42 Chapter 1 Introduction

computer system. Security measures are responsible for defending a computer

system from external or internal attacks.
Distributed systems allow users to share resources on geographically
dispersed hosts connected via a computer network. Services may be provided
through either the client-server model or the peer-to-peer model. In a clustered
system, multiple machines can perform computations on data residing on
shared storage, and computing can continue even when some subset of cluster
members fails.
LANs and WANs are the two basic types of networks. LANs enable
processors distributed over a small geographical area to communicate, whereas
WANs allow processors distributed over a larger area to communicate. LANs
typically are faster than WANs.
There are several computer systems that serve specific purposes. These
include real-time operating systems designed for embedded environments
such as consumer devices, automobiles, and robotics. Real-time operating
systems have well-defined, fixed-time constraints. Processing must be done
within the defined constraints, or the system will fail. Multimedia systems
involve the delivery of multimedia data and often have special requirements of
displaying or playing audio, video, or synchronized audio and video streams.
Recently, the influence of the Internet and the World Wide Web has
encouraged the development of operating systems that include Web browsers
and networking and communication software as integral features.
The free software movement has created thousands of open-source projects,
including operating systems. Because of these projects, students are able to use
source code as a learning tool. They can modify programs and test them,
help find and fix bugs, and otherwise explore mature, full-featured operating
systems, compilers, tools, user interfaces, and other types of programs.
GNU/Linux, BSD UNIX, and Solaris are all open-source operating systems.
The advantages of free software and open sourcing are likely to increase the
number and quality of open-source projects, leading to an increase in the
number of individuals and companies that use these projects.

Practice Exercises
/ 1.1 What are the three main purposes of an operating system?
1.2 What are the main differences between operating systems for mainframe
computers and personal computers?
1.3 List the four steps that are necessary to run a program on a completely
dedicated machine—a computer that is running only that program.
1.4 We have stressed the need for an operating system to make efficient use
of the computing hardware. When is it appropriate for the operating
system to forsake this principle and to "waste" resources? Why is such
a system not really wasteful?
1.5 What is the main difficulty that a programmer must overcome in writing
an operating system for a real-time environment?
, 1.6 Consider the various definitions of operating system. Consider whether
the operating system should include applications such as Web browsers
 Exercises 43

and mail programs. Argue both that it should and that it should not, and
support your answers.
1.7 How does the distinction between kernel mode and user mode function
as a rudimentary form of protection (security) system?
;/1.8 Which of the following instructions should be privileged?
a. Set value of timer.
b. Read the clock.
c. Clear memory.
d. Issue a trap instruction.
e. Turn off interrupts.
f. Modify entries in device-status table.
g. Switch from user to kernel mode,
h. Access I/O device.
1.9 Some early computers protected the operating system by placing it in
a memory partition that could not be modified by either the user job
or the operating system itself. Describe two difficulties that you think
could arise with such a scheme.
1.10 Some CPUs provide for more than two modes of operation. What are
two possible uses of these multiple modes?
1.11 Timers could be used to compute the current time. Provide a short
description of how this could be accomplished.
1.12 Is the Internet a LAN or a WAN?

Exercises
y 1.13 In a multiprogramming and time-sharing environment, several users
share the system simultaneously. This situation can result in various
security problems.
a. What are two such problems?
b. Can we ensure the same degree of security in a time-shared
machine as in a dedicated machine? Explain your answer.
1.14 The issue of resource utilization shows up in different forms in different
types of operating systems. List what resources must be managed
carefully in the following settings:
a. Mainframe or minicomputer systems
b. Workstations connected to servers
c. Handheld computers
44 Chapter 1 Introduction

