Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
 What is an Operating System?
 A program that acts as an intermediary between a computer user and the
computer hardware
 High level interface between user and machine

 Operating system goals:

 Execute users programs
 Make the computer system (i.e., hardware) convenient and efficient to use
 Computer System Structure
 Computer system can be divided into four components:
 Hardware
 Provides the basic computing resources for the system
– CPU, memory, I/O devices
 Operating system
 Controls the hardware and coordinates its use among the various
applications programs for the various users
 Application programs
 Define the ways in which the system resources are used to solve users
computing problems
– Word processors, compilers, web browsers, database systems, video
games
 Users
 People, machines, other computers
Four Components of a Computer System
 Operating System (OS) Definition
 OS is a resource allocator
 Manages all resources
 Decides between conflicting requests for efficient and fair resource utilization

 OS is a control program
 Controls the execution of the programs to prevent errors and improper use of the
computer

 “The one program running at all times on the computer” is the kernel. Everything
else is either a system program or an application program.
 System Boot
 Bootstrap program is loaded at power-up or reboot
 Typically stored in ROM or EEPROM, generally known as firmware
 Initializes all aspects of system
 Locates and loads operating system kernel into memory and starts execution
 Sometimes two-step process where boot block at fixed location loaded by ROM
code, which loads bootstrap loader from disk

 Kernel loads and system is then running

 Computer System Organization
 Computer-system operation
 One or more CPUs and device controllers connected through common bus
providing access to the shared memory
 Concurrent execution of CPUs and devices competing for memory access
 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
 Interrupt Handling
 An Interrupt is an event that alters the sequence in which the processor executes instructions.
 On occurrence of an interrupt, the processor finishes the execution of the current instruction
before responding to the interrupt.
 The operating system preserves the state of the CPU and the interrupted process by saving
the address of the interrupted instruction using storing registers and the program counter.
 The OS analyses the type of interrupt and passes the control to the appropriate interrupt
handling routine which handles the interrupt.
 Separate segments of code determines necessary action for each type of interrupt
 e.g. on completion of an I/O operation, the device issue an interrupt signal to the CPU.
 A trap is a software-generated interrupt caused either by an error or a user request
 Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt service routine generally, through the interrupt
vector, which contains the addresses of all the service routines
 After servicing the interrupt, the state of the interrupted process is restored.
 The interrupted process is then executed.

 An operating system is interrupt driven

 Interrupt Handling
 While executing a process, an interrupt triggers.
 It is handled by the IHR.
 The process starts its execution again.

 However what will happen if while handling an interrupt, another interrupt triggers?

 It can be handled using two approaches

 Sequential approach
 Nested approach
Sequential Interrupt Handling
Nested Interrupt Handling
 Context switching
 A context switch is the computing process of storing and restoring the state (context)
of a CPU so that execution can be resumed from the same point at a later time.

 This enables multiple processes to share a single CPU.

 The context switch is an essential feature of a multitasking operating system.

 Context switches are usually computationally intensive and much of the design of
operating systems is to optimize the use of context switches
 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
 Timer is set to interrupt the computer after some time period
 Keep a counter that is decremented by the physical clock.
 Operating system set the counter (privileged instruction)
 When counter zero generate an interrupt
 Set up before scheduling process to regain control or terminate program that
exceeds allotted time
 I/O Structure
 After I/O starts, control returns to user program only upon I/O completion
 Wait instruction idles the CPU until the next interrupt
 Wait loop (contention for memory access)
 At most one I/O request is outstanding at a time, no simultaneous I/O
processing
 After I/O starts, control returns to user program without waiting for I/O
completion
 System call – request to the OS to allow user to wait for I/O completion
 Device-status table contains entry for each I/O device indicating its type,
address, and state
 OS indexes into I/O device table to determine device status and to modify
table entry to include interrupt
 Evolution of Operating Systems

 Early Systems (1950)

 Simple Batch Systems (1960)
 Multi-programmed Batch Systems (1970)
 Time-Sharing and Real-Time Systems (1970)
 Personal/Desktop Systems (1980)
 Multiprocessor Systems (1980)
 Networked/Distributed Systems (1980)
 Handheld (1990)
Available operating systems in the market
 Types of Operating Systems
 Within the broad family of operating systems, following are few well known OS’s
 Real time Operating System (RTOS)
 Single User, single task OS
 Single User, Multitasking OS
 Multiuser OS
 Distributed OS
 Embedded OS
 Mobile OS
 Batch OS.
 RTOS
 RTOS are used to control machinery, scientific instruments and industrial systems

 The main objective of real-time operating systems is their quick and predictable
response to events.

