Operating Systems

Chapter 1: Introduction
 General Info

 Course : Operating Systems (3 credit hours)

 Instructor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marenglen Biba
 Office : Faculty building 2nd floor
 Office Hours : Wednesday 11-13 PM or by appointment
 Phone : 42273056 / ext. 112
 E-mail : [email protected]
 Course page : http://www.marenglenbiba.net/opsys/

 Use of E-mail: Always put “Operating Systems” in the subject

of your e-mail.
 Where, when and why?

 Course Location and Time

 Laboratory Room 4B, Tuesday 16-19.
 Catalog Description
 This module covers the core concepts of modern operating systems, and
provides contextual application of theory, using examples of currently used
operating system environments.
 Course Purpose
This course will provide an introduction to operating system design and
implementation. The operating system provides an efficient interface
between user programs and the hardware of the computer on which they
run. The operating system is responsible for allowing resources (such as
processors, disks or networks) to be shared, providing common services
needed by many different programs (e.g., file service, the ability to start or
stop processes, and access to the printer), and protecting individual
programs from one another.
 What does the OS course contain?

 The course will start with an historical perspective of the evolution

of operating systems since their birth. Then it will cover the major
components of most operating systems and the tradeoffs that can
be made between performance and functionality during the design
and implementation of an operating system. Particular emphasis
will be given to three major OS subsystems:
 process management (processes, threads, CPU scheduling,
synchronization, and deadlock),
 memory management (segmentation, paging, swapping)
 storage management (file systems, disk management, I/O
operations).
 Why bother with OS?

 Understand the design and implementation issues that have led to

the current modern operating systems.
 Understand and apply key concepts for process management in
modern operating systems.
 Understand and apply essential concepts for memory management
in modern operating systems.
 Understand and apply important concepts of storage management
in modern operating systems.
 Understand and compare different operating systems in order to be
able to select them in different use scenarios.
 Understand and apply essential concepts for increasing the
performance of modern operating systems.
 Requisites and Readings

 Course Prerequisites
 Data Structures.
 Required Readings
 Silberschatz, Abraham, Galvin, Peter and Gagne, Greg,
(2012). Operating System Concepts, Ninth edition, New York,
NY: John Wiley & Sons. (required).
 Andrew Tanenbaum, Modern Operating Systems, Prentice
Hall. Second Edition. (only specific sections of the book will
be required for special topics).
 Contents

 Introduction to Operating Systems

 Operating System Structure
 Processes
 Threads
 CPU Scheduling
 Process Synchronization
 Deadlocks
 Main Memory
 Virtual Memory
 File System Interface
 File System Implementation
 Mass-Storage Systems
 I/O Systems
 Grading

Project 40%

Midterm 30%

Final 30%

• Internet use is necessary since students should regularly check

the course home page. Material can be downloaded from course website!
• Continued and regular use of e-mail is expected
• Students must keep copies of all assignments and projects sent by e-mail.
 Before we start: why failure happens
 Reasons
 Lack of concentration?
 Lack of continuity?
 Lack of determination?
 Lack of target?
 Lack of work?
 …
 Response
 Hard work will help!!!
 Recommendations

 Start studying now

 Do not be shy! Ask any questions that you might have. Every
questions makes you a good candidate.
 The professor is a container of knowledge and the goal is to get
most of him, thus come and talk.
 Respect the deadlines
 Respect the appointments
 Try to study from more than one source, Internet is great!
 If you have any problems come and talk with me in advance so that
we can find an appropriate solution

GOOD LUCK!
 Chapter 1: Introduction

 What Operating Systems Do

 History of Operating Systems
 Computer-System Organization
 Computer-System Architecture
 Operating-System Structure
 Operating-System Operations
 Process Management
 Memory Management
 Storage Management
 Protection and Security
 Kernel Data Structures
 Computing Environments
 Open-Source Operating Systems
 Objectives

 To provide a grand tour of the major operating

systems components

 To provide coverage of basic computer system

organization
 What is an Operating System?