L/1.15 Under what circumstances would a user be better off using a time-
sharing system rather than a PC or a single-user workstation?
1.16 Identify which of the functionalities listed below need to be supported by
the operating system for (a) handheld devices and (b) real-time systems.
a. Batch programming
b. Virtual memory
c. Time sharing
1.17 Describe the differences between symmetric and asymmetric multipro-
cessing. What are three advantages and one disadvantage of multipro-
cessor systems?
1.18 How do clustered systems differ from multiprocessor systems? What is
required for two machines belonging to a cluster to cooperate to provide
a highly available service?
1.19 Distinguish between the client-server and peer-to-peer models of
distributed systems.
1.20 Consider a computing cluster consisting of two nodes running a
database. Describe two ways in which the cluster software can manage
access to the data on the disk. Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of
each.
1.21 How are network computers different from traditional personal com-
puters? Describe some usage scenarios in which it is advantageous to
use network computers.
1.22 What is the purpose of interrupts? What are the differences between a
trap and an interrupt? Can traps be generated intentionally by a user
program? If so, for what purpose?
N/1.23 Direct memory access is used for high-speed I/O devices in order to
avoid increasing the CPU's execution load.
a. How does the CPU interface with the device to coordinate the
transfer?
b. How does the CPU know when the memory operations are com-
plete?
c. The CPU is allowed to execute other programs while the DMA
controller is transferring data. Does this process interfere with
the execution of the user programs? If so, describe what forms
of interference are caused.
1.24 Some computer systems do not provide a privileged mode of operation
in hardware. Is it possible to construct a secure operating system for
these computer systems? Give arguments both that it is and that it is not
possible.
v 1.25 Give two reasons why caches are useful. What problems do they solve?
What problems do they cause? If a cache can be made as large as the
 Exercises 45

device for which it is caching (for instance, a cache as large as a disk),

why not make it that large and eliminate the device?
1.26 Consider an SMP system similar to what is shown in Figure 1.6. Illustrate
with an example how data residing in memory could in fact have two
different values in each of the local caches.
1.27 Discuss, with examples, how the problem of maintaining coherence of
cached data manifests itself in the following processing environments:

a. Single-processor systems
b. Multiprocessor systems
c. Distributed systems

1.28 Describe a mechanism for enforcing memory protection in order to

prevent a program from modifying the memory associated with other
programs.
1.29 What network configuration would best suit the following environ-
ments?

a. A dormitory floor
b. A university campus
c. A state
d. A nation

•/1.30 Define the essential properties of the following types of operating

systems:

a. Batch
b. Interactive
c. Time sharing
d. Real time
e. Network
f. Parallel
g. Distributed
h. Clustered
i. Handheld

1.31 What are the tradeoffs inherent in handheld computers?

1.32 Identify several advantages and several disadvantages of open-source
operating systems. Include the types of people who would find each
aspect to be an advantage or a disadvantage.
 Practice Exercises 91

when in an interactive or time-shared mode. System programs are provided to

satisfy many common user requests.
The types of requests vary according to level. The system-call level must
provide the basic functions, such as process control and file and device
manipulation. Higher-level requests, satisfied by the command interpreter or
system programs, are translated into a sequence of system calls. System services
can be classified into several categories: program control, status requests, and
I/O requests. Program errors can be considered implicit requests for service.
Once the system services are defined, the structure of the operating system
can be developed. Various tables are needed to record the information that
defines the state of the computer system and the status of the system's jobs.
The design of a new operating system is a major task. It is important that
the goals of the system be well defined before the design begins. The type of
system desired is the foundation for choices among various algorithms and
strategies that will be needed.
Since an operating system is large, modularity is important. Designing a
system as a sequence of layers or using a microkernel is considered a good
technique. The virtual-machine concept takes the layered approach and treats
both the kernel of the operating system and the hardware as though they were
hardware. Even other operating systems may be loaded on top of this virtual
machine.
Throughout the entire operating-system design cycle, we must be careful
to separate policy decisions from implementation details (mechanisms). This
separation allows maximum flexibility if policy decisions are to be changed
later.
Operating systems are now almost always written in a systems-
implementation language or in a higher-level language. This feature improves
their implementation, maintenance, and portability. To create an operating
system for a particular machine configuration, we must perform system
generation.
Debugging process and kernel failures can be accomplished through the
use of debuggers and other tools that analyze core dumps. Tools such as DTrace
analyze production systems to find bottlenecks and understand other system
behavior.
For a computer system to begin running, the CPU must initialize and start
executing the bootstrap program in firmware. The bootstrap can execute the
operating system directly if the operating system is also in the firmware, or
it can complete a sequence in which it loads progressively smarter programs
from firmware and disk until the operating system itself is loaded into memory
and executed.

Practice Exercises
f 2.1 What is the purpose of system calls?
2.2 What are the five major activities of an operating system with regard to
process management?
2.3 What are the three major activities of an operating system with regard
to memory management?
92 Chapter 2 Operating-System Structures

2.4 What are the three major activities of an operating system with regard
to secondary-storage management?
^ 2.5 What is the purpose of the command interpreter? Why is it usually
separate from the kernel?
2.6 What system calls have to be executed by a command interpreter or shell
in order to start a new process?
2.7 What is the purpose of system programs?
2.8 What is the main advantage of the layered approach to system design?
What are the disadvantages of using the layered approach?
2.9 List five services provided by an operating system, and explain how each
creates convenience for users. In which cases would it be impossible for
user-level programs to provide these services? Explain your answer.
2.10 Why do some systems store the operating system in firmware, while
others store it on disk?
2.11 How could a system be designed to allow a choice of operating systems
from which to boot? What would the bootstrap program need to do?

Exercises
x 2.12 The services and functions provided by an operating system can be
divided into two main categories. Briefly describe the two categories
and discuss how they differ.
J 2.13 Describe three general methods for passing parameters to the operating
system.
2.14 Describe how you could obtain a statistical profile of the amount of time
spent by a program executing different sections of its code. Discuss the
importance of obtaining such a statistical profile.
2.15 What are the five major activities of an operating system with regard to
file management?
2.16 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the same system-
call interface for manipulating both files and devices?
J 2.17 Would it be possible for the user to develop a new command interpreter
using the system-call interface provided by the operating system?
2.18 What are the two models of interprocess communication? What are the
strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches?
2.19 Why is the separation of mechanism and policy desirable?
2.20 It is sometimes difficult to achieve a layered approach if two components
of the operating system are dependent on each other. Identify a scenario
in which it is unclear how to layer two system components that require
tight coupling of their functionalities.
 Programming Projects 93

2.21 What is the main advantage of the microkernel approach to system

design? How do user programs and system services interact in a
microkernel architecture? What are the disadvantages of using the
microkernel approach?
2.22 In what ways is the modular kernel approach similar to the layered
approach? In what ways does it differ from the layered approach?
2.23 What is the main advantage for an operating-system designer of using
a virtual-machine architecture? What is the main advantage for a user?
2.24 Why is a just-in-time compiler useful for executing Java programs?
2.25 What is the relationship between a guest operating system and a host
operating system in a system like VMware? What factors need to be
considered in choosing the host operating system?
2.26 The experimental Synthesis operating system has an assembler incor-
porated in the kernel. To optimize system-call performance, the kernel
assembles routines within kernel space to minimize the path that the
system call must take through the kernel. This approach is the antithesis
of the layered approach, in which the path through the kernel is extended
to make building the operating system easier. Discuss the pros and cons
of the Synthesis approach to kernel design and system-performance
optimization.

Programming Problems
2.27 In Section 2.3, we described a program that copies the contents of one file
to a destination file. This program works by first prompting the user for
the name of the source and destination files. Write this program using
either the Win32 or POSIX API. Be sure to include all necessary error
checking, including ensuring that the source file exists.
Once you have correctly designed and tested the program, if
you used a system that supports it, run the program using a utility
that traces system calls. Linux systems provide the ptrace utility, and
Solaris systems use the truss or dtrace command. On Mac OS X, the
ktrace facility provides similar functionality. As Windows systems do
not provide such features, you will have to trace through the Win32
version of this program using a debugger.

