Chapter 1: Introduction

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edit9on Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Chapter 1: Introduction
● What is an Operating System?
● Computer-System Organization
● Operating-System Structure
● Operating-System Operations
● Process Management
● Memory Management
● Storage Management
● Protection and Security

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 Objectives

● To describe the basic organization of computer systems

● To provide a grand tour of the major components of operating
systems
● To give an overview of the many types of computing
environments
● To explore several open-source operating systems

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 What is an Operating System?

● A computer 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

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 Computer System Structure

● Computer system can be divided into four

components:
● Users
4 People, machines, other computers
● Application programs – define the ways in which
the system resources are used to solve the
computing problems of the users
4 Word processors, compilers, web browsers,
database systems, video games
● Operating system
4 Controls and coordinates use of hardware among
various applications and users
● Hardware – provides basic computing resources :
CPU, memory, I/O devices

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Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.6 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Four Components of a Computer System
I/O
Human
devices Computers

Users

Application
programs

OS

Hardware

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 What Operating Systems Do

● The operating system controls the

hardware and coordinates its use
among the various application
programs for the various users.
● We can also view a computer system
as consisting of hardware, software,
and data.
● The operating system provides the
means for proper use of these
resources in the operation of the
computer system.

OS Manage resources

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 What Operating Systems Do

● An operating system is similar to a government. Like a government, it

performs no useful function by itself. It simply provides an environment
within which other programs can do useful work.
● To understand more fully the operating system's role, we explore
operating systems from two viewpoints:
● The user
● The system.

Mr. Ms.
User Mr. Systems
OS

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 User View
The user's view of the computer varies according to the
interface being used
● Single user computers (e.g.,
PC, workstations). Such
systems are designed for one
user to monopolize its
resources. The goal is to
maximize the work (or play)
that the user is performing. the
operating system is designed
mostly for ease of use and
good performance.

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 User View
The user's view of the computer varies according to the
interface being used
● Multi user computers (e.g.,
mainframes, computing
servers). These users share
resources and may exchange
information. The operating
system in such cases is
designed to maximize
resource utilization -- to
assure that all available CPU
time, memory, and I/O are used
efficiently and that no
individual users takes more
than their air share.

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 User View (Cont.)

● Handheld computers (e.g., smartphones and tablets). The user

interface for mobile computers generally features a touch screen.
The systems are resource poor, optimized for usability and
battery life.
● Embedded computers (e.g., computers in home devices and
automobiles) The user interface may have numeric keypads and may
turn indicator lights on or off to show status. The operating systems
are designed primarily to run without user intervention.

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 System View
From the computer's point of view, the operating system is
the program most intimately involved with the hardware.
There are two different views:

● The operating system is a resource allocator

● Manages all resources
● Decides between conflicting requests for efficient and fair
resource use
● The operating systems is a control program
● Controls execution of programs to prevent errors and
improper use of the computer

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 Defining Operating System

No universally accepted definition of what an OS:

● Operating systems exist to offer a reasonable way to solve the

problem of creating a usable computing system.
● The fundamental goal of computer systems is to execute user
programs and to make solving user problems easier.
● Since bare hardware alone is not particularly easy to use,
application programs are developed.
● These programs require certain common operations, such as
those controlling the I/O devices.
● The common functions of controlling and allocating
resources are brought together into one piece of software:
the operating system.

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 Defining Operating System (Cont.)
No universally accepted definition of what is part of the OS:

● A simple viewpoint is that it includes everything a

vendor ships when you order the operating system.
The features that are included vary greatly across
systems:
● Some systems take up less than a megabyte of
space and lack even a full-screen editor,
● Some systems require gigabytes of space and are
based entirely on graphical windowing systems.

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 Defining Operating System (Cont.)
No universally accepted definition of what is part of the OS:

● A more common definition, and the one that we

usually follow, is that the operating system is the one
program running at all times on the computer --
usually called the kernel.
● Along with the kernel, there are two other types of
programs:
● System programs, which are associated with the
operating system but are not necessarily part of
the kernel.
● Application programs, which include all programs
not associated with the operation of the system.

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 Defining Operating System (Cont.)

● The emergence of mobile devices, have resulted in an increase in

the number of features that constituting the operating system.
● Mobile operating systems often include not only a core kernel but
also middleware -- a set of software frameworks that provide
additional services to application developers.
● For example, each of the two most prominent mobile operating
systems -- Apple's iOS and Google's Android -- feature a core
kernel along with middleware that supports databases,
multimedia, and graphics (to name only a few).

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 Computer-System Organization

● A modern general-purpose computer system consists of one or more CPUs and a

number of device controllers connected through a common bus that provides access
to shared memory.
● Each device controller is in charge of a specific type of device (for example, disk
drives, audio devices, or video displays). Each device controller has a local buffer.
● CPU moves data from/to main memory to/from local buffers.
● The CPU and the device controllers can execute in parallel, competing for memory
cycles. To ensure orderly access to the shared memory, a memory controller
synchronizes access to the memory.

