Teaching how to setup Database and LLM Hosting

Thesis (BA)

Advisor(s):  Advisor(s): Maximilian Niedermeier, Noah Kim

Motivation

The SAP UCC Munich is an Education-as-a-Service (EaaS) provider which is not only specialized in hosting SAP infrastructure for lectures, but also in developing courses which provide learners with a proper understanding of SAP software and server administration. Currently, we are working on a new course which focuses on teaching the administration of large enterprise server architecture with the integration of database and LLM. In this year, our research group already held two workshops for testing the new curriculum modules. In Towards a Next-Generation Data Center Curriculum, you can read about our first workshop in April.

Two instances play a major role in the curriculum. Firstly, the SAP HANA is an in-memory, column-oriented database management system designed for high-performance analytics and transactional processing. It integrates advanced data processing, application development, and real-time data analysis in a single platform. Secondly, Granite LLM from IBM is a lightweight large language model optimized for enterprise use, focusing on secure, efficient, and domain-specific AI applications. It emphasizes privacy and customization, enabling organizations to harness AI responsibly and effectively. Both instances will run on our own IBM Power Servers.

Research Objectives

We aim to find a way for making the setup of HANA database and Granite LLM hosting understandable to business students who are new to topics such as Linux, Networking or Database Management Systems. Our research group finished designing the course frame including the HANA part. However, the LLM hosting exercises as well its technical setup needs to be further developed.

 

(Possible) Tasks

• Review scientific literature in the field of <teaching system administration>
• Review existing IBM AI Workshop and the use of Granite LLM
• Complete the existing curriculum modules and understand them in detail
• Hold a focus group to find requirements for your own learning materials
• Create slides and technical exercises for LLM hosting
• Exploring new concepts of the integration of LLM into database administration tasks
• “If you want to”: Prepare and hold your own lecture (You do not need to talk for 1.5 hours, mostly students will work on practical exercises on their own)
• Evaluation of the results by monitoring user inputs, holding interviews or conducting a survey

Requirements

• High degree of autonomy and individual responsibility
• Structured, reliable, and self-motivated work style
• Interest in teaching computer science and hosting workshops
• Interest in database administration or LLM hosting
• Being able to confidently use Linux commands

Further Information

Please send your application, including our application form, your "Notenauszug" from TUMonline, and your CV to max.niedermeier@tum.de and to noah.kim@tum.de

Please note that we can only consider applications with complete documents. Please send your application with your tum/cit.tum e-mail address (emails from other addresses will not be answered).