GSOC 2012/Student Application rkag1412

Rakshit Agrawal 1.	Email Address: rkag1412@gmail.com 2.	Telephone: +91 9910236826 3.	Blog URL: http://www.rakshitagrawalgsoc2012.blogspot.in/ 4.	Freenode IRC Nick: rkag1412

1.	Why do you want to work with the Fedora Project? I am myself a Fedora user. I have seen how this OS has evolved and I really enjoy working on this system as much as I like it on the user side, I would be equally happy contributing to the OS as a developer. My interest in Operating systems and system programming brings me here in GSoC. After this also I would love to be a part of the Fedora Project. 2.	Do you have any past involvement with the Fedora project or another open source project as a contributor? I did start packaging for Fedora but couldn’t continue along with classes and projects. Now this time I have already laid out my summer plan for GSoC and would love to work more on the inner sides of Fedora. 3.	Did you participate with the past GSoC programs, if so which years, which organizations? No I haven’t participated with GSoC before. 4.	Will you continue contributing/ supporting the Fedora project after the GSoC 2012 program, if yes, which team(s), you are interested with? Definitely yes. I would want to be an OS developer with Fedora in future 5.	Why should we choose you over other applicants? I don’t know how talented all other applicants will be. But I can assure I have a passion for technology that motivates me every moment. When I work on something I am determined and confident about it. And this area of computer science is my prime interest. So I know I am a good contender for the position. Proposal Description Please describe your proposal in detail. Include: •	 An overview of your proposal I plan to work on an already proposed project idea:- Implement nfs/fscache writeback cache Status: Proposed Summary of idea: Currently, the flashcache/bcache only works for local filesystems. For network filesystems, nfs only supports write through cache based on fscache/cachefiles. With wider adoption of SSD on nfs client side, it would be great for nfs to support writeback cache to speed up write intensive clients. This project would implement a writeback mechanism for nfs, which need to make necessary changes to kernel nfs, fscache and cachefiles modules, and take care of nfs close-to-open semantics. Knowledge prerequisite: C, Linux kernel, nfs Skill level: High Contacts: bergwolf [AT] gmail [DOT] com Mentor(s): Peng Tao - Mentor

•	The need you believe it fulfills This project focuses on the existing gap in caching when it comes to a network file system. Since the usage of network filesystems is widespread, it is a necessity only to make them capable of almost all local filesystem operations. Caching at nfs level provides a much better usage over network as well. •	Any relevant experience you have My college projects and research works have been focused towards OS, embedded systems and computer architecture. And I do have a lot of experience in C language programming. •	How you intend to implement your proposal I am willing to get into full discussion before laying out any plan for implementation. •	A rough timeline for your progress Week #	Tentative Targets Week 1	Understanding of existing code and files Week 2	Architectural design and mapping out a layout of the strategy to be followed Week 3	Initial coding of small elements in understanding result possibilities Week 4	Main plan to code setup while discussion with mentor Week 5	Bringing theoretical concepts into code Week 6	Strategy with continuous discussion with mentor Week 7	coding Week 8	coding Week 9	coding Week 10	Final coding stages Week 11	Testing and optimization Week 12	Complete Documentation