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 Modern Computer System

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 Computer Startup

How the computer gets started:

● 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

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 Computer-System Operation

● Once the kernel is loaded and executing, it can start providing

services to the system and its users.
● Some services are provided outside of the kernel, by system
programs that are loaded into memory at boot time to become
system processes, or system daemons that run the entire time the
kernel is running.
● On UNIX, the first system process is init and it starts many other
daemons. Once this phase is complete, the system is fully booted,
and the system waits for some event to occur.
● The occurrence of an event is usually signaled by an interrupt.

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 Interrupts
● There are two types of interrupts:
● Hardware -- a device may trigger an interrupt by
sending a signal to the CPU, usually by way of the
system bus.
● Software -- a program may trigger an interrupt by
executing a special operation called a system call.
● A software-generated interrupt (sometimes called trap or
exception) is caused either by an error (e.g., divide by zero)
or a user request (e.g., an I/O request).
● An operating system is interrupt driven.

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 Common Functions of Interrupts

● When an interrupt occurs, the operating system preserves the state

of the CPU by storing the registers and the program counter
● Determines which type of interrupt has occurred and transfers
control to the interrupt-service routine.
● An interrupt-service routine is a collection of routines (modules),
each of which is responsible for handling one particular interrupt
(e.g., from a printer, from a disk)
● The transfer is generally through the interrupt vector, which
contains the addresses of all the service routines
● Interrupt architecture must save the address of the interrupted
instruction.

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 Interrupt Timeline

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 Interrupt-driven I/O cycle.

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 Intel Pentium processor event-vector table

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 Storage Structure
● Main memory – the only large storage media that the CPU can access directly
● Random access
● Typically volatile
● Secondary storage – extension of main memory that provides large nonvolatile
storage capacity
● Hard disks – rigid metal or glass platters covered with magnetic recording
material
4 Disk surface is logically divided into tracks, which are subdivided into
sectors
4 The disk controller determines the logical interaction between the
device and the computer
● Solid-state disks – faster than hard disks, nonvolatile
4 Various technologies
4 Becoming more popular
● Tertiary storage

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 Storage Definition
● The basic unit of computer storage is the bit. A bit can contain one of two
values, 0 and 1. All other storage in a computer is based on collections of
bits.
● A byte is 8 bits, and on most computers it is the smallest convenient
chunk of storage.
● A less common term is word, which is a given computer architecture’s
native unit of data. A word is made up of one or more bytes.

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 Storage Definition (Cont.)

● Computer storage, along with most computer throughput, is

generally measured and manipulated in bytes and collections of
bytes.
● A kilobyte, or KB, is 1,024 bytes
● a megabyte, or MB, is 1,0242 bytes
● a gigabyte, or GB, is 1,0243 bytes
● a terabyte, or TB, is 1,0244 bytes
● a petabyte, or PB, is 1,0245 bytes
● exabyte, zettabyte, yottabyte
● Computer manufacturers often round off these numbers and say
that a megabyte is 1 million bytes and a gigabyte is 1 billion bytes.
Networking measurements are an exception to this general rule;
they are given in bits (because networks move data a bit at a time).

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 Storage Hierarchy
● Storage systems organized in hierarchy
● Speed
● Cost
● Volatility
● Caching – copying information from “slow” storage into faster
storage system;
● Main memory can be viewed as a cache for secondary
storage
● Device Driver for each device controller to manage I/O
● Provides uniform interface between controller and kernel

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 Storage-device hierarchy

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 I/O Structure

● A general-purpose computer system consists of CPUs and multiple

device controllers that are connected through a common bus.
● Each device controller is in charge of a specific type of device.
More than one device may be attached. For instance, seven or more
devices can be attached to the small computer-systems interface
(SCSI) controller.
● A device controller maintains some local buffer storage and a set of
special-purpose registers.
● The device controller is responsible for moving the data between the
peripheral devices that it controls and its local buffer storage.
● Typically, operating systems have a device driver for each device
controller. This device driver understands the device controller and
provides the rest of the operating system with a uniform interface to
the device.

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 I/O Structure (Cont.)
● To start an I/O operation, the device driver loads the appropriate
registers within the device controller.
● The device controller, in turn, examines the contents of these
registers to determine what action to take (such as “read” a character
from the keyboard).
● The controller starts the transfer of data from the device to its local
buffer. Once the transfer of data is complete, the device controller
informs the device driver via an interrupt that it has finished its
operation.
● The device driver then returns control to the operating system,
possibly returning the data or a pointer to the data if the operation
was a read.
● For other operations, the device driver returns status information.