 A program that acts as an intermediary

between a user of a computer and the computer
hardware.
 Operating system goals:
 Execute user programs and make solving
user problems easier.
 Make the computer system convenient to
use.
 Use the computer hardware in an efficient
manner.
 Computer System Structure

 Computer system can be divided into four components

 Hardware – provides basic computing resources
 CPU, memory, I/O devices
 Operating system
 Controls and coordinates use of hardware among
various applications and users
 Application programs – define the ways in which the
system resources are used to solve the computing
problems of the users
 Word processors, compilers, web browsers, database
systems, video games
 Users
 People, machines, other computers
Four Components of a Computer System
Computer components hierarchy
Wish you were here! 
 Operating System Definition

 OS is a resource allocator
 Manages all resources
 Decides between conflicting requests for
efficient and fair resource use

 OS is a control program
 Controls execution of programs to prevent
errors and improper use of the computer
 Operating System Definition (Cont.)

 No universally accepted definition

 “Everything a vendor ships when you order an operating

system” is good approximation
 But varies wildly

 “The one program running at all times on the computer” is

the kernel. Everything else is either a system program
(ships with the operating system) or an application program
 What is an Operating System

 It is an extended machine
 Hides the messy details which must be
performed
 Presents user with a virtual machine, easier to
use

 It is a resource manager
 Each program gets time with the resource
 Each program gets space on the resource
 History of Operating Systems

 First generation 1945 - 1955

vacuum tubes, plug boards
 Second generation 1955 - 1965
 transistors, batch systems
 Third generation 1965 – 1980
 ICs and multiprogramming
 Fourth generation 1980 – present
 personal computers
 First generation 1945 - 1955

 Not really Operating Systems

 Howard Aiken and John Von Neumann at Institute
for Advanced Study Princeton
 J. Eckert and William Mauchley at University of
Pennsylvania
 Vacuum Tubes, plug boards
 Computers were used for calculations and all
programming was done in MACHINE
LANGUAGE.
 Machine basic functions were controlled
through plugboards.
 Second generation 1955 - 1965

 Introduction of transistors
 Programs were first written on paper in the FORTRAN
language then they were translated into punched cards.
 After the program had finished, a human operator would
take the result and take it into the output room.
 Batch system
 A collection of jobs given in input
 IBM 1401: read cards, copy tapes, print output
 Large 2nd generation computers with operating systems
 Programmed in Assembly and Fortran
 FMS: Fortran Monitor System
 IBSYS: IBM operating system for 7094.
 History of Operating Systems (1)

Early batch system

 bring cards to 1401
 read cards to tape
 put tape on 7094 which does computing
 put tape on 1401 which prints output
 History of Operating Systems (3)

 Structure of a typical FMS job – 2nd generation

History of OS: 3rd generation 1965 – 1980

 Multiprogramming system
 three jobs in memory – 3rd generation
 3rd generation 1965 – 1980
 Integrated Circuits
 IBM: OS/360
 Weakness: all software including the OS would run on all
models
 Millions of lines of code written by hundreds of
programmers
 Spooling
 Copy jobs from cards onto disk
 Whenever a running job finishes, load a new one
 Time-sharing systems
 CPU allocation in turn to different jobs
 CTSS: Compatible Time Sharing System
 Developed at M.I.T on a specially modified 7094.
 3rd generation 1965 – 1980
 Multics: MULTIplexed Information and Computing Service
 Written in PL/I
 Introduced seminal idea into the computer literature
 DEC PDP-1
 Only 4k of 18-bit words
 120.000$

 Culminating in PDP-11
 Unix
 KenThompson, wrote from PDP-7 a one-user version of
MULTICS.
 BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution
 System V: AT&T.
 Posix, Minix, Linux.
 Fourth generation 1980 – present

 CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) 1974

 Disk-based operating system
 To run on 8-bit Intel 8080
 Digital Research rewrote CP/M and for 5 years it was the most
used system in the world
 1980s
 IBM released IBM Personal Computer
 DOS: Disk Operating System
 Bill Gates bought it from Seattle Computer Products
($50.000)
 Package DOS/Basic was offered by Gates to IBM
 IBM wanted some modifications on the system
 Microsoft’s hired programmer Tim Paterson who wrote DOS
 MS-DOS
 Fourth generation 1980 – present
 Apple Macintosh
 GUI: Graphical User Interface
 Microsoft Windows: 90s
 Initially run over DOS
 Not really a different OS
 Windows 95
 Underlying DOS: only for booting and running old DOS
programs.
 Windows 98
 Both W95 and Win98 retain large portions of 16-bit assembly
language.
 Windows NT (New Technology)
 Full 32-bit system
 Would kill off DOS: Win NT 4.0
 Win NT 4.0 was renamed to Windows 2000.
 Fourth generation 1980 – present

 UNIX
 Best for workstations, high-end computers, network
servers
 Popular on machines with high-performance RISC chips
 Linux is also going strong on Intel machines
 X Windows
 Graphical User Interface for UNIX developed at M.I.T.
 Distributed Operating Systems
 Network Operating Systems
 The Operating System Zoo
 Mainframe operating systems
 Server operating systems
 Multiprocessor operating systems
 Personal computer operating systems
 Real-time operating systems
 Embedded operating systems
 Smart card operating systems
 Computer Startup

 bootstrap program is loaded at power-up or reboot

 Typically stored in ROM or EPROM, generally known as
firmware
 Initializes all aspects of system
 Loads operating system kernel and starts execution
 Computer System Organization

 Computer-system operation
 One or more CPUs, device controllers connect through
common bus providing access to shared memory
 Concurrent execution of CPUs and devices competing for
memory cycles
Bus

Bus
 Computer-System Operation

 I/O devices and the CPU can execute concurrently.

 Each device controller is in charge of a particular device
type.
 Each device controller has a local buffer.
 CPU moves data from/to main memory to/from local buffers
 I/O is from the device to local buffer of controller.
 Device controller informs CPU that it has finished its
operation by causing an interrupt.
 Common Functions of Interrupts

 Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt service routine

generally, through the interrupt vector, which contains the
addresses of all the service routines.
 Interrupt architecture must save the address of the
interrupted instruction.
 Incoming interrupts are disabled while another interrupt
is being processed to prevent a lost interrupt.
 Interrupts can be software or hardware generated.
 A trap is a software-generated interrupt caused either by an
error or a user request.
 Software may trigger an interrupt by executing a special
operation called a system call.
 An operating system is interrupt driven.
 Interrupt Handling

 The operating system preserves the state of the CPU by storing

registers and the program counter.
 Determines which type of interrupt has occurred:
 Polling: a polled interrupt is a specific type of I/O interrupt that
notifies the part of the computer containing the I/O interface
that a device is ready to be read or otherwise handled but
does not indicate which device. The interrupt controller must
poll (send a signal out to) each device to determine which one
made the request.
 vectored interrupt system: The alternative to a polled
interrupt is a vectored interrupt, an interrupt signal that includes
the identity of the device sending the interrupt signal.
 Separate segments of code determine what action should be
taken for each type of interrupt
 Two I/O Methods

1. After I/O starts, control returns to user program only

upon I/O completion: synchronous

2. After I/O starts, control returns to user program without

waiting for I/O completion: asynchronous
 Two I/O Methods

Synchronous Asynchronous
Device-Status Table
 Direct Memory Access Structure

 Used for high-speed I/O devices able to transmit

information at close to memory speeds.

 Device controller transfers blocks of data from

buffer storage directly to main memory without
CPU intervention.

 Only one interrupt is generated per block, rather

than the one interrupt per byte.
DMA
 Storage Structure

 Main memory – only large storage media that the CPU can
access directly.
 Secondary storage – extension of main memory that
provides large nonvolatile storage capacity.
 Magnetic disks – rigid metal or glass platters covered with
magnetic recording material
 Disk surface is logically divided into tracks, which are
subdivided into sectors.
 The disk controller determines the logical interaction
between the device and the computer.
 Storage Hierarchy

 Storage systems organized in hierarchy.

