Rethinking Distributed Systems: Learning, Disaggregation, and Declarative Design

Lunch will be served at 11:45am

Abstract:

Today’s distributed systems face growing pressure from diverse hardware, changing workloads, and strict requirements for correctness and efficiency. Despite this, many systems are still rigid, rely on manual tuning, and are hard to verify. This talk rethinks how we design such systems by exploring a cross-layer approach that emphasizes adaptability and trustworthiness. Permissioned blockchains provide a particularly challenging case study because they combine the complexity of distributed databases with decentralized control, high performance requirements, and stringent correctness needs. Within this setting, I will describe three efforts: FlexChain, which supports elastic scaling through resource disaggregation; AdaChain, which applies reinforcement learning to adjust execution strategies in real time; and DeCon, a declarative framework for writing and verifying smart contracts. I will also touch on BFTBrain and Bedrock, which apply learning-based techniques to consensus protocols. Although developed in the context of blockchains, these techniques extend more broadly to cloud platforms, databases, and distributed systems. The talk will conclude with future directions toward systems that integrate declarative specifications, adaptive execution, and elastic infrastructure. Such systems can respond to shifting demands while remaining analyzable and trustworthy.

Bio:

Boon Thau Loo is the RCA Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in Electrical and Systems Engineering. His research in data management and distributed systems has been recognized with best paper awards at both database and systems venues (EDBT and NSDI). His honors include the ACM SIGMOD Dissertation Award, NSF CAREER Award, AFOSR Young Investigator Award, Penn’s Emerging Inventor of the Year award, and the Lindback and Spira Awards for Distinguished Teaching. Beyond academia, he co-founded two startups: Netsil, a cloud application monitoring company acquired by Nutanix, and Termaxia, a big data storage company acquired by Frontiir. He currently serves as Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Global Initiatives at Penn Engineering, where he oversees doctoral and professional master’s programs and leads international partnerships.