Prof. Ramesh K. Sitaraman

 
 

contact

Department of Computer Science

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003-4610, USA

Phone:  (413) 545 3279

FAX: (413) 545 1249

ramesh at cs dot umass dot edu


Assistant: Karren Sacco

Office: CS Building, Room 300

Phone: (413) 577 0292

ksacco at cs dot umass dot edu




research interests

  1. ★Algorthms and Theoretical Computer Science

  2. ★ Parallel and Distributed Computing

  3. ★ Internet-scale Distributed Systems.

  4. ★Content Delivery Networks and Cloud Computing

  5. ★Communication Networks, including the Internet

  6. ★Fault Tolerance & Reliability

  7. ★Energy Aware Green         Computing

 
 

Ramesh K. Sitaraman received his B. Tech. in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He obtained his Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University. Prof. Sitaraman is currently a faculty member in the Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he is part of the Theoretical Computer Science group.


On a leave from academia, as a principal architect, Prof. Sitaraman helped build Akamai Technologies and helped pioneer the Internet-scale distributed networks that currently deliver much of the world’s web content, streaming videos, and online applications. He was named an Akamai Fellow.


Prof. Sitaraman's research focuses on foundational issues in the design of large Internet-scale distributed systems, communication networks, cloud computing, and global Internet services. Prof. Sitaraman is a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award and a Lilly Fellowship. He has served on numerous program committees and editorial boards of major conferences and journals.

 

Current Favorites


  1. 1)Video Stream Quality Impacts Viewer Behavior: Inferring Causality using Quasi-Experimental Designs.  

    Download Paper   Download Presentation

Shows that poor video performance at a site can cause viewers to abandon videos more often, view videos for a lesser time, and return to the same site less frequently. Also, develops novel tools based on QEDs for inferring causality in this domain.


Media Coverage:

  1. • NPR Morning Edition: In Video-Streaming Rat Race, Fast Is Never Fast Enough

  2. •UMass Press Release: UMass Amherst Computer Science Research Quantifies How Online Video Stream Quality Affects Viewer Behavior

  3. •Boston Globe: Instant gratification is making us perpetually impatient

  4. •CNN: Online viewers ditch slow-loading video after 2 seconds

  5. •Science Daily: How Online Video Stream Quality Affects Viewer Behavior

  6. •GigaOm: Online viewers start leaving if video doesn’t play in 2 seconds, says study

  7. •Boston Globe: MIT grad led team that built faster YouTube player

  8. •News India Times: Online Video Speed Affects Viewer Behavior, Says Computer Scientist.

  9. •Broadcast Engineering: Is streaming TV worth the wait?

  10. •India Abroad: Despair when a video buffers? Ramesh Sitaraman has some answers

  11. •More coverage:

    Akamai Blog,  Yahoo News, PC Magazine,  Hindustan Times,

     The Verge,  Media Post, Xinhua, SF Chronicle  CNET,

     Broadcast Engineering, Slashdot, Sina.com




  1. 2)Using Batteries to Reduce the Power Costs of Internet-Scale Distributed Systems.

    Download Paper  Download Presentation

Shows how batteries can be used to reduce the power costs of a large distributed network. Helps establish batteries as a key part of the network architecture of CDNs and other large distributed networks.


Media Coverage:

    Giga OM: Batteries should be part of the Internet Infrastructure

    Akamai Blog: Batteries Included: A Leaner and Greener Internet using  Smart Batteries



  1. 3)Energy-aware Load Balancing in Content Delivery Networks. Download Paper  Download Presentation

Shows how distributed networks can save energy by shutting down servers without significantly impacting availability, scalability, and wear-and-tear costs.

  

Media Coverage:

    UMass Feature Story: Intenet Goes Green


  1. 4)The Akamai Network: A Platform for High-Performance Internet Applications.

    Download Paper

The first comprehensive description of the system architecture of one of the world’s largest distributed networks that consists of more than a hundred thousand servers deployed in more than a thousand locations around the world serving roughly 25% of the web today.

   

Media Coverage:

    GigaOM, High Scalabilty, ReadWrite