Upcoming FreeBSD Kernel Internals Evening Course

  • The ``FreeBSD Kernel Internals: Data Structures, Algorithms, and Performance Tuning'' course is taught once every few years on Tuesday nights starting in September and running through November on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley (UCB).
  • The syllabus for the evening class is as follows:
    Week 1 - Introduction
            Kernel terminology
            Basic kernel services
    
    Week 2 - Processes
            Process structure
            Process management
            Jails
    
    Week 3 - Virtual Memory
            Scheduling
            Signals
            Virtual memory management
    
    Week 4 - I/O Introduction
            Special files
            Terminal handling
    
    Week 5 - Kernel I/O Structure
            Multiplexing I/O
            Autoconfiguration strategy
            Structure of a disk device driver
    
    Week 6 - Filesystem Overview
            Filesystem services
            Block I/O system (buffer cache)
            Filesystem implementation
    
    Week 7 - Filesystem Implementation
            Soft Updates and Snapshots
            Support for multiple filesystems
            Volume Management
            Network File System (NFS)
    
    Week 8 - Interprocess Communication
            Concepts and terminology
            Basic IPC services
            Example use of IPC and network facilities
    
    Week 9 - Networking Implementation
            System layers and interfaces
            Routing issues
    
    Week 10 - Internet Protocols
            Transport Layer (IP)
            Network Layer (TCP)
    
    Week 11 - System Tuning
            Performance measurement
            System tuning
    
    Week 12 - Other Topics
            Crash dump analysis
            Security issues