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Operating System Short Notes

An operating system (OS) is system software that facilitates user interaction with computer hardware and manages resources efficiently. It provides an organized environment for program execution and includes system calls for file and process management. Additionally, concepts like Nachos, user vs kernel mode, and techniques such as anticipatory fetching and locality of reference are discussed to enhance understanding of OS functionalities.

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6 views10 pages

Operating System Short Notes

An operating system (OS) is system software that facilitates user interaction with computer hardware and manages resources efficiently. It provides an organized environment for program execution and includes system calls for file and process management. Additionally, concepts like Nachos, user vs kernel mode, and techniques such as anticipatory fetching and locality of reference are discussed to enhance understanding of OS functionalities.

Uploaded by

akshitabhatt08
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is Operating System :

The primary objectives of an operating system is to make computer system


convenient to use and utilise computer hardware in an efficient manner.

 An Operating System is a system software which may be viewed as an


organised collection of software consisting of procedure's for operating a
computer and providing an environment for execution of programs.
 It acts as an interface between users and the hardware of a computer
system.

 It is a system software that is mainly responsible for Resource


Management. It keeps track of the status of each resource and decides who
will have a control over computer resources, for how long and when.

In order to shield programmers from the complexity of the hardware a layer of


software is provided on the top of the bare hardware, to manage all parts of
the system and present the user with an interface or virtual machine that is
easier to understand and program. This layer of software is the operating
system.

LIST OF SOME AVAILABLE SYSTEM CALLS :

1. UNIX

a) File facilities

create (name, amode) Creates a new file called name with the specified access
permission given by amode.
open (name, oflag, amode) Opens the file name ; oflag specifies opening for reading,
writing, append etc; amode as above; returns a file
descriptor fd for used in other calls.

read(fd, buf, size) Reads up to size bytes form the file specified by fd (obtained
from open) into the user buffer buf.

write(fd, buf, count) Writes count bytes form the user buffer buf to the file
specified by fd.

Process facilities

fork() Causes creation of a new process which is an exact copy of


the calling process.

exit(status) Exit causes the calling process to terminate; the value of


status is returned to the process’s parent, ie. the process
which invoked the terminating process.

pause() Pause suspends the execution of a calling process until it


receivers a signal.

signal(sig, func) Allows the calling process to control the handling of signals;
a user-supplied function identified by func can be activated
on receipt of the signal sig.

MS-DOS

 MS-DOS doesnot use the term ‘system call’, but MS-DOS functions are
invoked by means of software interrupts.

These are generated by the machine code INT instruction which, when
executed, caused the processor to be
interrupted
Nachos: Virtual os environment

"Nachos" refers to "Not Another Completely Heuristic Operating System." It's an instructional
operating system used in computer science education. Nachos provides a simulated environment
where students can experiment with operating system concepts without needing real hardware or
risking system instability. This environment allows students to implement and test various operating
system functionalities, such as process management, memory management, file systems, and more,
within a controlled and virtual setting.
Argument commands or command like arguments-
User mode Vs Kernel mode
Layered approach:

It involves organizing the system into distinct layers, each responsible for a specific set of functions or
services.

Advantages:

Modularity, Abstraction, Hierarchical design

Dis adv.:

Overhead, Inefficiency- Communication between layers often involves data copying and protocol
processing, which can lead to inefficiencies, Dependency issues.
Anticipatory fetching is a technique used in computer architecture and operating systems to improve
the performance of memory access by predicting the data that will be needed in the near future and
fetching it into the cache or memory ahead of time. This technique aims to reduce the latency
associated with accessing data.

Locality of reference is a fundamental principle in computer science that refers to the


tendency of programs to access a relatively small subset of memory or data at any given time.
It suggests that once a particular memory location or data item is accessed, there is a high
probability that nearby memory locations or data items will be accessed in the near future.
Locality of reference is essential for understanding and optimizing the performance of
computer systems, particularly memory hierarchies and caching mechanisms.

2 types:
Pseudo code for start to ready state:

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