CS2640 Modern Storage Systems
Midterm Exam

Exam Information

Date Monday, March 23, 2026
Time 11:15 AM – 12:30 PM (regular class time)
Location SEC LL2.223 (regular classroom)
Format Closed-book, in-person
Weight 20% of final grade

Topics Covered

The exam covers all lecture material from Weeks 1–7:

  • Hard Disk Drives (HDD): architecture, performance characteristics
  • Solid-State Drives (SSD): NAND flash, FTL, write amplification, wear leveling, garbage collection
  • Block Storage: Linux block layer, I/O schedulers
  • File Systems: FFS, LFS, journaling, VFS, metadata management
  • Distributed Storage Systems: NFS, AFS, GFS, HDFS, object storage, block storage at scale
  • Storage Performance: open vs. closed systems, aging, benchmarking, measurement methodology
  • Caching: five-minute rule, eviction policies, SHARDS, S3-FIFO, SIEVE
  • Storage Reliability & Data Protection: RAID, erasure coding, MTTDL, LRC

Exam Policies

  • The exam is closed-book and closed-notes. No electronic devices are allowed.
  • You may bring one double-sided letter-size cheat sheet (handwritten or typed).
  • If you have a conflict or need accommodations, please contact the instructor at least one week before the exam.