The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K

(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

Course Name Operating System

Course Type Core

Credits (4 +2)

Coverage of Notes 4Credits

Units Covered Unit I O/S Basics

Compiled By Department Of Computer Applications

Source Compiled from resources available on various

Internet websites.

Purpose Educational.

Usage Can be used by student(s) for understating the

concepts regarding the course.

Further 1) Milenkovic, Milan, “Operating Systems

Readings / Concepts and Design”, McGraw-Hill, 2nd Edition.

Recommended
2) Tanenbaum, Andrew, Modern Operating
Books for the
Systems, Prentice-Hall.
course

3) Silberschatz, Abraham and Galvin Peter,

“Operating System Concepts”, Addison-Wesley.

4) D.M. Dhamdhere, “Operating Systems A

concept-based Approach”, Tata McGraw-Hill.

5) William Stalling, “Operating System”, Prentice

Hall.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

1
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

OPERATING SYSTEMS

In a computer system, we find four main components: the hardware, the operating system, the

application software and the users. In a computer system the hardware provides the basic computing

resources. The applications programs define the way in which these resources are used to solve the

computing problems of the users. The operating system controls and coordinates the use of the hardware

among the various systems programs and application programs for the various users.

We can view an operating system as a resource allocator. A computer system has many resources

(hardware and software) that may be required to solve a problem: CPU time, memory space, files

storage space, input/output devices etc. The operating system acts as the manager of these resources and

allocates them to specific programs and users as necessary for their tasks. Since there may be many,

possibly conflicting, requests for resources, the operating system must decide which requests are

allocated resources to operate the computer system fairly and efficiently.

An operating system is a control program. This program controls the execution of

user programs to prevent errors and improper use of the computer. Operating

systems exist because: they are a reasonable way to solve the problem of creating a

usable computing system. The fundamental goal of a computer system is to execute

user programs and solve user problems.

A computer’s operating system is a group of programs designed to serve two basic purposes:

• To control the allocation and use of the computing system’s resources among the various users and

tasks, and

• To provide an interface between the computer hardware and the programmer that simplifies and

makes feasible the creation, coding, debugging, and maintenance of application programs.

An effective operating system should accomplish the following functions:

• Should act as a command interpreter by providing a user friendly environment.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

2
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

• Should facilitate communication with other users.

• Facilitate the directory/file creation along with the security option.

• Provide routines that handle the intricate details of I/O programming.

• Provide access to compilers to translate programs from high-level languages to machine language

• Provide a loader program to move the compiled program code to the computer’s memory for execution.

• Assure that when there are several active processes in the computer, each will get fair and non-

interfering access to the central processing unit for execution.

• Take care of storage and device allocation.

• Provide for long term storage of user information in the form of files.

• Permit system resources to be shared among users when appropriate, and be protected from

unauthorised or mischievous intervention as necessary.

Though systems programs such as editors and translators and the various utility programs (such as sort

and file transfer program) are not usually considered part of the operating system, the operating system

is responsible for providing access to these system resources.

The abstract view of the components of a computer system and the positioning of

OSis shown in the Figure 1.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

3
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

Modern computer operating systems may be classified into three groups, which are

distinguished by the nature of interaction that takes place between the computer

user and his or her program during its processing. The three groups are called batch,

time-sharing and real-time operating systems.

1. Batch Processing Operating System

In a batch processing operating system environment users submit jobs to a central

place where these jobs are collected into a batch, and subsequently placed on an

input queue at the computer where they will be run. In this case, the user has no

interaction with the job during its processing, and the computer’s response time is

the turnaround timethe time from submission of the job until execution is complete,

and the results are ready for return to the person who submitted the job.

2. Time Sharing

Another mode for delivering computing services is provided by time sharing operating systems. In this

environment a computer provides computing services to several or many users concurrently on-line.

Here, the various users are sharing the central processor, the memory, and other resources of the

computer system in a manner facilitated, controlled, and monitored by the operating system. The user,

in this environment, has nearly full interaction with the program during its execution, and the

computer’s response time may be expected to be no more than a few second.

3. Real Time Operating System (RTOS)

The third class is the real time operating systems, which are designed to service those applications

where response time is of the essence in order to prevent error, misrepresentation or even disaster.

