CS 448/548: Survivable Systems and Networks

This page is ALWAYS under construction!!!

Welcome to CS448/548 Survivable Systems and Networks. This course is offered in the Fall Semester 2006 at the University of Idaho. The course is taught by Dr. Axel Krings. The web site used the last time the course was taught can be viewed here, but be aware that each semester the format and material will change to reflect the dynamic behavior of the research area.

This web-page contains information about the course, e.g. syllabus, class notes, pointers to interesting places etc. Material can be down-loaded in pdf and/or postscript format, and will be made available in the updated form as the class goes on. If you have comments, please let me know.

The area of survivable systems and networks has received much attention by government and military initiatives, and notably for the general public by the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection and special issues of PBS's Frontline (e.g. Blackout). This course addresses this growing interest and deals with specific issues of computer and network survivability. Survivability goes beyond computer and network security or fault-tolerance. The range of threats to survivability that must be considered is enormous, including hardware malfunctions, software flaws, environmental hazards, and malicious and accidental human acts.

Course description: This course discusses issues of Survivability, Attributes of System Survivability, Trustworthiness, Dependability and Assurance, Threats to Survivability, Threats to Security, Threats to Reliability, Threats to Performance, Requirements and Their Interdependence, Systemic Inadequacies, Approaches for Overcoming Deficiencies, Evaluation Criteria, Attempts at Standardization, Architectures for Survivability, Implementing and Configuring for Survivability.

A wealth of literature has surfaced that deals with issues of system survivability. This class will be taught in several phases in which material will be presented by the instructor and literature will be reviewed by individual or groups of students. The results will be individual and group presentations as well as discussions of contemporary issues. The exact list of topics and class format is not final and a work in progress.