Operating Systems – Unit 1

Learning Objectives
• Definition of OS
• Goals of OS
• Various Computing systems
• Components of OS
• Services offered by OS
• System calls
• System programs
 Components of a Computer
System
• Hardware
• System programs
• Application programs
• Operating system
• Users
 Use Use Use Use
r1 r1 r1 … r1

CompilerAssemblerText Editor…Database System

System and Application Programs

Operating System
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.
 Definition of Operating System
• Resource allocator – manages and allocates
resources.
• Control program – controls the execution of
user programs and operations of I/O devices
.
• Kernel – the one program running at all
times (all else being application programs).
 Types of Computers
• Mainframe Systems
• Desktop Systems
• Multiprocessor Systems
• Distributed Systems
• Clustered System
• Real -Time Systems
• Handheld Systems
 Mainframe Systems
• Reduce setup time by batching similar jobs
• Automatic job sequencing – automatically
transfers control from one job to another. First
rudimentary operating system.
• Resident monitor
– initial control in monitor
– control transfers to job
– when job completes control transfers pack to monitor
 Types of Mainframe systems
• Batch systems
• Multi-programming systems
• Time-shared systems
 Simple Batch System
• Only one program run at a time.
• These are called as jobs
• Simple operating system
• No user interface
• The major task of the operating system was
transferring control from one job to another
automatically.
• The operating system stayed in the memory.
Memory Layout for a Simple Batch
System
 Multi-programmed Batch System

• More number of jobs will be given or

execution.
• The jobs that are ready for system attention
pooled and is called as job pool.
• A program, which is selected for running
and stored in main memory, is called as a
process.
 Various aspects of Multi-
programmed Batch System
• Selecting a subset of jobs from the set of
jobs that are ready is called as Job
scheduling.
• Managing the allocation of main memory is
called as Memory management.
• Finding the sequencing of jobs (forming a
queue) to get executed by CPU is called as
CPU Scheduling
The decisions taken by operating
system
• Selecting the subset of jobs from the pool of
jobs.
• Sequencing all jobs for execution.
• Among all ready to run jobs, selecting a job
for execution.
Memory Layout for Multi-
programmed Batch System
 Time-Sharing Systems–Interactive
Computing
• The CPU is multiplexed among several jobs that are
kept in memory and on disk (the CPU is allocated to a
job only if the job is in memory).
• A job swapped in and out of memory to the disk.
• On-line communication between the user and the
system is provided
• When the operating system finishes the execution of
one command, it seeks the next “control statement”
from the user’s keyboard.
• On-line system must be available for users to access
data and code.
 Desktop Systems
• User interface is prominent
• Personal computers – computer system dedicated
to a single user.
• User convenience and responsiveness.
• Individuals have sole use of computer and do not
need advanced CPU utilization of protection
features.
• May run several different types of operating
systems (Windows, MacOS, UNIX, Linux)
 Multiprocessor systems
• Also called as parallel system
• With more than on CPU in close communication.
• Tightly coupled system – processors share memory and
a clock; communication usually takes place through
the shared memory.
• :
– Increased throughput
– Economical
– Increased reliability
• graceful degradation
• fail-soft systems
 Advantages of Multi-Processor
system
• Increased throughput
• Economical
• Increased reliability
– graceful degradation
– fail-soft systems
 Types of Multi-Processor
Systems
• Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)
– Each processor runs and identical copy of the
operating system.
– Many processes can run at once without
performance deterioration.
– Most modern operating systems support SMP
• Asymmetric multiprocessing
– Each processor is assigned a specific task; master
processor schedules and allocated work to slave
processors.
– More common in extremely large systems
Architecture of Symmetric
Multiprocessing
 Distributed Systems
• Distribute the computation among several
physical processors.
• Loosely coupled system – each processor
has its own local memory
• Processors communicate with one another
through various communications lines, such
as high-speed buses or telephone lines.
• Requires networking infrastructure
 Advantages of distributed
systems.
• Resources Sharing
• Computation speed up – load sharing
• Reliability
• Communications
 Types of distributed systems.

• Client-server systems
• Peer-to-peer systems.
Structure of Client-Server
 Clustered Systems
• Clustering allows two or more systems to
share storage.
• Provides high reliability.
• Asymmetric clustering: one server runs the
application while other servers standby.
• Symmetric clustering: all N hosts are
running the application.
 Real-Time Systems
• Well-defined fixed-time constraints.
• Used in a dedicated application such as
controlling scientific experiments, medical
imaging systems, industrial control systems,
and some display systems.
 Types of Real-Time Systems
• Hard real-time:
– Secondary storage limited or absent, data stored in
short term memory, or read-only memory (ROM)
– Conflicts with time-sharing systems, not supported by
general-purpose operating systems.