Examples of real time operating systems are those which handle airlines reservations, machine tool

control, and monitoring of a nuclear power station. The systems, in this case, are designed to be

interrupted by external signals that require the immediate attention of the computer system.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

4
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

These real time operating systems are used to control machinery, scientific instruments and industrial

systems. An RTOS typically has very little user-interface capability, and no end-user utilities. A very

important part of an RTOS is managing the resources of the computer so that a particular operation

executes in precisely the same amount of time every time it occurs. In a complex machine, having a part

move more quickly just because system resources are available may be just as catastrophic as having it

not move at all because the system is busy.

4. Multiprogramming Operating System

A multiprogramming operating system is a system that allows more than one active user program (or

part of user program) to be stored in main memory simultaneously. Thus, it is evident that a time-

sharing system is a multiprogramming system, but note that a multiprogramming system is not

necessarily a time-sharing system. A batch or real time operating system could, and indeed usually does,

have more than one active user program simultaneously in main storage. Another important, and all too

similar, term is “multiprocessing”.

5. Multiprocessing System

A multiprocessing system is a computer hardware configuration that includes more than one

independent processing unit. The term multiprocessing is generally used to refer to large computer

hardware complexes found in major scientific or commercial applications. More on multiprocessor

system can be studied in Unit-1 of Block-3 of this course.

6. Networking Operating System

A networked computing system is a collection of physical interconnected computers. The operating

system of each of the interconnected computers must contain, in addition to its own stand-alone

functionality, provisions for handing communication and transfer of program and data among the other

computers with which it is connected.

Network operating systems are not fundamentally different from single processor operating systems.

They obviously need a network interface controller and some low-level software to drive it, as well as

programs to achieve remote login and remote files access, but these additions do not change the

essential structure of the operating systems.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

5
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

7. Distributed Operating System

A distributed computing system consists of a number of computers that are connected and managed so

that they automatically share the job processing load among the constituent computers, or separate the

job load as appropriate particularly configured processors. Such a system requires an operating system

which, in addition to the typical stand-alone functionality, provides coordination of the operations and

information flow among the component computers. The networked and distributed computing

environments and their respective operating systems are designed with more complex functional

capabilities. In a network operating system, the users are aware of the existence of multiple computers,

and can log in to remote machines and copy files from one machine to another. Each machine runs its

own local operating system and has its own user (or users).

A distributed operating system, in contrast, is one that appears to its users as a traditional uni-processor

system, even though it is actually composed of multiple processors. In a true distributed system, users

should not be aware of where their programs are being run or where their files are located; that should

all be handled automatically and efficiently by the operating system.

QUALITIES OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM

The desirable qualities of an operating system are in terms of: Usability, Facilities,

Cost, and Adaptability.

• Usability:

• Robustness

• Accept all valid inputs and can handle them.

• Consistency

• Proportionality

• Convenience

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

6
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

• Powerful with high level facilities.

• Facilities:

• Sufficient for intended use

• Complete

• Appropriate.

• Costs:

• Want low cost and efficient services.

• Good algorithms. Make use of space/time tradeoffs, special hardware.

• Low overhead. Cost of doing nothing should be low. E.g., idle time at a terminal.

• Low maintenance cost. System should not require constant attention.

• Adaptability:

• Tailored to the environment. Support necessary activities. Do not impose

unnecessary restrictions. What are the things people do most -- make them

easy.

• Changeable over time. Adapt as needs and resources change. e.g., expanding

memory and new devices, or new user population.

• Extendible-Extensible Adding new facilities and features - which look like the old

ones.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

7
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

OPERATING SYSTEMS : SOME EXAMPLES

In the earlier section we had seen the types of operating systems. In this section we

will study some popular operating systems.

1 DOS

DOS (Disk Operating System) was the first widely-installed operating system for

personal computers. It is a master control program that is automatically run when

you start your personal computer (PC). DOS stays in the computer all the time

letting you run a program and manage files. It is a single-user operating system from

Microsoft for the PC. It was the first OS for the PC and is the underlying control

program for Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and ME. Windows NT, 2000 and XP emulate

DOS in order to support existing DOS applications.

2 UNIX

UNIX operating systems are used in widely-sold workstation products from Sun

Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, IBM, and a number of other companies. The UNIX

environment and the client/server program model were important elements in the

development of the Internet and the reshaping of computing as centered in networks

rather than in individual computers. Linux, a UNIX derivative available in both “free

software” and commercial versions, is increasing in popularity as an alternative to

proprietary operating systems.