 Speed
 Cost
 Volatility
 Caching – copying information into faster storage
system; main memory can be viewed as a last
cache for secondary storage.
Storage-Device Hierarchy
Sub-levels within each level
Disk is slow
 Caching
 Important principle, performed at many levels in a computer
 in hardware,
 operating system,
 software
 Information in use copied from slower to faster storage
temporarily
 Faster storage (cache) checked first to determine if
information is there
 If it is, information used directly from the cache (fast)
 If not, data copied to cache and used there
 Cache smaller than storage being cached
 Cache management important design problem
 Cache size and replacement policy
 Performance of Various Levels of Storage

 Movement between levels of storage hierarchy can be explicit or

implicit
 Operating System Structure

 Multiprogramming needed for efficiency

 Single user cannot keep CPU and I/O devices busy at all times
 Multiprogramming organizes jobs (code and data) so CPU always has
one to execute
 A subset of total jobs in system is kept in memory
 One job selected and run via job scheduling
 When it has to wait (for I/O for example), OS switches to another job
 Timesharing (multitasking) is logical extension in which CPU switches jobs
so frequently that users can interact with each job while it is running,
creating interactive computing
 Response time should be < 1 second
 Each user has at least one program executing in memory process
 If several jobs ready to run at the same time  CPU scheduling
 If processes don’t fit in memory, swapping moves them in and out to
run
 Virtual memory allows execution of processes not completely in
memory
 Migration of Integer A from Disk to Register

 Multitasking environments must be careful to use most recent

value, no matter where it is stored in the storage hierarchy

 Multiprocessor environment must provide cache coherency in

hardware such that all CPUs have the most recent value in their
cache
 Distributed environment situation even more complex
 Several copies of a datum can exist
Memory Layout for Multiprogrammed System
 Computer-System Architecture

 Most systems use a single general-purpose processor

 Most systems have special-purpose processors as well
 Multiprocessors systems growing in use and importance
 Also known as parallel systems, tightly-coupled systems
 Advantages include:
1. Increased throughput
2. Economy of scale
3. Increased reliability – graceful degradation or fault tolerance
 Two types:
1. Asymmetric Multiprocessing – each processor is assigned
a specific task.
2. Symmetric Multiprocessing – each processor performs all
tasks
Symmetric Multiprocessing Architecture
 A Dual-Core Design
 Multi-chip and multicore
 Systems containing all chips
 Chassis containing multiple separate systems
 Clustered Systems
 Like multiprocessor systems, but multiple systems working
together
 Usually sharing storage via a storage-area network
(SAN)
 Provides a high-availability service which survives
failures
 Asymmetric clustering has one machine in hot-
standby mode (a machine that just monitors the
others)
 Symmetric clustering has multiple nodes running
applications, monitoring each other
 Some clusters are for high-performance computing
(HPC)
 Applications must be written to use parallelization
 Some have distributed lock manager (DLM) to avoid
conflicting operations
Clustered Systems
 Operating-System Operations

 Interrupt driven by hardware

 Software error or request creates exception or trap
Division by zero, request for operating system service
 Other process problems include infinite loop, processes modifying
each other or the operating system
 Dual-mode operation allows OS to protect itself and other system
components
 User mode and kernel mode
 Mode bit provided by hardware
 Provides ability to distinguish when system is running user
code or kernel code
 Some instructions designated as privileged, only
executable in kernel mode
 System call changes mode to kernel, return from call resets
it to user
 Transition from User to Kernel Mode

 Timer to prevent infinite loop / process hogging resources

 Set interrupt after specific period
 Operating system decrements counter
 When counter zero generate an interrupt
 Set up before scheduling process to regain control or terminate
program that exceeds allotted time
 Process Management
 A process is a program in execution. It is a unit of work within
the system. Program is a passive entity, process is an active
entity.
 Process needs resources to accomplish its task
 CPU, memory, I/O, files
 Initialization data
 Process termination requires reclaim of any reusable resources
 Single-threaded process has one program counter specifying
location of next instruction to execute
Process executes instructions sequentially, one at a time,
until completion
 Multi-threaded process has one program counter per thread
 Typically system has many processes, some user, some
operating system running concurrently on one or more CPUs
 Concurrency by multiplexing the CPUs among the
processes / threads
 Process Management Activities

