Part II: Tips for Design Project 2 Preliminary Proposal

Q: I think I found a bug in Design Project 2.

A: Check out the Design Project 2 Errata.

Q: Must all members of my group be from the same section?

A: Yes. However, it is also acceptable to be in a group with someone from another section taught by the same recitation instructor. It is not acceptable to have a group consisting of members from recitations taught by different instructors.

Q: Must I be in a group of exactly three?

A: Yes. If you are having trouble finding a group, email your TA. The TAs will facilitate matching in tutorial and via email. Exceptions will only be made if your recitation is not a multiple of 3.

Q: Do the results of mapAMs (x, k) comprise a subset of mapAMs (x, k+n)?

A: Yes.

Q: Can mapAMs "remember" where I put my files in the past?

A: No: it is a black box which deterministically maps a (String, Int) pair to a list of IP addresses. It does no more than its specification says it does.

Q: Do I need to worry about running out of space on an archive server?

A: No, you are not required to.

Q: Can the FWS use a highly available database for storing the archive metadata?

A: The FWS is a cluster of servers which handle client requests using round-robin DNS. Using a single database for the FWS metadata makes the entire FWS cluster easily susceptible to failures. Consider using either a distributed database hosted by all FWS servers (and specifying a consistency protocol such that all the FWS servers see the same metadata), or storing the metadata database on the archivers (this is the simpler solution). In either case, try to keep the database size minimal.