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 Direct Memory Access Structure
● Interrupt-driven I/O is fine for moving small amounts of data but can
produce high overhead when used for bulk data movement such as
disk I/O.
● To solve this problem, direct memory access (DMA) is used.
● After setting up buffers, pointers, and counters for the I/O device,
the device controller transfers an entire block of data directly to or
from its own buffer storage to memory, with no intervention by
the CPU.
● Only one interrupt is generated per block, to tell the device driver
that the operation has completed. While the device controller s
performing these operations, the CPU is available to accomplish
other work.
● Some high-end systems use switch rather than bus architecture. On
these systems, multiple components can talk to other components
concurrently, rather than competing for cycles on a shared bus. In this
case, DMA is even more effective. The figure in next slide shows the
interplay of all components of a computer system.

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 How a Modern Computer Works
A von Neumann architecture and a depiction of the interplay of
all components of a computer system.

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 Computer-System Architecture
● 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:
4 Increased throughput
4 Economy of scale
4 Increased reliability – graceful-degradation/fault-tolerance
● Two types:
4 Symmetric Multiprocessing – each processor performs all tasks
4 Asymmetric Multiprocessing – each processor is assigned a
specific task.

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 Symmetric Multiprocessing Architecture

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 Multicore Systems
● Most CPU design now includes multiple computing cores on a
single chip. Such multiprocessor systems are termed multicore.
● Multicore systems can be more efficient than multiple chips
with single cores because:
● On-chip communication is faster than between-chip
communication.
● One chip with multiple cores uses significantly less power
than multiple single-core chips, an important issue for
laptops as well as mobile devices.
● Note -- while multicore systems are multiprocessor systems, not
all multiprocessor systems are multicore.

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 A dual-core with two cores placed on the same chip

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 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
● 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

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 Clustered Systems

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 Multiprogrammed System

● 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
● Batch systems:
● One job selected and run via job scheduling
● When it has to wait (for I/O for example), OS switches to
another job
● Timesharing systems:
● Logical extension of batch systems -- CPU switches jobs
so frequently that users can interact with each job while it is
running, creating interactive computing

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 Timesharing Systems
● Timesharing is also referred to as multitasking.
● Response time should be < 1 second
● Each user has at least one program executing in memory. Such a
program is referred to as a process
● If several processes are ready to run at the same time, we need to
have CPU scheduling.
● If processes do not fit in memory, swapping moves them in and out
to run
● Virtual memory allows execution of processes not completely in
memory

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 Memory Layout for Multiprogrammed System

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 Modes of Operation

● A mechanism that allows the OS to protect itself and other

system components
● Two modes:
● User mode
● Kernel mode
● Mode bit (0 or 1) 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
● Systems call by a user asking the OS to perform some
function changes from user mode to kernel mode.
● Return from a system call resets the mode to user mode.

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 Transition from User to Kernel Mode

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 Timer
To prevent process to be in infinite loop (process hogging
resources), a timer is used, which is a hardware device.

● Timer is a counter that is decremented by the physical clock.

● Timer is set to interrupt the computer after some time period
● Operating system sets the counter (privileged instruction)
● When counter reaches the value zero, and interrupt is generated.
● The OS sets up the value of the counter before scheduling a process
to regain control or terminate program that exceeds allotted time

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 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, etc.
● Initialization data
● Process termination requires reclaim of any reusable resources
● A thread is a basic unit of CPU utilization within a process.
● Single-threaded process. Instructions are executed sequentially, one at a
time, until completion
● Process has one program counter specifying location of next
instruction to execute
● Multi-threaded process has one program counter per thread
● Typically, a system has many processes, some user, some operating
system running concurrently on one or more CPUs
● Concurrency by multiplexing the CPUs among the threads

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 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

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 Memory Management

● To execute a program all (or part) of the instructions must be in

memory
● All (or part) of the data that is needed by the program must be in
memory.
● Memory management determines what is in memory and when
● 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

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 Storage Management

● OS provides uniform, logical view of information storage

● Abstracts physical properties to logical storage unit - file
● Files are stored in a number of different storage medium.
● Disk
● Flash Memory
● Tape
● Each medium is controlled by device drivers (i.e., disk drive, tape
drive)
● Varying properties include access speed, capacity, data-
transfer rate, access method (sequential or random)

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 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 directories
● Mapping files onto secondary storage
● Backup files onto stable (non-volatile) storage media

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 Secondary-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 – by OS or applications

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 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 are smaller (size-wise) than storage being cached
● Cache management important design problem
● Cache size and replacement policy

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 Performance of Various Levels of Storage

Movement between levels of storage hierarchy can be explicit or implicit

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 Migration of data “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
● Various solutions covered in Chapter 17

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 I/O Subsystem
● One purpose of an operating system 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

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 Protection and Security
● Protection – A mechanism for controlling access of processes (or
users) to resources defined by the OS
● Security – A 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 is associated with all files and 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

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 End of Chapter 1

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edit9on Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013