FIT5164 Grid Computing was the most complex subject I have taken thus far. It was also the most interesting due to the broad range of applications that were discussed for this technology. The subject was particularly good because of the instant grid on VMware which enabled us to practically apply the complex theoretical concepts discussed in the lectures.
Dr Asad Khan presented the lectures with the assumption that students were reading up on concepts and understanding all of the tutorial work. This was necessary due to the complexity and number of topics covered. I found the challenging lecture structure as good motivation to learn as much as possible thus was very happy with it.
The first 7 weeks of the course comprised of the examinable material. This material included introductions to grid and their applications then drilling into the key concepts and components of grids. The final 3 weeks introduced some very interesting topics which were not examinable, including Wireless Sensor Networks and distributed pattern recognition. In particular, distributed pattern recognition appears to be a very interesting application for grid computing which I felt topped the course of perfectly. I would recommend this subject to anyone in the MIT/MAIT streams, however the prerequisites should include data communications and a UNIX based subject.