Introduction to Operating Systems

PARUL JAIN
What is an Operating System ?

An Operating System is a program that acts as an

intermediary/interface between a user of a computer and the
computer hardware.

OS goals:
Control/execute user/application programs.
Make the computer system convenient to use.
Ease the solving of user problems.
Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner.
OS Services :
An Operating System provides services to both the
users and to the programs.

It provides programs an environment to execute.

It provides users the services to execute the programs

in a convenient manner.
Following are a few common services provided by an
operating system −

Program execution
I/O operations
File System manipulation
Communication
Error Detection
Resource Allocation
Protection
Program Execution :

 Operating systems handle many kinds of activities from

user programs to system programs like printer spooler,
name servers, file server, etc.
 Each of these activities is encapsulated as a process.
• A process includes the complete execution context (code
to execute, data to manipulate, registers, OS resources in
use).
• Following are the major activities of an operating system
with respect to program management −
 Loads a program into memory.
 Executes the program.
 Provides a mechanism for process synchronization.
 Provides a mechanism for process communication.
 Provides a mechanism for deadlock handling.
I/O Operation :

 An I/O subsystem comprises of I/O devices and their

corresponding driver software.
 Drivers hide the peculiarities of specific hardware devices
from the users.
 An Operating System manages the communication between
user and device drivers.
 I/O operation means read or write operation with any file or
any specific I/O device.
 Operating system provides the access to the required I/O
device when required.
File system manipulation :

A file represents a collection of related information.

 Computers can store files on the disk (secondary
storage), for long-term storage purpose.
Examples of storage media include magnetic tape,
magnetic disk and optical disk drives like CD, DVD.
Each of these media has its own properties like speed,
capacity, data transfer rate and data access methods.
A file system is normally organized into directories for
easy navigation and usage. These directories may contain
files and other directions.
Following are the major activities of an operating
system with respect to file management −
Program needs to read a file or write a file.
The operating system gives the permission to the
program for operation on file.
Permission varies from read-only, read-write, denied
and so on.
Operating System provides an interface to the user to
create/delete files.
Operating System provides an interface to the user to
create/delete directories.
Operating System provides an interface to create the
backup of file system.
Communication :

In case of distributed systems which are a collection of

processors that do not share memory, peripheral devices,
or a clock, the operating system manages communications
between all the processes.

Multiple processes communicate with one another through

communication lines in the network.
Following are the major activities of an operating system
with respect to communication −

 Two processes often require data to be transferred

between them
 Both the processes can be on one computer or on

different computers, but are connected through a

computer network.
 Communication may be implemented by two
methods, either by Shared Memory or by Message
Passing.
Error handling :

Errors can occur anytime and anywhere. An error

may occur in CPU, in I/O devices or in the memory
hardware.

Following are the major activities of an operating

system with respect to error handling −
 The OS constantly checks for possible errors.
 The OS takes an appropriate action to ensure correct and
consistent computing.
Resource Management :

 In case of multi-user or multi-tasking environment,

resources such as main memory, CPU cycles and files
storage are to be allocated to each user or job.

Following are the major activities of an operating system

with respect to resource management −
 The OS manages all kinds of resources using schedulers.
 CPU scheduling algorithms are used for better utilization of CPU.
Protection :

 Considering a computer system having multiple users and

concurrent execution of multiple processes, the various
processes must be protected from each other's activities.
 Protection refers to a mechanism or a way to control the
access of programs, processes, or users to the resources
defined by a computer system.

 Following are the major activities of an operating system with

respect to protection −
 The OS ensures that all access to system resources is controlled.
 The OS ensures that external I/O devices are protected from invalid
access attempts.
 The OS provides authentication features for each user by means of
passwords.
Evolution of Operating System
OS have evolved over the years in 4 ways:-

Serial processing.
Simple Batch System.
Multi-programmed batch system.
Time sharing system.
Serial processing :
• No operating system
• Programmers directly interacted with the hardware

• Machines run from a console with display lights, toggle switches,

input device, and printer

There are 2 key problems:-

 Schedule time-
Allotted time for users
Time allocations could run long or short resulting
in
wasted computer time
 Setup time-
Included loading the compiler, source program, saving
compiled program, and loading and linking…lot of time spent
Simple batch systems :
Batch processing is a technique in which an Operating System
collects the programs and data together in a batch before
processing starts.
An operating system does the following activities related to
batch processing −
 The OS defines a job which has predefined sequence of
commands, programs and data as a single unit.
 The OS keeps a number a jobs in memory and executes them
without any manual information.
 Jobs are processed in the order of submission, i.e., first come first
served fashion.
 The process of placing the jobs in queue for execution is known
as spooling.
 When a job completes its execution, its memory is released and
the output for the job gets copied into an output spool for later
printing or processing.
 User interaction in the batch processing system is minimal.
Advantages
Increased performance as a new job gets started as soon
as the previous job is over
Batch processing system consumes less time for
executing the all jobs.
CPU utilization gets improved.

Disadvantages
A job could enter an infinite loop.
Multi-programmed systems-
• In batch system, a job needs any I/O operation , it
starts performing it .
• Till then, processor is idle .
• This is case when single program is present in the
memory called as Uni-programming.
 •This is inefficient, as memory is available suppose to hold
more programs plus monitor.

•When one job needs to wait for I/O, the processor can switch to the
other job. This approach is called multiprogramming or
multitasking.
Time sharing Systems-
 It is a logical extension of multiprogramming.
 Jobs are switched by CPU.
 CPU executes multiple jobs by switching among them.
 Time sharing system enables many people. The main
objective of multiprogramming system and time sharing
system are maximize CPU utilization and minimize
response time respectively.
Basic Concepts
Process:
• Process is basically program in execution.
• It consists of :
1) Executable code
2) Program’s data
3) Program’s stack
4) Program counter
5) List of files
6) Other registers
• Each process is characterized by information
stored in Process Control Block (PCB)
Basic Concepts :
Files:
• File is collection of data .
• Way of grouping of files is called as directory
• Top directory in directory hierarchy is called as root
directory.
• Every file within directory hierarchy can be specified
by giving its Pathname
Basic Concepts
System Calls:
• User programs communicate with operating system
and request services from OS by making System Calls.

• Corresponding to each system call there is a library

procedure that user programs can call.

• Ex:
Read one file and to copy them to another
file.
 Shell
• It is a command interpreter.
• Accepts commands through shell prompt:
Ex:

$ cat file1.txt file2.txt >file3.txt

Shell-
DOS shell- Command shell.
A command shell is simply a window
without any graphical decorations .
Shell-
Windows shell is the main graphical user interface in
Microsoft Windows.
WIMP interface(Windows ,Icons, Menu, Pointer)
Basic Concepts
 Operating System structure:
• This shows how the OS is internally.
• There are 2 types of OS structure:

1) Monolithic Structure

2) Layered Structure
 Operating System structure:
• Monolithic structure:
1) No specific structure.
2) OS is a collection of procedures and
subprocedures.
3) OS provides system calls.
4) Special trap instruction known as Kernel Call or
Supervisor call.
Basic Concepts
 Operating System structure:

• Monolithic structure:
User program n

User program 1

Index
table

Service
procedure
 Operating System structure:
• Monolithic structure with respect to procedures:
Basic Concepts
 Operating System structure:
• Layered structure:
1) This OS structure has 6 layers:

5 The Operator
4 User Programs
3 Input/output Management
2 Operator – process communication
1 Memory and drum Management
0 Processor allocation and Multiprogramming