Programming Projects
2.28 Adding a system call to the Linux Kernel.
In this project, you will study the system-call interface provided by the
Linux operating system and learn how user programs communicate with
the operating system kernel via this interface. Your task is to incorporate
a new system call into the kernel, thereby expanding the functionality
of the operating system.
 Practice Exercises 141

The processes executing in the operating system may be either independent

processes or cooperating processes. Cooperating processes require an interpro-
cess communication mechanism to communicate with each other. Principally,
communication is achieved through two schemes: shared memory and mes-
sage passing. The shared-memory method requires communicating processes
to share some variables. The processes are expected to exchange information
through the use of these shared variables. In a shared-memory system, the
responsibility for providing communication rests with the application pro-
grammers; the operating system needs to provide only the shared memory.
The message-passing method allows the processes to exchange messages.
The responsibility for providing communication may rest with the operating
system itself. These two schemes are not mutually exclusive and can be used
simultaneously within a single operating system.
Communication in client-server systems may use (1) sockets, (2) remote
procedure calls (RPCs), or (3) pipes. A socket is defined as an endpoint for
communication. A connection between a pair of applications consists of a
pair of sockets, one at each end of the communication channel. RPCs are
another form of distributed communication. An RFC occurs when a process
(or thread) calls a procedure on a remote application. Ordinary pipes allow
communication between parent and child processes, while named pipes permit
unrelated processes to communicate with one another.

Practice Exercises
3.1 Palm OS provides no means of concurrent processing. Discuss three
major complications that concurrent processing adds to an operating
system.
3.2 The Sun UltraSPARC processor has multiple register sets. Describe what
happens when a context switch occurs if the new context is already
loaded into one of the register sets. What happens if the new context is
in memory rather than in a register set and all the register sets are in
use?
j 3.3 When a process creates a new process using the f ork () operation, which
of the following states is shared between the parent process and the child
process?
a. Stack
b. Heap
c. Shared memory segments
3.4 With respect to the RFC mechanism, consider the "exactly once" semantic.
Does the algorithm for implementing this semantic execute correctly
even if the ACK message back to the client is lost due to a network
problem? Describe the sequence of messages and discuss whether
"exactly once" is still preserved.
3.5 Assume that a distributed system is susceptible to server failure. What
mechanisms would be required to guarantee the "exactly once" semantic
for execution of RPCs?
142 Chapter 3 Processes

Exercises
/ 3.6 Describe the differences among short-term, medium-term, and long-
term scheduling.

/ 3.7 Describe the actions taken by a kernel to context-switch between

processes.
3.8 Construct a process tree similar to Figure 3.9. To obtain process informa-
tion for the UNIX or Linux system, use the command ps -ael. Use the
command man ps to get more information about the ps command. On
Windows systems, you will have to use the task manager.

y 3.9 Including the initial parent process, how many processes are created by
the program shown in Figure 3.28?
3.10 Using the program in Figure 3.29, identify the values of pid at lines A, B,
C, and D. (Assume that the actual pids of the parent and child are 2600
and 2603, respectively.)

3.11 Give an example of a situation in which ordinary pipes are more suitable
than named pipes and an example of a situation in which named pipes
are more suitable than ordinary pipes.

3.12 Consider the RFC mechanism. Describe the undesirable consequences

that could arise from not enforcing either the "at most once" or "exactly
once" semantic. Describe possible uses for a mechanism that has neither
of these guarantees.

3.13 Using the program shown in Figure 3.30, explain what the output will
be at Line A.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int mainO
{
/* fork a child process */
forkO;

/* fork another child process */

forkO;

/* and fork another */

forkO;

return 0;
}
Figure 3.28 How many processes are created?
 Programming Problems 143

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int mainO
{
pid_t pid, pidl;

/* fork a child process */

pid = f o r k ( ) ;

if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */

fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
return 1;
}
else if (pid == 0) { /* child process */
pidl = getpidQ ;
printf("child: pid = °/0d",pid); /* A */
printf("child: pidl = %d",pidl); /* B */
>
else { /* parent process */
pidl = getpidO ;
printf("parent: pid = %d",pid); /* C */
printf ("parent: pidl = °/,d",pidl); /* D */
wait(MULL);

return 0;
}
Figure 3.29 What are the pid values?

