Structure of OS

Quratulain Leghari
Chapter covers
• Major functions of OS
• Common Components of OS
Major functions of OS
•Major Functions of Operating System
• Resource management
• Data management
• Job management
• Standard Means Of Communication Between User And
Computer
Resource Management

• The resource management function of an OS allocates

computer resources such as CPU time, main memory,
secondary storage, and input and output devices for use.
Types of Resources
• CPU Scheduling:
• Memory Management:
• File System Management:
• I/O Device Management:
• Network Resource Management:
• Concurrency Control:
• Power Management:
• Load Balancing:
• Performance Monitoring and Tuning:
• Security and Access Control:
Data Management

• The data management functions of an OS govern the input

and output of data and their location, storage, and retrieval.
• It also is responsible for storing and retrieving information on
disk drives and for the organization of that information on the
drive.
Job Management

• The job management function of an OS prepares, schedules,

controls, and monitors jobs submitted for execution to ensure
the most efficient processing.
• A job is a collection of one or more related programs
• and their data.
Standard Means of Communication between
User and Computer
• The OS also establishes a standard means of communication
between users and their computer systems.
• It does this by providing a user interface and a standard set of
commands that control the hardware.
Common System Components
 Process Management
 Main Memory Management
 File System Management
 I/O System Management
 Mass-Storage Management
 Networking
 Command Interpreter
 Protection and Security
 Error detection/response
 Accounting
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 activity entity.
 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 process.
 Providing mechanisms for process synchronization.
 Providing mechanisms for process communication.
 Providing mechanisms for deadlock handling.
Process Management
 A Process needs resources to accomplish its task.
 CPU, memory, I/O devices, files
 Initialization data

 Process termination requires reclaim of any reusable resources. 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 processes/threads.
Main Memory Management
 All data in memory before and after processing.
 All instructions in memory in order to execute.
 Memory management determines what is in memory and how to handle it
 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) and data to move into and out of memory.
 Allocating and de-allocating memory space as needed.
File System Management
 A file is a collection of related information defined by its creator.
 Commonly, files represent programs (both source and object forms) and data.
 Files are usually organized into directories.
 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.
I/O System Management
 One purpose of OS is to hide the unusual of hardware devices from the user.
 I/O subsystem is 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 (CPU track I/O devices for communication)
 Interrupts (I/O communication during execution of other process)
 DMA (Direct Memory Access, to transfer data from one memory to another)
 General device-driver interface.
 Drivers for specific hardware devices.
Mass-Storage Management
 Usually a disk is used to store data that does not fit in main memory or data that must
be kept permanently.
 Entire speed of computer operations depends on disk subsystem and its algorithms.
 OS activities:
 Free-space management
 Storage allocation
 Disk scheduling
 Some storage need not to be fast:
 Storage includes optical storage, magnetic tape
 Varies between WORM (write-once, read-many times) and RW (read-write)
Networking
 The processors in the system are connected through a communication network.
 Communication takes place using a protocol.
 A networked/distributed system provides user access to various system resources.
 Access to a shared resource allows:
 Computation Speed Up
 Increased data availability
 Enhanced reliability
Command Interpreter
 The program that reads and executes commands given to the
operating system
 Examples of command-line interpreters are command (DOS), shell
(UNIX)
 In windows and in some other operating systems have GUI Interface
– WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menu and Pointing device)
Protection and Security
 Protection – any mechanism for controlling access of processes or users to both system
and user resources.
 Security – defense of the system against internal and external attacks, with huge
range, including:
 Denial of Service
 Worms
 Viruses
 Identity theft
 Theft of Service
Error Detection/Response
 Error Detection
 Internal and external hardware errors
 Memory error
 Device failure
 Software Errors
 Arithmetic flow
 Access forbidden memory locations
 Error Response
 Simply report error to the application
 Retry the operation
 Abort the operation
Accounting
 Accounting keeps track of records that users use how much and what kinds of computer
resources
 Accounting:
 Collect statistics on resource usage
 Monitor performance (e.g. response time)
 Used for system parameter tuning to improve performance
 Useful for anticipating future enhancements
 Used for billing users