UNIX is written in C. Both UNIX and C were developed by AT&T and freely distributed to government

and academic institutions, causing it to be ported to a wider variety of machine families than any other

operating system. As a result, UNIX became synonymous with “open systems”.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

8
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

UNIX is made up of the kernel, file system and shell (command line interface). The major shells are the

Bourne shell (original), C shell and Korn shell. The UNIX vocabulary is exhaustive with more than 600

commands that manipulate data and text in every way conceivable. Many commands are cryptic, but just

as Windows hid the DOS prompt, the Motif GUI presents a friendlier image to UNIX users. Even with

its many versions, UNIX is widely used in mission critical applications for client/server and transaction

processing systems. The UNIX versions that are widely used are Sun’s Solaris, Digital’s UNIX, HP’s HP-

UX, IBM’s AIX and SCO’s UnixWare. A large number of IBM mainframes also run UNIX applications,

because the UNIX interfaces were added to MVS and OS/390, which have obtained UNIX branding.

Linux, another variant of UNIX, is also gaining enormous popularity. More details can be studied in

Unit-3 of Block-3 of this course.

3 WINDOWS

Windows is a personal computer operating system from Microsoft that, together with some commonly

used business applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel, has become a de facto “standard” for

individual users in most corporations as well as in most homes. Windows contains built-in networking,

which allows users to share files and applications with each other if their PC’s are connected to a

network. In large enterprises, Windows clients are often connected to a network of UNIX and NetWare

servers. The server versions of Windows NT and 2000 are gaining market share, providing a Windows-

only solution for both the client and server. Windows is supported by Microsoft, the largest software

company in the world, as well as the Windows industry at large, which includes tens of thousands of

software developers.

This networking support is the reason why Windows became successful in the first place. However,

Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP are complicated operating environments. Certain combinations

of hardware and software running together can cause problems, and troubleshooting can be daunting.

Each new version of Windows has interface changes that constantly confuse users and keep support

people busy, and Installing Windows applications is problematic too. Microsoft has worked hard to

make Windows 2000 and Windows XP more resilient to installation of problems and crashes in general.

More details on Windows 2000 can be studied in Unit-4 of Block -3 of this course.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

9
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

4 MACINTOSH

The Macintosh (often called “the Mac”), introduced in 1984 by Apple Computer, was the first widely-

sold personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI). The Mac was designed to provide users

with a natural, intuitively understandable, and, in general, “user-friendly” computer interface. This

includes the mouse, the use of icons or small visual images to represent objects or actions, the point-and-

click and click-and-drag actions, and a number of window operation ideas. Microsoft was successful in

adapting user interface concepts first made popular by the Mac in its first Windows operating system.

The primary disadvantage of the Mac is that there are fewer Mac applications on the market than for

Windows. However, all the fundamental applications are available, and the Macintosh is a perfectly

useful machine for almost everybody. Data compatibility between Windows and Mac is an issue,

although it is often overblown and readily solved.

FUNCTIONS OF OS

The main functions of an operating system are as follows:

• Process Management

• Memory Management

• Secondary Storage Management

• I/O Management

• File Management

• Protection

• Networking Management

• Command Interpretation.

1 Process Management

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

10
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

The CPU executes a large number of programs. While its main concern is the

execution of user programs, the CPU is also needed for other system activities.

These activities are called processes. A process is a program in execution. Typically,

a batch job is a process. A time-shared user program is a process. A system task,

such as spooling, is also a process. For now, a process may be considered as a job or

a time-shared program, but the concept is actually more general. The operating

system is responsible for the following activities in connection with processes

management:

• The creation and deletion of both user and system processes

• The suspension and resumption of processes.

• The provision of mechanisms for process synchronization

• The provision of mechanisms for deadlock handling.

More details can be studied in the Unit-2 of this course.

2 Memory Management

Memory is the most expensive part in the computer system. Memory is a large array of words or bytes,

each with its own address. Interaction is achieved through a sequence of reads or writes of specific

memory address. The CPU fetches from and stores in memory.

There are various algorithms that depend on the particular situation to manage the memory. Selection of

a memory management scheme for a specific system depends upon many factors, but especially upon the

hardware design of the system. Each algorithm requires its own hardware support.

The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connection with memory management.

• Keep track of which parts of memory are currently being used and by whom.

• Decide which processes are to be loaded into memory when memory space becomes available.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

11
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

• Allocate and deallocate memory space as needed.

