Principles of Computer System Design

"This is a unique, ambitious, and important book. It is about computer system design principles, and not the usual mechanics of how things work. These principles are typically embedded in research papers (for those of which are to be found at all), and no book I know of makes so many of them explicit and its focal point." --Joe Pasquale, UC San Diego"The book is a great introduction to system design issues that are only taught at few courses in few universities, even-though they show up in computer systems everywhere. This is a very good and easy read for any one in computer industry. It describes all parts of computer systems and how they interact very well. The extension of the book is online and many chapters are available for free to download. The chapter on Naming is worth the money of the book. I have not seen the discussion of naming in such detail and simple terms anywhere. The authors are very well respected professors at MIT and have experience in operating systems and computer system since its early days. I highly recommend this book to any hardware or software student or professional engineer." --Amazon.com 5 star review THE missing link, January 16, 2010 By clivebaker "clivebaker""[A] unique of several design patterns that are used as building blocks in computer systems. The primary novelty in Saltzer and Kaashoek's book is the fresh and original presentation of several related topics. The book is logically divided into two parts: Part 1 is included in the hard-copy book; Part 2 is only available online.. I highly recommend this well-written and well-structured book to several groups of readers: undergraduate students can use it as a gentle introduction to computer architecture and OSs, and graduate students and more advanced readers will enjoy its philosophical and design-oriented aspects. In fact, the book may eventually become a classic and a must-read for any computer scientist." --Computing Reviews

1. Systems2. Elements of Computer System Organization3. The Design of Naming Schemes4. Enforcing Modularity with Clients and Services5. Enforcing Modularity with Virtualization6. Performance7. The Network as a System and as a System Component8. Fault Tolerance: Reliable Systems from Unreliable Components9. Atomicity: All-or-Nothing and Before-or-After10. Information Security11. Suggestions for Further ReadingGlossaryProblem SetsIndex of Concepts