Applied Operating System

Chapter 1: Operating Systems Types and Structure

Prepared By:
Amit K. Shrivastava
Asst. Professor
Nepal College Of Information Technology
1.1 Introduction and History of Operating Systems
 An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a
computer and the computer hardware. The purpose of an Operating
system is to provide an environment in which a user can execute programs
in a convenient and efficient manner.
An operating system is software that manages the computer hardware.
The hardware must provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct
operation of the computer system and to prevent user programs from
interfering with the proper operation of the system.
History of Operating System:
Operating systems have been evolving through the years. Since operating
systems have historically been closely tied to the architecture of the
computers on which they run, we will look at successive generations of
computers to see what their operating systems were like.
The First Generation (1945- 55) Vacuum Tubes and Plug boards
 First of all calculating engines is built and mechanical relays were used
but were very slow, with cycle times measured in seconds. Relays were
later replaced by vacuum tubes. All programming was done in absolute
machine language, often by wiring up plugboards to control the machine's
basic functions. By the early 1950s, the routine had improved somewhat
with the introduction of punched cards. It was now possible to write
programs on cards and read them in instead of using plugboards;
History of Operating System(contd..):
The Second Generation (1955-65) Transistors and Batch Systems
 The introduction of the transistor in the mid-1950s changed the picture
radically. These machines, now called mainframes, and to run a job a
programmer would first write the program on paper (in FORTRAN or
possibly even in assembly language), then punch it on cards. But it was
time consuming and costly. The solution generally adopted was the batch
system. The idea behind it was to collect a tray full of jobs in the input
room and then read them onto a magnetic tape using a small (relatively)
inexpensive computer, such as the IBM 1401.
The Third Generation (1965-1980) ICs and Multiprogramming
 The 360 developed by IBM was the first major computer line to use
(small-scale) Integrated Circuits (ICs), thus providing a major price/
performance advantage over the second-generation machines, which were
built up from individual transistors. And the most important advantage was
multiprogramming. Here, the memory was partitioned into several pieces,
with a different job in each partition, while one job was waiting for the I/O to
complete, another job could be using the CPU.
History of Operating System(contd..):
The Fourth Generation (1980Present) Personal Computers
With the development of LSI (Large Scale Integration) circuits chips
containing thousands of transistors on a square centimeter of silicon, the
age of personal computer dawned. First kildall wrote a disk base operating
system called CP/M(Control Program for Microcomputers) for Intel in
1974, then in early 1980’s DOS(Disk Operating System) was invented and
after that Microsoft revised it and renamed MS-DOS(Microsoft Disk
Operating System). All these operating systems were all based users
typing in commands from the keyboard after that GUI(Graphical User
Interface) was invented, complete with windows, icons, menus, and
mouse. After that different version of windows and Unix came in to light.
Operating System Types:
• Batch Systems
• Time-Sharing Systems
•Personal-Computer Systems
•Parallel Systems
•Real Time Systems
•Distributed Systems
Batch Systems
Jobs with similar needs are batched together and run through the
computer as a group by an operator or automatic job sequencer.
Performance is increased by attempting to keep CPU and I/O devices
busy at all times through buffering, off-line operation, spooling, and
multiprogramming. Batch is good for executing large jobs that need little
interaction; it can be submitted and picked up later. The problems with
Batch Systems are following.
Lack of interaction between the user and job.
Difficult to provide the desired priority.

Time-Sharing Systems
 This systems uses CPU scheduling and multiprogramming to provide
economical interactive use of a system. The CPU switches rapidly from
one user to another. Instead of having a job defined by spooled card
images, each program reads its next control card from the terminal, and
output is normally printed immediately to the screen. Advantages of
Timesharing operating systems are - Provide advantage of quick
response, Avoids duplication of software, Reduces CPU idle time.
Personal-Computer Systems
A Personal Computer(PC) is a small, relatively inexpensive computer
designed for an individual user. All are based on the microprocessor
technology that enables manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one
chip. At home, the most popular use for personal computers is for
playing games. Businesses use personal computers for word-
processing, accounting, desktop publishing, and for running
spreadsheet and database management applications. The goals of
these operating systems is not only maximizing CPU and peripheral
utilization, but also maximizing user convenience and responsiveness.
Parallel Systems
Parallel operating systems are used to interface multiple
networked computers to complete tasks in parallel. The architecture of
the software is often a UNIX-based platform, which allows it to
coordinate distributed loads between multiple computers in a network.
Parallel operating systems are able to use software to manage all of
the different resources of the computers running in parallel, such
as memory, caches, storage space, and processing power.
Parallel operating systems also allow a user to directly interface with all
of the computers in the network. Its one advantage is increased
throughput.
Real-Time Systems
Often used in a dedicated application, this system reads information
from sensors and must respond within a fixed amount of time to ensure
correct performance. In this Response Time is already fixed. Means
time to Display the Results after Possessing has fixed by
the Processor or CPU. Real Time System is used at those Places in
which we Requires higher and Timely Response.