3 Secondary Storage Management

The main purpose of a computer system is to execute programs. These programs, together with the data

they access, must be in main memory during execution. Since the main memory is too small to

permanently accommodate all data and program, the computer system must provide secondary storage

to backup main memory. Most modem computer systems use disks as the primary on-line storage of

information, of both programs and data. Most programs, like compilers, assemblers, sort routines,

editors, formatters, and so on, are stored on the disk until loaded into memory, and then use the disk as

both the source and destination of their processing. Hence the proper management of disk storage is of

central importance to a computer system.

The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connection with disk management:

• Free space management

• Storage allocation

• Disk scheduling.

4 I/O Management

One of the purposes of an operating system is to hide the peculiarities or specific hardware devices from

the user. For example, in UNIX, the peculiarities of I/O devices are hidden from the bulk of the

operating system itself by the I/O system. The operating system is responsible for the following activities

in connection to I/O management:

• A buffer caching system

• To activate a general device driver code

• To run the driver software for specific hardware devices as and when required.

5 File Management

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

12
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

File management is one of the most visible services of an operating system. Computers can store

information in several different physical forms: magnetic tape, disk, and drum are the most common

forms. Each of these devices has it own characteristics and physical organisation.

For convenient use of the computer system, the operating system provides a uniform logical view of

information storage. The operating system abstracts from the physical properties of its storage devices to

define a logical storage unit, the file. Files are mapped, by the operating system, onto physical devices.

A file is a collection of related information defined by its creator. Commonly, files represent programs

(both source and object forms) and data. Data files may be numeric, alphabetic or alphanumeric. Files

may be free-form, such as text files, or may be rigidly formatted. In general a files is a sequence of bits,

bytes, lines or records whose meaning is defined by its creator and user. It is a very general concept.

The operating system implements the abstract concept of the file by managing mass storage device, such

as types and disks. Also files are normally organised into directories to ease their use. Finally, when

multiple users have access to files, it may be desirable to control by whom and in what ways files may be

accessed.

The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connection to the file management:

• The creation and deletion of files.

• The creation and deletion of directory.

• The support of primitives for manipulating files and directories.

• The mapping of files onto disk storage.

• Backup of files on stable (non volatile) storage.

• Protection and security of the files.

6 Protection

The various processes in an operating system must be protected from each other’s activities. For that

purpose, various mechanisms which can be used to ensure that the files, memory segment, CPU and

other resources can be operated on only by those processes that have gained proper authorisation from

the operating system.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

13
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

For example, memory addressing hardware ensures that a process can only execute

within its own address space. The timer ensures that no process can gain control of

the CPU without relinquishing it. Finally, no process is allowed to do its own I/O, to

protect the integrity of the various peripheral devices. Protection refers to a

mechanism for controlling the access of programs, processes, or users to the

resources defined by a computer controls to be imposed, together with some means

of enforcement.

Protection can improve reliability by detecting latent errors at the interfaces between component

subsystems. Early detection of interface errors can often prevent contamination of a healthy subsystem

by a subsystem that is malfunctioning. An unprotected resource cannot defend against use (or misuse)

by an unauthorised or incompetent user. More on protection and security can be studied in Unit-4 of

Block-3.

7 Networking

A distributed system is a collection of processors that do not share memory or a clock. Instead, each

processor has its own local memory, and the processors communicate with each other through various

communication lines, such as high speed buses or telephone lines. Distributed systems vary in size and

function. They may involve microprocessors, workstations, minicomputers, and large general purpose

computer systems.

The processors in the system are connected through a communication network, which can be configured

in the number of different ways. The network may be fully or partially connected. The communication

network design must consider routing and connection strategies and the problems of connection and

security.

A distributed system provides the user with access to the various resources the system maintains. Access

to a shared resource allows computation speed-up, data availability, and reliability.

8 Command Interpretation

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

14
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
 The Islamia College of Science & Commerce, Srinagar - J&K
(UGC- Autonomous)
De p a r t m e n t o f C o m p u t e r A p p l i c a t i o n s

One of the most important components of an operating system is its command interpreter. The

command interpreter is the primary interface between the user and the rest of the system.

Many commands are given to the operating system by control statements. When a new job is started in a

batch system or when a user logs-in to a time-shared system, a program which reads and interprets

control statements is automatically executed. This program is variously called (1) the control card

interpreter, (2) the command line interpreter, (3) the shell (in Unix), and so on. Its function is quite

simple: get the next command statement, and execute it.

The command statements themselves deal with process management, I/O handling, secondary storage

management, main memory management, file system access, protection, and networking.

COMPILED BY: PROF. NOFIYA YOUSUF MIR,

15
ASST. PROF. , DEPTT. OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS