CS 6204: A Walk on the Cloud Side 
Spring 2016 
Ali Butt

In this class, we will explore systems, business, user, and social
aspects of cloud computing --- a model that has revolutionized how
computing is utilized in almost every aspect of our modern digital
life. The class comprises of four modules. The system module take a look
under the hood of the cloud to cover topics such as MapReduce, Spark,
Dockers, Key-Value stores, and big data management. The business module
examines the pay-as-you-go model, spot instances, and usage monitoring
and pricing. The user module covers how the ubiquitous computing offered
by the cloud  is enabling and enhancing integrated user experiences. The
social module is all about social media, the underlying technologies,
the uses and cloud as an enabler of social change. The class will
be discussion-based and also include one open-ended semester long
project. The material will be mainly taken from state of the art research
papers and industry resources. So come take a walk on the cloud side.