CS Master, PS新鲜出炉 求拍砖!

avatar 197217
荷叶
2010
5
楼主本科国内top15CS专业,申16fall CS master,新鲜出炉的ps,还请大家多多指点!

[align="left"] I'm applying to XXX for admission to theMaster Program in the Computer Sciences Department. As a student majoring inComputer Science, I was always dreaming of furthering my graduate study inAmerica, hometown and the most enthusiastic place for Computer Science. Withher excellent faculty, perfect location and comfortable climate, XXX definitelyattracts a lot of CS students and future CS practitioners. It must be veryappreciated if you would spend some time learning about me, a young female CSstudent who looks forward to a wider knowledge of Computer Science and iswilling to devote her whole life to this field.[/align][align="left"] My undergraduate education at ComputerScience Department of YYY has provided me with substantial knowledge of variousbasic areas of Computer Science. The curriculum included Data Structures,Algorithms, Discrete Mathematics, Computer Architecture, Operation System,Systems Programming, Theory of Computation, etc. Through these courses, I'veacquired a solid background in Computer Science. In the courses of OperationSystem and Computer Architecture, I've got a comprehensive knowledge about thephysical organization of computers and how the operation system manages them tofeed users' needs. what impressed me most is the dichotomy of the fast, expensive,volatile memory and the slow, relatively cheap, persistent disks. At that time,I was wondering that if there was a solution to eliminate he gap between thosetwo devices. My interest in storage systems was raised by this question, and Istarted to explore this field and try to solve some related problems.[/align][align="left"] I'm currently working on problems aboutstorage systems, and wish to continue my study and research in storage systemsor related fields after graduation. Storage, as the base stone of every system,is sometimes decisive for the whole system's performance. Through my experiencein lab, I'm getting increasingly interested in storage system and have tried todo some optimization in real system to better support the upper applications. [/align][align="left"] I've been working with my research group inthe Key Lab of Computer Architecture and System since 2014. Our group finisheda hybrid database project designed for Huwawei Corp, and we have started a newtopic about caching algorithms for SMR(Shingled Magnetic Recording) disksseveral months ago.[/align][align="left"] At the time when I entered the Lab, my groupwas working on a hybrid database project designed for HUAWEI Corp. To getfamiliar with storage systems and to practice my coding abilities, Ivoluntarily took part in this project. In brief, the hybrid database uses SSDsas a secondary cache to cache popular data for faster access. Our project isbased on PostgreSQL, an open source database. We implement our solutions byadding and justifying some related codes, implementing several common cachingalgorithms for SSDs. According to test results, we improve the performance ofthe database to more than 2 times better than before. Though the idea of thisproject sounds natural and direct, I acquired many practical programmingexperience, got much more familiar with storage systems and newly emerged storagedevices, became much more proficient in Linux, and most importantly, received theability and confidence dealing with practical problems, which prepared me forpossible project worksduring graduate study. [/align][align="left"] During the development period, I also readpapers from top conference including FAST, OSDI, ASPLOS, ATC, Eurosys, etc. tolearn about the world’s most excellent works in storage systems, and my interestfor research emerged. [/align][align="left"] My current research focuses on ShingledMagnetic Recording disks (SMR disks). With magnetic tracks shingled, SMR disksachieve higher storage density than conventional HDDs. However, SMR hassignificant writing amplification under random writes, leading to lower averageIOPS compared with HDDs. So SMR is usually thought to be used in systems whichare large-scale but are not very critical in storage performance. Our work isto change this situation.[/align][align="left"] The present idea is to add an SSD as a cachelayer between main memory and SMRs. However, we have to rethink that whetherthe conventional caching algorithms such as LRU, FIFO, LFU, etc. are stilleffective for an SMR-based hybrid storage system. Since SMR has very specialphysical characters which are totally different with HDDs, we have to designnew caching algorithms, which are more efficient to work with SMRs. The keytask for the algorithms, though, is to reduce the writing amplification broughtby random writes. Currently, I am designing the algorithms with our researchgroup, and this work is planned to be submitted next year.[/align][align="left"] The master program serves as an ideal bridgebetween undergraduate study and professional career. As depicted above, I haveboth potential to enter the CS industry and enthusiasm to become a researcher. Duringthe period of graduate study, I will take time experience diversifiedenvironments and work on different tasks of both industry and research. At thesame time, I am also willing to take part in development of some practicalapplications or do some related research with the excellent faculties in XXX.No matter which vocation I finally choose, I will devote my whole self to thecurriculum and projects the program requests.[/align][align="left"] I have selected XXX as the place for me tocontinue my graduate study because the curriculum suits me perfectly. And Ifound the faculty and research, especially in Computer Systems, to be quiteimpressive. An opportunity to be associated with these excellent persons willbe a golden one for me to improve myself. I have realized that XXX can provideme with a perfect environment for directing me to my future career. I amconfident of meeting the standards of XXX, and I am willing to make a positivecontribution to the ongoing project or research work in XXX.[/align][align="left"] The master program serves as an ideal bridgebetween undergraduate study and professional career. As depicted above, I haveboth potential to enter the industry and enthusiasm to become a researcher. Duringthe graduate study, I will take time to experience diversified environments andwork on different tasks of both industry and research. I am also willing totake part in the development of some practical projects or do some relatedresearch with the excellent faculties in UMD. Whichever path I finally choose,I will devote my whole self to the curriculum and projects the programrequests.[/align]
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