
| Date | Day | Topic (Tentative) | Reading (Before the Class) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 22 | W |
Topic 1: Intro to Datacenters (link) |
||
| January 27 | M | No Class (Traveling) |
Paper: Ranaganathan'2024 IEEE MICRO (link) Book chapter: BHR Chapter 1 |
|
| January 29 | W | Topic 1: Introduction to Datacenters Continued. |
Paper: Barroso'2003 CACM (link) Book chapter: BHR Chapter 2 |
Supplementary notes on Moore's Law and Dennards Scaling (link) |
| February 3 | M | Topic 1: Introduction to Datacenters Continued. |
Paper: Gan'2019 ASPLOS (link) |
|
| February 5 | W | Topic 2: Datacenter Software (link) |
Paper: Covington'2016 RecSys (link) |
|
| February 10 | M | Topic 2: Datacenter Software Continued (link) |
Paper: Dean'2013 CACM (link) |
|
| February 12 | W | Topic 3: Datacenter Performance (link) |
Paper: Barroso'2017 CACM (link) |
|
| February 17 | M | February Break |
||
| February 19 | W | Topic 3: Datacenter Performance Continued (link) |
Paper: Gonzalez'2023 ISCA (link) |
|
| February 24 | M | Prelim 1 |
All topics covered till February 17th | |
| February 26 | W | Topic 3: Datacenter Performance Continued | ||
| March 3 | M | Topic 4: Datacenter Energy and Power (link) |
Paper: Barroso'2007 Computer (link) |
|
| March 5 | W | Topic 4: Datacenter Energy and Power |
Paper: Li'2020 OSDI (link) |
|
| March 10 | M | Topic 5: Datacenter Network |
Paper: Singh'2015 SIGCOMM (link) Book chapter: BHR Chapter 3.3 |
|
| March 12 | W | Topic 5: Datacenter Network (link) |
Paper: Marty'2019 SOSP (link) |
|
| March 17 | M | Topic 5: Datacenter Network (Host Networking) (link) | ||
| March 19 | W | Topic 6: Datacenter Memory | ||
| March 24 | M | Midterm Review | ||
| March 26 | W | Prelim 2 |
Topics 1 to 5 | |
| March 31 | M | Spring Break |
||
| April 2 | W | Spring Break |
||
| April 7 | M | Topic 6: Datacenter Memory (link) |
Paper: Lagar-Cavilla'2019 ASPLOS (link) |
|
| April 9 | W | Topic 6: Datacenter Memory - Disaggregated Memory Tier(link) |
Paper: Li'2023 ASPLOS (link) |
|
| April 14 | M | Topic 7: Datacenter Compute - AI Accelerator (link) |
Paper: Jouppi'2017 ISCA (link) |
|
| April 16 | W | Topic 7: Datacenter Compute - AI Accelerator (cont.) | ||
| April 21 | M | Topic 7: Datacenter Compute - Reconfigurable Fabric (link) |
Paper: Caulfield'2016 MICRO (link) |
|
| April 23 | W | Topic 7: Datacenter Compute - General Purpose Computing (link) |
Paper: Falsafi'2024 IEEE MICRO (link) |
In-class discussion (link) |
| April 28 | M | |||
| April 30 | W | |||
| May 5 | M | Final Exam |
Covers all topics | Time: 2:55 PM - 5PM |