The operating system is responsible for the following activities

in connection with process management:
 Creating and deleting both user and system processes
 Suspending and resuming processes
 Providing mechanisms for process synchronization
 Providing mechanisms for process communication
 Providing mechanisms for deadlock handling
 Memory Management

 All data in memory before and after processing

 All instructions in memory in order to execute
 Memory management determines what is in memory
 Optimizing CPU utilization and computer response to
users
 Memory management activities
 Keeping track of which parts of memory are currently
being used and by whom
 Deciding which processes (or parts thereof) and data
to move into and out of memory
 Allocating and deallocating memory space as needed
 Storage Management
 OS provides uniform, logical view of information storage
 Abstracts physical properties to logical storage unit - file
 Each medium is controlled by device (i.e., disk drive, tape drive)
 Varying properties include access speed, capacity, data-
transfer rate, access method (sequential or random)
 File-System management
 Files usually organized into directories
 Access control on most systems to determine who can access
what
 OS activities include
 Creating and deleting files and directories
 Primitives to manipulate files and dirs
 Mapping files onto secondary storage
 Backup files onto stable (non-volatile) storage media
 Mass-Storage Management
 Usually disks used to store data that does not fit in main memory or
data that must be kept for a “long” period of time.
 Proper management is of central importance
 Entire speed of computer operation hinges on disk subsystem
and its algorithms
 OS activities
 Free-space management
 Storage allocation
 Disk scheduling
 Some storage need not be fast
 Tertiary storage includes optical storage, magnetic tape
 Still must be managed
 Varies between WORM (write-once, read-many-times) and RW
(read-write)
 I/O Subsystem

 One purpose of OS is to hide peculiarities of hardware

devices from the user
 I/O subsystem responsible for
 Memory management of I/O including
 buffering (storing data temporarily while it is being
transferred)
 caching (storing parts of data in faster storage for
performance)
 spooling (the overlapping of output of one job with
input of other jobs)
 General device-driver interface
 Drivers for specific hardware devices
 Protection and Security

 Protection – any mechanism for controlling access of processes or

users to resources defined by the OS
 Security – defense of the system against internal and external
attacks
 Huge range, including denial-of-service, worms, viruses,
identity theft, theft of service
 Systems generally first distinguish among users, to determine who
can do what
 User identities (user IDs, security IDs) include name and
associated number, one per user
 User ID then associated with all files, processes of that user to
determine access control
 Group identifier (group ID) allows set of users to be defined
and controls managed, then also associated with each
process, file
 Privilege escalation allows user to change to effective ID with
more rights
 Kernel Data Structures
 Many similar to standard programming data structures
 Singly linked list

 Doubly linked list

 Circular linked list

 Kernel Data Structures

 Binary search tree

 Kernel Data Structures

 Hash function can create a hash map

 Bitmap – string of n binary digits representing the status of n items

 Linux data structures defined in
include files <linux/list.h>, <linux/kfifo.h>,
<linux/rbtree.h>
 Computing Environments - Traditional

 Stand-alone general purpose machines

 But blurred as most systems interconnect with
others (i.e., the Internet)
 Portals provide web access to internal systems
 Network computers (thin clients) are like Web
terminals
 Mobile computers interconnect via wireless
networks
 Networking becoming ubiquitous – even home
systems use firewalls to protect home computers
from Internet attacks
 Computing Environments - Mobile

 Handheld smartphones, tablets, etc

 What is the functional difference between
them and a “traditional” laptop?
 Extra feature – more OS features (GPS,
gyroscope)
 Allows new types of apps like augmented
reality
 Use IEEE 802.11 wireless, or cellular data
networks for connectivity
 Leaders are Apple iOS and Google Android
 Computing Environments – Distributed

