COMP30660 Computer Architecture & Organistion (Conversion)

Academic Year 2021/2022

This is a core module on the MSc Computer Science (Conversion) and Higher Diploma in Computer Science programmes. The course will give a general overview of the basic elements and functional components of computing systems. The material to be covered divides into three parts, foundations of computing at the CPU level, network computing and the Web and scalability and cloud computing. The introduction to the foundation of computing and the CPU will cover Boolean algebra, the operation of a CPU and memory and storage. The section on networking and the Web will introduce the key concepts in network computing and Web services. The final section will cover large scale computing and the concepts underlying cloud computing.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completing the module the student should understand the following:

1. CPU and Peripherals
- The fundamentals of Boolean algebra and basic digital arithmetic.
- The operation of a central processing unit (CPU), performance metrics.
- Memory hierarchy: primary memory, cache memory, secondary memory
- Data storage, RAID the move to SSDs.

2. Modern Web Services Architectures
- Basic ideas in Network Computing
- Fault Tolerance and Scalability
- Vertical vs Horizontal Scalability
- Load Balancing
- Caching / Distributed Caching
- Data Partitioning, Master-Slave DB Replication, Sharding

3. Scalability and Moving to the Cloud
- Multiprocessing, parallelization
- Cluster computing
- Virtualization
- Elastic Compute Services (Amazon EC2)

4. Future Trends

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Practical

16
Autonomous Student Learning

70
Total

110
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, Tutorials, Hands-on projects 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Practical assessments Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

60
Class Test: Written Examination. Varies over the Trimester n/a Other No

40

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

The Architecture of Computer Hardware and System Software: An Information Technology Approach,
5th Edition, Irv Englander, April 2014

Code. The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
Publisher Microsoft Press
ISBN 978-0735605053
Name Role
Thulitha Theekshana Senevirathna Millawa Gamage Tutor