18-746 Storage Systems (Fall 2025)

Overview

Storage systems are among the most fascinating and the most important parts of computer systems. They often dominate the performance of a system, and failures of other components are frequently addressed by restarting from the data stored on them. Indeed, storage systems hold the crown jewels of most organizations: their information (from source code to Microsoft's software to the sales databases of every e-commerce site to the data and model versions driving the AI/ML revolution). There continues to be great demand for bright people and better solutions in this critical field of computer systems.

This course covers the design, implementation, and use of storage systems, from the characteristics and operation of individual storage devices to the OS, database, and distributed systems approaches involved in tying them together and making them useful to key applications' demands and technology trends. Along the way, we will examine several case studies of real systems, demands placed on storage systems by important applications, and impacts of trends and emerging technologies on future storage systems.

Although the word "Advanced" is no longer part of the title for this class, due to an unfortunate acronym, the class will continue to have the same advanced level of content, projects, and high-level expectations.

Course lectures are planned to last three hours per week.

• Lecture time: MW 16:00 - 17:50
• Units: 12
• Prerequistes: 14-513, 18-613, 15-213, 18-213, or 15-513, from CMU, with a grade of at least a B.
• Location: DH 2315
• Canvas page: https://canvas.cmu.edu/courses/48591
• Communicating with the course staff: We will be using Piazza for class-related discussions this term. The webpage for our Piazza course is http://piazza.com/cmu/fall2025/18746.
• Web site: www.ece.cmu.edu/~ece746
• Syllabus: PDF [Note: You need to use CMU VPN to access it if off campus.]

Make sure you visit this page regularly for updates!

Components

• Regular lectures by the instructors on core topics of storage systems
• Guest lectures by experts in the field
• Midterm and final exams
• A number of quizzes over the course of the semester
• Several project assignments (not nearly so much as 15-410, though)

Books and readings

There will be no assigned book for this offering. Instead, the instructors will rely on readings from books and the research literature to complement the lectures. See the Schedule & Readings pages for an overview of the latest plan.