/ 3.14 What are the benefits and the disadvantages of each of the following?
Consider both the system level and the programmer level.
a. Synchronous and asynchronous communication
b. Automatic and explicit buffering
c. Send by copy and send by reference
d. Fixed-sized and variable-sized messages

Programming Problems

3.15 The Fibonacci sequence is the series of numbers 0,1,1,2,3,5,:

Formally, it can be expressed as:
fib0 = 0
fibi = 1
fibn = fibn-i +
174 Chapter 4 Threads

task points to the data structures of the parent task, depending on the set of
flags passed to clone ().
Several distributions of the Linux kernel now include the NPTL thread
library. NPTL (which stands for Native POSIX Thread Library) provides a POSIX-
compliant thread model for Linux systems along with several other features,
such as better support for SMP systems, as well as taking advantage of NUMA
support. In addition, the start-up cost for creating a thread is lower with NPTL
than with traditional Linux threads. Finally, with NPTL, the system has the
potential to support hundreds of thousands of threads. Such support becomes
more important with the growth of multicore and other SMP systems.

4.6 Summary

A thread is a flow of control within a process. A multithreaded process contains

several different flows of control within the same address space. The benefits of
multithreading include increased responsiveness to the user, resource sharing
within the process, economy, and scalability issues such as more efficient use
of multiple cores.
User-level threads are threads that are visible to the programmer and are
unknown to the kernel. The operating-system kernel supports and manages
kernel-level threads. In general, user-level threads are faster to create and
manage than are kernel threads, as no intervention from the kernel is required.
Three different types of models relate user and kernel threads: The many-to-one
model maps many user threads to a single kernel thread. The one-to-one model
maps each user thread to a corresponding kernel thread. The many-to-many
model multiplexes many user threads to a smaller or equal number of kernel
threads.
Most modern operating systems provide kernel support for threads; among
these are Windows 98, NT, 2000, and XP, as well as Solaris and Linux.
Thread libraries provide the application programmer with an API for
creating and managing threads. Three primary thread libraries are in common
use: POSIX Pthreads, Win32 threads for Windows systems, and Java threads.
Multithreaded programs introduce many challenges for the programmer,
including the semantics of the f ork() and exec() system calls. Other issues
include thread cancellation, signal handling, and thread-specific data.

Practice Exercises

4.1 Provide two programming examples in which multithreading provides

better performance than a single-threaded solution.
4.2 What are two differences between user-level threads and kernel-level
threads? Under what circumstances is one type better than the other?
4.3 Describe the actions taken by a kernel to context-switch between kernel-
level threads.
4.4 What resources are used when a thread is created? How do they differ
from those used when a process is created?
 Exercises 175

4.5 Assume that an operating system maps user-level threads to the kernel
using the many-to-many model and that the mapping is done through
LWPs. Furthermore, the system allows developers to create real-time
threads for use in real-time systems. Is it necessary to bind a real-time
thread to an LWP? Explain.
4.6 A Pthread program that performs the summation function was provided
in Section 4.3.1. Rewrite this program in Java.

I Exercises

4.7 Provide two programming examples in which multithreading does not

provide better performance than a single-threaded solution.
4.8 Describe the actions taken by a thread library to context-switch between
user-level threads.
4.9 Under what circumstances does a multithreaded solution using multi-
ple kernel threads provide better performance than a single-threaded
solution on a single-processor system?
4.10 Which of the following components of program state are shared across
threads in a multithreaded process?

