> If possible replicate some of the earlier work because you may discover that you're building on a lot of unreported assumptions. I concur wholeheartedly, and

> If possible replicate some of the earlier work because you may discover that you're building on a lot of unreported assumptions. I concur wholeheartedly, and this is my recommendation to every new PhD student. Replicating earlier work has many benefits for a PhD student in the beginning of their studies: * It forces them to deeply understand the system they're replicating. Much more deeply than simply reading the paper would. * It allows them to uncover the many corner cases which the original paper probably just briefly mentions. (If it mentions them at all.) * It makes them think about how they would design an experiment so that it is repeatable and reproducible. * It is a good source for inspiration for alternative solutions to the problem or even new problems altogether. Alas, replication is way too uncommon in systems CS, which I think is one of the reasons why other scientists often look down on systems research.