 Distributed computing
 Collection of separate, possibly heterogeneous, systems
networked together
 Network is a communications path, TCP/IP most
common
– Local Area Network (LAN)
– Wide Area Network (WAN)
– Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)
– Personal Area Network (PAN)
 Network Operating System provides features between
systems across network
 Communication scheme allows systems to exchange
messages
 Illusion of a single system
 Computing Environments – Client-Server

 Client-Server Computing
 Dumb terminals supplanted by smart PCs
 Many systems now servers, responding to requests generated
by clients
 Compute-server system provides an interface to client to
request services (i.e., database)
 File-server system provides interface for clients to store
and retrieve files
 Computing Environments - Peer-to-Peer
 Another model of distributed system
 P2P does not distinguish clients and
servers
 Instead all nodes are considered
peers
 May each act as client, server or
both
 Node must join P2P network
 Registers its service with central
lookup service on network, or
 Broadcast request for service
and respond to requests for
service via discovery protocol
 Examples include Napster and
Gnutella, Voice over IP (VoIP) such
as Skype
 Computing Environments - Virtualization

 Allows operating systems to run applications within other

OSes
 Vast and growing industry
 Emulation used when source CPU type different from
target type (i.e. PowerPC to Intel x86)
 Generally slowest method
 When computer language not compiled to native
code – Interpretation
 Virtualization – OS natively compiled for CPU, running
guest OSes also natively compiled
 Consider VMware running WinXP guests, each
running applications, all on native WinXP host OS
 VMM (virtual machine Manager) provides
virtualization services
 Computing Environments - Virtualization

 Use cases involve laptops and desktops running multiple

OSes for exploration or compatibility
 Apple laptop running Mac OS X host, Windows as a
guest
 Developing apps for multiple OSes without having
multiple systems
 QA testing applications without having multiple
systems
 Executing and managing compute environments
within data centers
 VMM can run natively, in which case they are also the
host
 There is no general purpose host then (VMware ESX
and Citrix XenServer)
Computing Environments - Virtualization
 Computing Environments – Cloud Computing

 Delivers computing, storage, even apps as a service across a network

 Logical extension of virtualization because it uses virtualization as the
base for it functionality.
 Amazon EC2 has thousands of servers, millions of virtual machines,
petabytes of storage available across the Internet, pay based on
usage
 Many types
 Public cloud – available via Internet to anyone willing to pay
 Private cloud – run by a company for the company’s own use
 Hybrid cloud – includes both public and private cloud components
 Software as a Service (SaaS) – one or more applications available
via the Internet (i.e., word processor)
 Platform as a Service (PaaS) – software stack ready for application
use via the Internet (i.e., a database server)
 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – servers or storage available over
Internet (i.e., storage available for backup use)
 Computing Environments – Cloud Computing

 Cloud computing environments composed of traditional

OSes, plus VMMs, plus cloud management tools
 Internet connectivity requires security like firewalls
 Load balancers spread traffic across multiple
applications
 Computing Environments – Real-Time Embedded Systems

 Real-time embedded systems most prevalent form of

computers
 Vary considerable, special purpose, limited purpose
OS, real-time OS
 Use expanding
 Many other special computing environments as well
 Some have OSes, some perform tasks without an OS
 Real-time OS has well-defined fixed time constraints
 Processing must be done within constraint
 Correct operation only if constraints met
 Open-Source Operating Systems

 Operating systems made available in source-code format

rather than just binary closed-source
 Counter to the copy protection and Digital Rights
Management (DRM) movement
 Started by Free Software Foundation (FSF), which has
“copyleft” GNU Public License (GPL)
 Examples include GNU/Linux and BSD UNIX (including
core of Mac OS X), and many more
 Can use VMM like VMware Player (Free on Windows),
Virtualbox (open source and free on many platforms -
http://www.virtualbox.com)
 Use to run guest operating systems for exploration
 Readings

 Silberschatz: Chapter 1.
 Tanenbaum: Sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
 Get slides from website
 http://www.marenglenbiba.net/opsys/
Keep in mind 
End of Chapter 1