MadSystems Seminar -- Mai Zheng (Iowa State University)
Event Details
Title: A Bug’s Life vs. A Byte’s Life [Season 2]
Abstract: Bugs in computer systems are far less charming than those in A Bug’s Life—they can lead to performance degradation, system downtime, and even data loss. As system complexity continues to grow, so does the risk of latent and hard-to-detect bugs. In this talk, I will begin with a brief review of several real-world bug cases spanning multiple system layers, including Linux file systems and parallel file systems, to establish a shared context. I will then present a deep dive into a project analyzing configuration dependencies, an important yet often overlooked source of system complexity. By understanding and leveraging these dependencies, we can enhance a broad range of bug detection techniques, including regression testing, fuzzing, and fault injection. Finally, I will highlight several ongoing efforts aimed at addressing the escalating challenges posed by system complexity, and explore potential opportunities for collaboration and synergy with the audience.
Bio: Mai Zheng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. He leads the Data Storage Lab to investigate problems in critical systems that compromise data integrity and other key properties. His work has appeared at storage systems venues (e.g., FAST, MSST, SYSTOR, TOS, HotStorage), high-performance computing venues (e.g., HPDC, ICS, IPDPS), and other systems venues (e.g., OSDI, ASPLOS, ATC, TOCS). He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, the Samsung Global Research Outreach (GRO) Award, and a few Best Paper Honorable Mentions at FAST and HotStorage. He has served as an Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Storage (TOS), a General Chair of ACM HotStorage, and a Program Committee member of FAST, ATC, SC, etc. Mai received his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from The Ohio State University in 2015. For more information, please visit https://www.ece.iastate.edu/~mai/
We value inclusion and access for all participants and are pleased to provide reasonable accommodations for this event. Please call 608-867-6867 or email tomy.1516@gmail.com to make a disability-related accommodation request. Reasonable effort will be made to support your request.