a. Register values
b. Heap memory
c. Global variables
d. Stack memory

4.11 Can a multithreaded solution using multiple user-level threads achieve

better performance on a multiprocessor system than on a single-
processor system? Explain.
4.12 As described in Section 4.5.2, Linux does not distinguish between
processes and threads. Instead, Linux treats both in the same way,
allowing a task to be more akin to a process or a thread depending
on the set of flags passed to the cloneQ system call. However, many
operating systems—such as Windows XP and Solaris—treat processes
and threads differently. Typically, such systems use a notation wherein
the data structure for a process contains pointers to the separate threads
belonging to the process. Contrast these two approaches for modeling
processes and threads within the kernel.
4.13 The program shown in Figure 4.14 uses the Pthreads API. What would
be the output from the program at LINE c and LINE p?
4.14 Consider a multiprocessor system and a multithreaded program written
using the many-to-many threading model. Let the number of user-level
176 Chapter 4 Threads

#include <pthread.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int value = 0;
void *runner(void *param) ; /* the thread */

int main (int argc, char *argv[])

{
int pid;
pthread_t tid;
pthread_attr_t attr;

pid = f orkQ ;

if (pid == 0) { /* child process */

pthread_attr_init (feattr) ;
pthread_create (fetid , feattr , runner , NULL) ;
pthread_join(tid,NULL) ;
printf ("CHILD: value = °/0d" , value) ; /* LINE C */
}
else if (pid > 0) { /* parent process */
wait (NULL);
printf ("PARENT: value = %d", value); /* LINE P */

void *runner(void *param) {

value = 5 ;
pthread_exit (0) ;

Figure 4.14 C program for Exercise 4.1 3.

threads in the program be more than the number of processors in the

system. Discuss the performance implications of the following scenarios.
a. The number of kernel threads allocated to the program is less than
the number of processors.
b. The number of kernel threads allocated to the program is equal to
the number of processors.
c. The number of kernel threads allocated to the program is greater
than the number of processors but less than the number of user-
level threads.
4.15 Write a multithreaded Java, Pthreads, or Win32 program that outputs
prime numbers. This program should work as follows: The user will
run the program and will enter a number on the command line. The
program will then create a separate thread that outputs all the prime
numbers less than or equal to the number entered by the user.
 Projects 177

4.16 Modify the socket-based date server (Figure 3.19) in Chapter 3 so that
the server services each client request in a separate thread.
4.17 The Fibonacci sequence is the series of numbers 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,....
Formally, it can be expressed as:

fibo = 0
fibi =1
fibn =

Write a multithreaded program that generates the Fibonacci sequence

using either the Java, Pthreads, or Win32 thread library. This program
should work as follows: The user will enter on the command line
the number of Fibonacci numbers that the program is to generate.
The program will then create a separate thread that will generate the
Fibonacci numbers, placing the sequence in data that can be shared by
the threads (an array is probably the most convenient data structure).
When the thread finishes execution, the parent thread will output the
sequence generated by the child thread. Because the parent thread cannot
begin outputting the Fibonacci sequence until the child thread finishes,
this will require having the parent thread wait for the child thread to
finish, using the techniques described in Section 4.3.
4.18 Exercise 3.18 in Chapter 3 involves designing an echo server using the
Java threading API. However, this server is single-threaded, meaning
that the server cannot respond to concurrent echo clients until the current
client exits. Modify the solution to Exercise 3.18 so that the echo server
services each client in a separate request.

Projects
The set of projects below deal with two distinct topics—naming service and
matrix muliplication.

Project 1: Naming Service Project

A naming service such as DNS (for domain name system) can be used to
resolve IP names to IP addresses. For example, when someone accesses the host
www. wes tmins tercollegs. edu, a naming service is used to determine the
IP address that is mapped to the IP name www.westminstercollege. edu.
This assignment consists of writing a multithreaded naming service in Java
using sockets (see Section 3.6.1).
The j ava. net API provides the following mechanism for resolving IP names:
InetAddress hostAddress =
InetAddress.getByName("www.westminstercollege.edu") ;
String IPaddress = hostAddress.getHostAddress();

where getByName () throws an UnknownHostException if it is unable to

resolve the host name.