General Notes

In this unit, you should do the following:

• Prepare for and strive to do well in the quizzes

• Read appropriate sections of the text, add to your notes and prepare questions for your lecturer/tutor.

• Prepare answers to tutorial questions.

• Work on any assignments that have been released. 

Resources to assist your learning Digital recordings of lectures are available as Echo360 through iLearn login. These are provided for review material and in case of missing lectures. Recordings should not be relied upon and copyrighted material may be omitted. iLearn is used for out-of-class communication as well as forums where active discussion of issues is encouraged. iLearn can be found at can be found at http://learn.mq.edu.au. You are encouraged to review iLearn weekly and to do background reading before each class.  

Requirements to Pass this unit

In this unit, the final mark will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary. There are no hurdles in this unit.

Concretely, in order to pass the unit, you must obtain an overall total mark of 50% or higher. 

You are encouraged to:

• set your personal deadline earlier than the actual one;

• keep backups of all important assessed tasks;.

• make sure no one else picks up your printouts. All work submitted should be readable and well presented.

You should never commit plagiarism in any of your submitted work, including tutorial and practical answers.

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Written Assessments: If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the written assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Assignment Submission Guidelines and Late Submission

Your assignment is to be submitted online using Turnitin.

Late Submission Policy

• 5% penalty per day: If you submit your assessment late, 5% of the total possible marks will be deducted for each day (including weekends), up to 7 days.

  • Example 1 (out of 100): If you score 85/100 but submit 20 hours late, you will lose 5 marks and receive 80/100.

  • Example 2 (out of 30): If you score 27/30 but submit 1 day late, you will lose 1.5 marks and receive 25.5/30.

• After 7 days: Submissions more than 7 days late will receive a mark of 0.

• Extensions:

  • Automatic short extension: Some assessments are eligible for automatic short extension. You can only apply for an automatic short extension before the due date.

  • Special Consideration: If you need more time due to serious issues and for any assessments that are not eligible for Short Extension, you must apply for Special Consideration.

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows: 

• Quiz: NO, unless Special Consideration is granted  
• Assignment 1: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 
• Assignment 2: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Assignment Release Dates

Assignment 1: Latest by Friday Week 1- 27/02/2026

Assignment 2: Latest by Friday Week 2: 06/03/2026.

Methods of Communication

Our primary means of communication will be through your university email and announcements on iLearn. It is crucial to consistently check your university email for important updates and information related to the course. Additionally, significant announcements will be posted on iLearn, a centralized platform for accessing vital details about the course. Should you have any queries or require assistance from the teaching staff, including the unit convenor, you have two communication channels. Firstly, you can post your queries on the iLearn discussion board, providing an interactive space for instructors and peers to engage in discussions. Alternatively, you may send emails to the corresponding addresses of the teaching staff using your university email address for official communication. Through these communication methods, we aim to ensure effective and timely dissemination of information and provide the necessary support throughout the course.

Note:

COMP8270 is an on-campus offering.

COMP8270 is taught via lectures and workshop sessions: 1 hour per week for the problem-solving part and 2 hours per week for the hands-on lab part. (Read below for more details.)

Lectures

Lectures are used to introduce switch/router design and cloud architectures and protocols and put them in a wider context. You are encouraged to ask questions of the lecturer, both during and outside the lecture, to clarify anything you might not be sure of. Lecture notes will be made available each week, but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture only and are not a substitute for your own notes or the recommended reading list.

It should be noted that no single text book completely covers the content of this unit. A large portion of the lecture material is drawn from research papers, white papers, and standard documents. Students are encouraged to read the weekly recommended reading list to gain a solid understanding of the topics that are covered.

Quiz

There will be a quiz in week 13.. The quiz will be held in the workshop session. A quiz is a test that will be based on your previously covered lecture material. The quiz questions will be handed over to you at the beginning of your class.The quiz contributes 30% of the total mark..

