[rodion]

> 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.