Important Dates

Paper titles and abstracts due: October 3, 2008, 6:00 p.m. EDT

Complete paper submissions due: October 10, 2008, 6:00 p.m. EDT (hard deadline)

Notification of acceptance: December 19, 2008

Papers due for shepherding: February 2, 2009

Final papers due: February 25, 2009

Poster proposals due: March 1, 2009

Notification to poster presenters: March 15, 2009

Conference Organizers

Program Co-Chairs
Jennifer Rexford, Princeton University
Emin Gün Sirer, Cornell University

Program Committee
Miguel Castro, Microsoft Research
Jeff Dean, Google, Inc.
Nick Feamster, Georgia Institute of Technology
Michael J. Freedman, Princeton University
Steven D. Gribble, University of Washington
Krishna Gummadi, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems
Steven Hand, University of Cambridge
Farnam Jahanian, University of Michigan
Dina Katabi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Arvind Krishnamurthy, University of Washington
Bruce Maggs, Carnegie Mellon University/Akamai
Petros Maniatis, Intel Research Berkeley
Nick McKeown, Stanford University
Greg Minshall
Michael Mitzenmacher, Harvard University
Jeff Mogul, HP Labs
Venugopalan Ramasubramanian, Microsoft Research
Pablo Rodriguez, Spain Telefónica
Kobus van der Merwe, AT&T Labs�??Research
Geoffrey M. Voelker, University of California, San Diego
Matt Welsh, Harvard University
Hui Zhang, Carnegie Mellon University/Rinera
Yuanyuan Zhou, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Steering Committee
Thomas Anderson, University of Washington
Greg Minshall
Mike Schroeder, Microsoft Research
Margo Seltzer, Harvard University
Amin Vahdat, University of California, San Diego
Ellie Young, USENIX

Overview
NSDI focuses on the design principles and practical evaluation of large-scale networked and distributed systems. Systems as diverse as Internet routing, peer-to-peer and overlay networks, sensor networks, Web-based systems, and measurement infrastructures share a set of common challenges. Progress in any of these areas requires a deep understanding of how researchers are addressing the challenges of large-scale systems in other contexts. Our goal is to bring together researchers from across the networking and systems community�??including communication, distributed systems, and operating systems�??to foster a broad approach to addressing our common research challenges.

Topics
NSDI will provide a high-quality, single-track forum for presenting new results and discussing ideas that overlap these disciplines. We seek a broad variety of work that furthers the knowledge and understanding of the networked systems community as a whole, continues a significant research dialog, or pushes the architectural boundaries of large-scale network services. We solicit papers describing original and previously unpublished research. Specific topics of interest include but are not limited to:

* Self-organizing, autonomous, and federated networked systems
* Scalable techniques for providing high availability and reliability
* Energy-efficient computing in networked environments
* Clean-slate approaches to communication systems
* Distributed storage, caching, and query processing
* Security, robustness, and fault-tolerance in networked environments
* Overlays and peer-to-peer systems
* Systems and protocols for mobile and wireless systems
* Protocols and OS support for sensor networking
* Novel operating system support for networked systems
* Virtualization and resource management for networked systems
* Design and evaluation of large-scale networked system testbeds
* Network measurements, workload, and topology characterization
* Managing, debugging, and diagnosing problems in networked systems
* Practical protocols and algorithms for networked systems
* Addressing novel challenges of the developing world
* Experience with deployed networked systems

What to Submit
Submissions must be full papers, at most 14 single-spaced 8.5" x 11" pages, including figures, tables, and references, two-column format, using 10-point type on 12-point (single-spaced) leading, with a maximum text block of 6.5" wide x 9" deep with .25" intercolumn space. Papers that do not meet the size and formatting requirements will not be reviewed. Submissions will be judged on originality, significance, interest, clarity, relevance, and correctness.

NSDI is single-blind, meaning that authors should include their names on their paper submissions and do not need to obscure references to their existing work.

Authors must submit their paper's title and abstract by October 3, 2008, and the corresponding full paper is due by October 10, 2008 (hard deadline). All papers must be submitted via the Web form, which will be available here soon. Accepted papers may be shepherded through an editorial review process by a member of the Program Committee. Based on initial feedback from the Program Committee, authors of shepherded papers will submit an editorial revision of their paper to their Program Committee shepherd by February 2, 2009. The shepherd will review the paper and give the author additional comments. All authors (shepherded or not) will produce a final, printable PDF and the equivalent HTML by February 25, 2009, for the conference Proceedings.

Simultaneous submission of the same work to multiple venues, submission of previously published work, and plagiarism constitute dishonesty or fraud. USENIX, like other scientific and technical conferences and journals, prohibits these practices and may, on the recommendation of a program chair, take action against authors who have committed them. In some cases, program committees may share information about submitted papers with other conference chairs and journal editors to ensure the integrity of papers under consideration.

Previous publication at a workshop is acceptable as long as the NSDI submission includes substantial new material. For instance, submitting a paper that provides a full evaluation of an idea that was previously sketched in a 5-page position paper is acceptable. Authors of such papers should cite the prior workshop paper and clearly state the submission's contribution relative to the prior workshop publication.

Authors uncertain whether their submission meets USENIX's guidelines should contact the Program Co-Chairs, nsdi09chairs@usenix.org, or the USENIX office, submissionspolicy@usenix.org.

Papers accompanied by nondisclosure agreement forms will not be considered. All submissions will be treated as confidential prior to publication on the USENIX NSDI '09 Web site.

Best Paper Awards
Awards will be given for the best paper and the best paper for which a student is the lead author.

Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions
Birds-of-a-Feather sessions (BoFs) are informal gatherings organized by attendees interested in a particular topic. BoFs will be held in the evening. BoFs may be scheduled in advance by emailing the USENIX Conference Department at bofs@usenix.org. BoFs may also be scheduled at the conference.

Poster Session
NSDI will be continuing its long-running tradition of showcasing early research in progress at a poster session. New, ongoing work, early findings from measurement studies, and demonstrations of newly deployed systems are highly encouraged. We are particularly interested in presentations of student work. To submit a poster, please send a proposal, one page or less, by March 1, 2009, to nsdi09posters@usenix.org. The poster session chairs will send back decisions by March 15, 2009.