A bit confused about starter code/m2 assignment writeup

Hello,

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just a bit confused on how certain bits of the starter code are supposed to work, and a lot of them aren't really touched upon in the m2 assignment:

1) Launching of a KVServer: The m2 documentation states that a server should be started with the cmd line, fed the location of the ecs so it can connect/request balancing. On the other hand:

Not really sure what is going on here to be honest? Available machines? SSH call to run a cmd? 

2) What exactly is Zookeeper? I see that we have the tar for it, and its mentioned in the starter code, but there is nothing on it in the assignment description

3) Are IECS Node/IECSClient required? Does the autotester call specific functions here or does it run cmds on a server. 

4) What is the intended purpose of this fn? Is this run when ecs first starts or is it supposed to resume servers when they are paused for a new server?

5) Are we required to follow the serialization suggested for metadata? or is it fine as long as we print the expected message in the expected format?

In general, I think it would be really helpful to have the starter code explained, or maybe connect it a bit more to the assignment description

Thank you