autumn 2026
INF-2204 Computer Systems Experiments, Methodologies, Performance Measurements and Evaluation - 10 ECTS
Course content
Conducting systems experiments, including performance measurements and analysis of the results, are necessary to understand the behaviors and properties of systems, including scaling and energy efficiency. The systems include operating systems, databases, compilers, networking systems, distributed systems, concurrent systems, and parallel systems. The aim is to learn how to correctly design experiments, do performance measurements, and evaluate the results.Objectives of the course
Knowledge - The student understands
- What is a good experiment-based CS paper
- How to extract knowledge from experiment-based CS papers
- Understand the available methodologies (e.g., experiments on actual and prototype systems, simulation of systems)
- The requirements for a system-based experiment
- The requirements for an experiment(s) management system
- The requirements for a monitoring system to gather data about a running system
- The requirements for conducting experiment(s)
- Various approaches to typical issues of optimizing the performance of a system
- How to do experiments for a specific use-case
Skills - The student can, after passing this course
- Efficiently use tools to find experiment-based papers and research
- Design systems experiments
- Set up and utilize monitoring systems
- Prototype a computing system and a specific system problem
- Run experiments on a given system
- Optimize a system for important metrics
- Read / write about it, in the form of a scientific paper
General competence - The student can understand and learn
- Typical issues of applied systems research and learn methods to deal with the discovered issues
- How to properly and efficiently extract insights, knowledge from systems papers
- How to do experiments for systems
- How computing systems are monitored and used for specific experiments
- Pros and cons of different methodologies and paradigm for systems research
- How to optimize a system
Information to incoming exchange students
This course is open to incoming exchange students.
Study Level: Bachelor's
Admission prerequisites:
To take this course, you must first meet the requirements listed in the “Admission requirements” section above.
For details on how to apply for exchange, course selection guidelines, or to contact the Incoming Admissions Team, please visit: Admissions for Student Exchange.
Schedule
Examination
| Examination: | Duration: | Grade scale: |
|---|---|---|
| Oral exam | 30 Minutes | A–E, fail F |
Coursework requirements:To take an examination, the student must have passed the following coursework requirements: |
||
| Assignments | Approved – not approved | |
- About the course
- Campus: Tromsø |
- ECTS: 10
- Course code: INF-2204
- Responsible unit
- Informatihka instituhtta
- Earlier years and semesters for this topic