• Soft real-time
– Limited utility in industrial control of robotics
– Useful in applications (multimedia, virtual reality)
requiring advanced operating-system features
 Handheld Systems
• Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
• Cellular telephones
• Issues:
– Limited memory
– Slow processors
– Small display screens.
 System Components
• Process Management
• Main Memory Management
• File Management
• I/O System Management
• Secondary Management
• Networking
• Protection System
• Command-Interpreter System
 Process Management
• A process is a program in execution.
• A process needs following resources, to
accomplish its task.
– CPU time
– Memory
– Files
– I/O devices,
 Activities in connection with
Process management
• Process creation and deletion
• Process suspension and resumption.
• Provision of mechanisms for:
– process synchronization
– process communication
 Main-Memory Management
• Memory is a large array of words or bytes,
each with its own address.
• Main memory is a volatile storage device.
It loses its contents in the case of system
failure.
 Activities in connection with
Main-Memory Management
• Keep track of which parts of memory are
currently being used and by whom.
• Decide which processes to load when
memory space becomes available.
• Allocate and de-allocate memory space as
needed.
 File Management
• A file is a collection of related information
defined by its creator.
• In general, files represent programs (both
source and object forms) and data.
 Activities in connection with
File Management

• File creation and deletion

• Directory creation and deletion.
• Support of primitives for manipulating files
and directories.
• Mapping files onto secondary storage.
• File backup on stable (nonvolatile) storage
media.
 I/O System Management
• A buffer-caching system
• A general device-driver interface
• Drivers for specific hardware devices
Secondary-Storage Management
• Main memory (primary storage) is volatile
and too small.
• Main memory cannot accommodate all
data and programs permanently
• Hence, the computer system must provide
secondary storage to back up main
memory.
 Activities in connection with
Secondary-Storage Management

• Free space management

• Storage allocation
• Disk scheduling
 Networking
• This is a necessary component in distributed
systems.
• A distributed system provides user access to
various system resources
• A distributed system is
– a collection processors
– do not share memory or a clock.
– Each processor has its own local memory.
• The processors in the system are connected
through a communication network.
 Advantages of Distributed
systems
• Access to a shared resource allows:
– Computation speed-up
– Increased data availability
– Enhanced reliability
 Protection System
• Protection is to control the access by
programs, processes, or users to both
system and user resources.
• The protection mechanism must:
– distinguish between authorized and
unauthorized usage.
– specify the controls to be imposed.
– provide a means of enforcement.
 Command-Interpreter System
• The program that reads and interprets
control statements.
• Various names of command interpreter are
– command-line interpreter
– shell (in UNIX)
 Command-Interpreter System
(Conti…)
• In general, commands are given to the operating
system by control statements which deal with:
– process creation and management
– I/O handling
– secondary-storage management
– main-memory management
– file-system access
– protection
– networking
 Operating System Services
• Program execution
• I/O operations
• File-system manipulation – program capability to
read, write, create, and delete files.
• Communications
– shared memory
– message passing.
• Error detection – ensure correct computing by
detecting errors in the CPU and memory hardware,
in I/O devices, or in user programs.
Communication Models
 Additional Operating System
Functions
• Resource allocation – allocating resources to
multiple users or multiple jobs running at the
same time.
• Accounting – keep track of and record which
users use how much and what kinds of
computer resources for account billing or for
accumulating usage statistics.
• Protection – ensuring that all access to system
resources is controlled
 System Calls
• System calls provide the interface between a
running program and the operating system.
• Available as assembly-language instructions
• Languages like C and C++ allow system calls to
be made directly.
• Windows operating system are included in Win32
application programmer interface (API).
 Parameter Passing
• Three general methods are used to pass
parameters
– Pass parameters in registers.
– Store the parameters in a table in memory, and
the table address is passed as a parameter in a
register.
– Push (store) the parameters onto the stack by
the program, and pop off the stack by operating
system.
Passing of Parameters As A
Table
 Types of System Calls
• Process control
• File management
• Device management
• Information maintenance
• Communications
Process creation and maintenance
in MS-DOS
• . MS-DOS - single task operating system.
• First, the command interpreter is alone
loaded into the main memory.
• Then, program to be executed is loaded into
the main memory.
• Limited concurrent execution of processes -
terminate and stay resident system call.
MS-DOS Execution
Process creation and maintenance
in UNIX
• A shell will become active - a user logs in.
• Shell is a command interpreter.
• Unix is a multitasking operating system.
• Create process – Shell executes a fork system call
• Exec system call – To run a loaded process.
• When the process is completed shell executes exit
system call
UNIX Running Multiple
Programs
 System Programs
• System programs provide a convenient
environment for program development and
execution.
• Most users’ view of the operation system is
defined by system programs, not the actual
system calls.
 Division of System Programs
• File manipulation
• Status information
• File modification
• Programming language support
• Program loading and execution
• Communications
• Application programs
 MS-DOS System Structure
• MS-DOS – written to provide the most
functionality in the least space
– not divided into modules
– Although MS-DOS has some structure, its
interfaces and levels of functionality are not
well separated
MS-DOS Layer Structure
 UNIX System Structure
• UNIX – limited by hardware functionality
• The UNIX OS consists of two separable parts.
– Systems programs
– The kernel
• Consists of everything below the system-call interface and
above the physical hardware
• Provides the file system, CPU scheduling, memory
management, and other operating-system functions; a large
number of functions for one level.
UNIX System Structure
END of UNIT 1