Assignments

There are two assignments in this unit. Assignment 1 is a problem-solving assignment to help the students get accustomed to dealing with real-world problem situations and issues. Assignment 2 is a group project report and presentation. In this assignment, students will leverage their knowledge of network systems and cloud computing to research and critically analyse relevant literature in the discipline and present conclusions

Workshop

The workshop includes tutorial-based problem-solving and hands-on lab sessions. Its exercises aim to reinforce the concepts discussed in the lectures by engaging students in hands-on, practical, and paper-based problem-solving activities. Tutorial sessions are scheduled for the first half of the semester, starting in week 2.

The hands-on lab exercises begin in week 6 (confirmation will be provided in the first lecture). During these sessions, students have the opportunity to enhance their networking skills under the guidance of a demonstrator. These sessions take place in a specially equipped networking laboratory, and it's important to note that labs cannot be conducted outside of the assigned sessions.

It's important to note that the workshop exercises are not formally assessed. However,attending workshop sessions will prepare you better for the quiz and assignments. 

Late Submission

Late Submission Policy

• 5% penalty per day: If you submit your assessment late, 5% of the total possible marks will be deducted for each day (including weekends), up to 7 days.

  • Example 1 (out of 100): If you score 85/100 but submit 20 hours late, you will lose 5 marks and receive 80/100.

  • Example 2 (out of 30): If you score 27/30 but submit 1 day late, you will lose 1.5 marks and receive 25.5/30.

• After 7 days: Submissions more than 7 days late will receive a mark of 0.

• Extensions:

  • Automatic short extension: Some assessments are eligible for automatic short extension. You can only apply for an automatic short extension before the due date.

  • Special Consideration: If you need more time due to serious issues and for any assessments that are not eligible for Short Extension, you must apply for Special Consideration.

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows: 

• Quiz:  NO, unless Special Consideration is granted  
• Assignment 1: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 
• Assignment 2: YES, Standard Late Penalty applies 

Technologies Used

• GEM 5 Garnet Simulation tool.
• Mininet Simulation tool.
• Cloud based tools.

Methods of Communication

Our primary means of communication will be through your university email and announcements on iLearn. It is crucial to consistently check your university email for important updates and information related to the course. Additionally, significant announcements will be posted on iLearn, a centralized platform for accessing vital details about the course. Should you have any queries or require assistance from the teaching staff, including the unit convenor, you have two communication channels. Firstly, you can post your queries on the iLearn discussion board, providing an interactive space for instructors and peers to engage in discussions. Alternatively, you may send emails to the corresponding addresses of the teaching staff using your university email address for official communication. Through these communication methods, we aim to ensure effective and timely dissemination of information and provide the necessary support throughout the course.

TEXT

There is no single text book containing material that could address all the topics of the unit. All necessary reading material and elaborate and detailed notes on lecture topics will be provided by the lecturer every week.

Other Useful Books (You need not buy unless you believe you need to own one)

• Dan C. Marinescu Cloud Computing, 2nd Edition Theory and Practice ISBN: 978-0-12-812810-7 eBook ISBN: 9780124046412:
• Rajkumar Buyya, Christian Vecchiola, and Thamarai Selvi, Mastering Cloud Computing, Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN: 978-0-12-411454-8, Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, May 2013.
• Comer, D.E., Network Systems Design using Network Processors. Pearson (Prentice Hall):

3 AM Policy enforced.

Grades

At the end of the semester, you will receive a grade that reflects your achievement in the unit

• Fail (F): does not provide evidence of attainment of all learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; and incomplete, confusing or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the discipline.

• Pass (P): provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the field of study; and communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the discipline. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.

• Credit (Cr): provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; plus communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the discipline.

• Distinction (D): provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles and theories, distinctive insight and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is demonstration of frequent originality in defining and analysing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the discipline and the audience.

• High Distinction (HD): provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality and insight in identifying, generating and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions and their implications; creativity in application.

In this unit, the final mark will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary. There are no hurdles in this unit.

Concretely, in order to pass the unit, you must obtain an overall total mark of 50% or higher. 

You are encouraged to:

• set your personal deadline earlier than the actual one;

• keep backups of all important assessed tasks;.

You should never commit plagiarism in any of your submitted work, including tutorial and practical answers.