 It is a multitasking operating system.

 An RTOS typically has very little user-interface capability, and no end-user

utilities, since the system will be a "sealed box" when delivered for use (e. g.,
HDTV receiver and display)
 Single User, Single Task
 This type of operating systems are designed to manage the computer so that one user
can effectively do one thing at a time.

 The Palm OS for Palm handheld computers is a good example of a modern

single-user, single-task operating system (e.g., PDA and MS-DOS)
 Single User, Multitask

 This type of operating systems are mostly used in desktop or/and laptop computers
today.
 Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac OS platforms are both examples of
operating systems that will let a single user have several programs in operation at
the same time.
 Multi-user OS

 A multi-user operating system allows many different users to use computer's resources
simultaneously.

 Various users should be balanced, and that each of the programs they are
using/executing has sufficient and separate resources.

 For example Unix, VMS and mainframe operating systems, are examples of multi-user
operating systems.
 Mobile OS

 A mobile OS controls a mobile device and its design to supports wireless

communication and mobile applications.

 It has built-in support for mobile multimedia formats. Tablet PCs and smart
phones run on mobile operating systems.
 Computer-System Architecture
 Most systems contain a single general-purpose processor
 Few systems contain 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- more work done in less time
 Speed up ratio with N processor is not N
 Overhead of keep all component working correctly
 Contention for shared resources
2. Economy of scale
3. Increased reliability – graceful degradation or fault tolerance
 The ability of a system to maintain limited functionality even when a large
portion of it has been destroyed or rendered inoperative
 Computer-System Architecture
 Multiprocessor systems are of two types:
1. Asymmetric Multiprocessing– each processor assigned a specific task
 Master-slave relationship
 The tasks are strictly divided by their types on processors
 Typically, each processor has its own memory address space
 These features make asymmetric multiprocessing difficult to implement.
2. Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)– each processor performs all tasks within
the OS or they can do anything the others can.
 All processor are peers
 Contain own set of registers and private or local caches
 Shared physical memory

Asymmetric multiprocessing; one processor doing all I/O Symmetric multiprocessing

 Computer-System Architecture
 Multiprocessor systems are of two types:
1. Asymmetric Multiprocessing– each processor assigned a specific task
 Master-slave relationship
 The tasks are strictly divided by their types on processors
 Typically, each processor has its own memory address space
 These features make asymmetric multiprocessing difficult to implement.
2. Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)– each processor performs all tasks within
the OS or they can do anything the others can.
 All processor are peers
 Contain own set of registers and private or local caches
 Shared physical memory

Asymmetric multiprocessing; one processor doing all I/O Symmetric multiprocessing

 A Dual-Core Design
 Cores- Multiprocessor chips
 on-chip communication is faster
 well suited for server (i.e., database, Web servers)
 Multicore CPUs appear to the operating system as N standard processors

A dual-core design with two cores places on the same chip

 Clustered Systems
 Another type of multiple-CPU system is clustered system
 Usually sharing storage via a storage-area network (SAN)
 Provides a high-availability service which survives failures
 Asymmetric clustering; One machine in hot-standby mode while the other is
running the applications
 Symmetric clustering; multiple machines are running the applications as well as
monitoring each other
 Some clusters are for high-performance computing (HPC)
 Applications must be written to use parallelization

General structure of a clustered system

 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 – 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 – 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
 Comparison
 Multiprogramming
 There is only one processor
 More than one user
 It is the function of OS to share CPU time among all the users equally
 Example: A computer running Excel and Firefox simultaneously

 Multiprocessing
 Multiprocessing is the use of two or more CPUs within a single computer system
 Symmetric and asymmetric multiprocessing
 Multitasking
 There is only one processor and one user.
 User can activate more than one program/task at a time.
 OS schedule multiple jobs for their fair share processing.
 Multithreading
 Execute different parts of a program called threads at the same time
 Threads: The light wait processes which are independent part of a process or program.
 Comparison

Memory layout for Multiprogramming Multi-processing System Multi-tasking System

System

Multithreading System