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Storage Management

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43 views4 pages

Storage Management

Uploaded by

Anas Choudhary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Storage Management

Storage management in operating systems is a comprehensive approach to managing memory


and storage resources. It deals with managing primary memory (RAM), secondary storage
(hard disks, SSDs), and tertiary storage (removable devices). The goal is to ensure efficient use
of resources, data reliability, security, and scalability. Below are its components in detail:
1. Primary Storage Management (Main Memory)
 Responsibilities:
o Allocating memory to processes.
o Protecting processes from accessing each other’s memory space.
o Swapping processes in and out of memory for multitasking.
 Techniques:
o Paging: Divides memory into fixed-size blocks (pages) to eliminate
fragmentation.
o Segmentation: Divides memory into variable-sized sections based on logical
divisions like functions or objects.
o Virtual Memory: Extends physical memory by using disk space, allowing
processes to exceed the size of available RAM.
2. Secondary Storage Management (Disk Storage)
 Responsibilities:
o Storing data persistently even when the system is powered off.
o Efficiently reading/writing data from storage devices.
o Managing file systems and directories for user and system data.
3. Caching:
 Storing frequently used data in faster storage (e.g., RAM or CPU cache) for quicker
access.
 Ensures efficient use of storage resources by reducing access latency.

Disk Management
Disk management focuses on organizing, formatting, and controlling storage devices like hard
drives and SSDs. It ensures proper data access and management.
1. Partitioning:
 Divides a disk into sections, with each partition acting as a separate logical disk.
 Types of partitions:
o Primary Partition: The main bootable sections of the disk.
o Extended Partition: Contains multiple logical drives.
2. Formatting:
 Prepares partitions by creating a file system such as FAT32, NTFS, or ext4.
 Adds metadata like file allocation tables or anode’s for data organization.
3. Mounting and Unmounting:
 Mounting: Links a partition or device to the operating system's file system tree.
 Unmounting: Disconnects the device safely, ensuring all data has been written.
4. Bad Block Management:
 Identifies damaged disk sectors to prevent data loss.
 Uses techniques like error correction and reallocation to handle bad blocks.

Disk Scheduling
Disk scheduling determines the sequence in which disk I/O requests are processed, aiming to
optimize seek time, latency, and throughput.
1. Objectives of Disk Scheduling:
 Minimize seek time: Time taken to move the disk head to the correct position.
 Minimize rotational latency: Delay caused by waiting for the disk to rotate to the correct
sector.
 Fair allocation of disk resources among processes.
2. Disk Scheduling Algorithms:
 First-Come, First-Served (FCFS): Processes requests in the order they arrive.
o Simple but can lead to poor performance if requests are scattered.
 Shortest Seek Time First (SSTF): Prioritizes the nearest request.
o Reduces seek time but can cause starvation of distant requests.

Disk Structure
Disk structure describes how data is physically and logically organized on a storage device.
1. Physical Disk Structure:
 Platters: Disks have multiple spinning platters coated with magnetic material.
 Tracks: Concentric circles on each platter.
 Sectors: Tracks are divided into small storage units called sectors, typically 512 bytes or
4 KB in size.
 Cylinders: A group of tracks at the same distance from the spindle across all platters.
2. Logical Disk Structure:
 File systems abstract physical storage into logical structures like files, directories, and
metadata.
 Logical structures include:
o File Allocation Table (FAT): Maps files to their corresponding disk sectors.
o Inodes: Store metadata about files, such as size, type, and permissions.
3. Formatting:
 Low-Level Formatting: Divides the disk into sectors and creates sector headers for data
synchronization.
 High-Level Formatting: Creates a file system, organizing the logical structure for user
data.

Swap-Space Management
Swap space is a part of secondary storage used to supplement physical memory. It extends virtual
memory and allows multitasking even when RAM is full.
1. Purpose:
 Temporarily stores pages of processes not currently in use.
 Helps maintain system performance during memory overcommitment.
2. Types of Swap Space Allocation:
 Fixed Allocation: Pre-allocated space reserved for swap during system setup.
 Dynamic Allocation: Space is allocated and released as needed, depending on demand.
3. Swap Implementation Methods:
 Swap Partition: A dedicated disk partition exclusively for swap.
 Swap File: A file within the file system used as swap space.
4. Optimization Techniques:
 Place swap partitions on fast disks (e.g., SSDs) for better performance.
 Configure sufficient swap space to handle peak memory demands.

Recommendation for Systems with High Memory Demands


 Use efficient disk scheduling algorithms like C-LOOK or SCAN for faster I/O
performance.
 Opt for non-contiguous memory allocation (paging and virtual memory) to handle
fragmentation and utilize storage effectively.
 Leverage SSD-based swap partitions to improve swap performance and system
responsiveness.

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