CSC204 - Practical

Approach to
Operating System
Chapter 1.2
OS Functions And Components
Operating System
Model
 Processor Manager

decides how to allocate the central

processing unit (CPU)
Chapter 1.2.1
Understanding has two levels of responsibility:
OS Components
• To handle jobs as they enter the system
• Handled by Job Scheduler
• To manage each process within those jobs
• Handled by Process Scheduler
 Memory Manager

In charge of main memory (RAM)

Responsibility includes:
Chapter 1.2.1 • Preserves the space in main memory occupied
by the operating system
Understanding • Checks the validity of each request for memory
OS Components space
• Sets up a table to keep track of who is using
which section of memory in a multiuser
environment
• Deallocates memory when the time comes to
reclaim the memory
 Device Manager

monitors every device, channel, and

control unit
Chapter 1.2.1
Understanding Responsibility includes:
OS Components
• Chooses the most efficient way to allocate all of the
system’s devices, printers, terminals, disk drives,
based on a scheduling policy
• Makes the allocation, starts its operation
• Deallocates the device
 File Manager

keeps track of every file in the system including

data files, assemblers, compilers, and application
programs
Chapter 1.2.1
Understanding Responsibility includes:
OS Components
• Enforces restrictions on who has access to which files by using
predetermined access
• Controls what users are allowed to do with files once they access
them
• Allocates the resource by opening the file and deallocates it by
closing the file
 Network Manager

Operating systems with networking capability have

a fifth essential manager
Chapter 1.2.1
Understanding Network Manager provides a convenient way for
OS Components users to share resources while controlling users’
access to them. The resources include:
• Hardware (such as CPUs, memory areas, printers, tape drives,
modems, and disk drives)
• Software (such as compilers, application programs, and data
files)
OS Interfaces
 Subsystem Manager

To be more efficient, each of the

Chapter 1.2.1 subsystem manager must perform the
Understanding following tasks:
OS Components • Monitor its resources continuously
• Enforce the policies that determine who gets
what, when, and how much
• Allocate the resource when it’s appropriate
• Deallocate the resource when appropriate
 Essential managers of an operating system:

• Processor Manager
• Memory Manager
• Device Manager
• File Manager
Chapter 1.2.1 • Network Manager
Understanding Each manager both works closely with the other
OS Components managers and performs its unique role –
Interprocess Communication Manager

User Command Interface is unique to each

operating system
 OS is a resource allocator
• Processor Manage Manages all
resources
• Decides between conflicting
Chapter 1.2.1 requests for efficient and fair
OS Main resource use
Functions OS is a control program
• Controls execution of programs to
prevent errors and improper use of
the computer
 Cooperation Issues:

Note that each manager cannot simply perform its

individual tasks on its own.

Chapter 1.2.1
Understanding
OS Components Each manager must work harmoniously with every
other manager.

Point out that we may discuss each manager as an

individual component for learning purposes; however,
in reality they work together as part of the
comprehensive operating system.
 Scenario

The Device Manager must receive the electrical impulses from the
keyboard, decode the keystrokes to firm the command and send the
command to the User Command Interface, where the Processor
Manager validates the command.
Chapter 1.2.1
Understanding The Processor Manager then sends an acknowledgement message
to be displayed on the video monitor so the user realizes the
OS Components command has been sent.

When the Processor Manager receives the command, it determines

whether the program must be retrieved from storage or is already in
memory and then notifies the appropriate manager.
 Scenario

If the program is in storage, the File Manager must

calculate its exact location on the disk, pass this
Chapter 1.2.1 information to the Device Manager, which retrieves and
send the program on to the Memory Manager, which
Understanding must find space (in main memory) for it and record the
OS Components exact location.
Once the program in memory, the Memory Manager must
track its location and progress as it is executed by the
Processor Manager.
 Scenario

When the program has finish executing, it

Chapter 1.2.1 must send a finished message back to the
Processor Manager.
Understanding
OS Components
Finally, the Processor Manager must forward
the finished message back to the Device
Manager, which displays it on the video
monitor for the user to see.
Microkernel Architecture
 Microkernel Architecture

Kernel is the central component of most computer operating

systems; it is a bridge between applications and the actual data
processing done at the hardware level.

The kernel's responsibilities include managing the system's resources

Chapter 1.2.2 (the communication between hardware and software components).

Characteristics
of Modern OS Usually as a basic component of an operating system, a kernel can
provide the lowest-level abstraction layer for the resources
(especially processors and I/O devices) that application software
must control to perform its function.
It typically makes these facilities available to application processes
through inter-process communication mechanisms and system calls.
Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics of Microkernel Architecture

Modern OS •Themicrokernel was designed to address the increasing

growth of kernels and the difficulties that came with them.
•Intheory, the microkernel design allows for easier
management of code due to its division into user space
services.
•Thisalso allows for increased security and stability resulting
from the reduced amount of code running in kernel mode.
•For example, if a networking service crashed due to buffer
overflow, only the networking service's memory would be
corrupted, leaving the rest of the system still functional.
 Microkernel Architecture

Operating system tasks are done differently by different

kernels, depending on their design and implementation.
Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics
of Modern OS
While monolithic kernels execute all the operating system
code in the same address space to increase the
performance of the system, microkernel run most of the
operating system services in user space as servers, aiming to
improve maintainability and modularity of the operating
system.
Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics of Modern OS
Microkernel Architecture
Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics of Modern OS
Monolithic Kernel Microkernel
Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics of Modern OS
Hybrid Kernel

•Hybrid kernels are a compromise between the monolithic and microkernel designs.
•This implies running some services (such as the network stack or the filesystem) in
kernel space to reduce the performance overhead of a traditional microkernel, but still
running kernel code (such as device drivers) as servers in user space.
•The hybrid kernel approach combines the speed and simpler design of a monolithic
kernel with
the modularity and execution
safety of a microkernel.
 Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics of Modern OS
Multithreading as a widespread
programming and execution These threads share the process'
Multithreading model allows multiple threads resources but are able to execute
to exist within the context of a independently.
single process.

However, perhaps the most

The threaded programming interesting application of the
model provides developers with a technology is when it is applied
useful abstraction of concurrent to a single process to enable
execution. parallel execution on a
multiprocessor system.
Multithreading
Chapter 1.2.2
Characteristics of
Modern OS
Multithreading

The advantages of a multithreaded program :

•allows it to operate faster on computer systems that

have multiple CPUs, CPUs with multiple cores, or
across a cluster of machines
•even for single-CPU systems, is the ability for an
application to remain responsive to input
Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)
Object Oriented Programming language based