Distributed Systems
This system distributes computation among several physical
processors. The processors do not share memory or a clock. Instead,
each processor has its own local memory. They communicate with each
other through various communication lines, such as a high-speed bus or
telephone line. The advantages of distributed systems are- With
resource sharing facility user at one site may be able to use the
resources available at another, Speedup the exchange of data with one
another via electronic mail, If one site fails in a distributed system, the
remaining sites can potentially continue operating, Better service to the
customers, Reduction of the load on the host computer.
Operating System as Resource Manager:
• Operating system is collection of software which is close to hardware.
We can view operating system as a resource – hardware and software
collector. A system has many hardware and software that may be required
to solve the problem, cpu time, memory space, file storage space, i/o
device etc. the operating system acts as manager of these resources.
• Modern computer consists of process, memories, times, disks, network,
printer and wide varieties of other devices. The tab of the operating
system is to provide for an orderly and controlled allocation of the
process, memories and I/O devices among the various programs
completing for them.
• An operating system is a control program, a control program manages
the execution of user program to prevent errors and improve use of
computer. It is especially concerned with the operation and control of I/O
devices. When a computer has multiple users the operating system
manages and protects the memory I/O devices. The operating system
keeps in trace that who is using which resource to grant resource required
amount for usage and to mediate conflicting required different programs
and users.
Operating System as Extended Machine:
• The program that hides the truth about the hardware from the
programmer and presents a nice, simple view of named files that can be
read and written is, of course, the operating system. Just as the operating
system shields the programmer from the disk hardware and presents a
simple file-oriented interface, it also conceals a lot of unpleasant
business concerning interrupts, timers, memory management, and other
low-level features. In each case, the abstraction offered by the operating
system is simpler and easier to use than that offered by the underlying
hardware.
• In this view, the function of the operating system is to present the user
with the equivalent of an extended machine or virtual machine that is
easier to program than the underlying hardware. To summarize it in a
nutshell, the operating system provides a variety of services that
programs can obtain using special instructions called system calls.
Operating-System Structures
System Components: Common System Components are
• Process Management
• Main Memory Management
• Secondary-Storage Management
• I/O System Management
• File Management
• Protection System
• Networking
• Command-Interpreter System
Process Management
• A process is a program in execution. A process needs certain
resources, including CPU time, memory, files, and I/O devices, to
accomplish its task.
• The operating system is responsible for the following 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. It is a repository of quickly accessible data shared by
the CPU and I/O devices.
• Main memory is a volatile storage device. It loses its contents in
the case of system failure.
• The operating system is responsible for the following activities in
connections with 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 deallocate memory space as needed.
 Secondary-Storage Management

• Since main memory ( primary storage) is volatile and too small to

accommodate all data and programs permanently, the computer
system must provide secondary storage to back up main
memory.
• Most modern computer systems use disks as the principle on-line
storage medium, for both programs and data.
• The operating system is responsible for the following activities in
connection with disk management:
– Free space management
– Storage allocation
– Disk scheduling

I/O System Management

• The I/O system consists of:

– A buffer-caching system
– A general device-driver interface
– Drivers for specific hardware devices
 File Management

• A file is a collection of related information defined by its creator.

Commonly, files represent programs (both source and object
forms) and data.
• The operating system is responsible for the following activities in
connections 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.
Protection System

• Protection refers to a mechanism for controlling 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.
 Networking (Distributed Systems)
• A distributed system is a collection processors that 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.
• A 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 System
• Many 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 – system capability to load a program into memory
and to run it.
• I/O operations – since user programs cannot execute I/O operations
directly, the operating system must provide some means to perform I/O.
• File-system manipulation – program capability to read, write, create, and
delete files.
• Communications – exchange of information between processes
executing either on the same computer or on different systems tied
together by a network. Implemented via shared memory or message
passing.
• Error detection – ensure correct computing by detecting errors in the
CPU and memory hardware, in I/O devices, or in user.
Additional Operating System Functions
Additional functions exist not for helping the user, but rather for ensuring
efficient system operations.
• 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.
– Generally available as assembly-language instructions.
– Languages defined to replace assembly language for systems
programming allow system calls to be made directly.
• Three general methods are used to pass parameters between a running
program and the operating system.
– 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.
System Calls(contd..)
 System calls can be grouped roughly into six major categories: process
control, file manipulation, device manipulation, information maintenance,
communications, and protection.
• Process control
◦ end, abort
◦ load, execute
◦ create process, terminate process
◦ get process attributes, set process attributes
◦ wait for time
◦ wait event, signal event
◦ allocate and free memory
• File management
◦ create file, delete file
◦ open, close
◦ read, write, reposition
◦ get file attributes, set file attributes
System Calls(contd..)
• Device management
◦ request device, release device
◦ read, write, reposition
◦ get device attributes, set device attributes
◦ logically attach or detach devices
• Information maintenance
◦ get time or date, set time or date
◦ get system data, set system data
◦ get process, file, or device attributes
◦ set process, file, or device attributes
• Communications
◦ create, delete communication connection
◦ send, receive messages
◦ transfer status information
◦ attach or detach remote devices
System Programs
• System programs provide a convenient environment for program
development and execution. The can be divided into:
– File manipulation
– Status information
– File modification
– Programming language support
– Program loading and execution
– Communications
– Application programs

• Most users’ view of the operation system is defined by system programs,

not the actual system calls.
System Programs
• System programs provide a convenient environment for program
development and execution. The can be divided into:
– File manipulation
– Status information
– File modification
– Programming language support
– Program loading and execution
– Communications
– Application programs

• Most users’ view of the operation system is defined by system programs,

not the actual system calls.
System Structure – Simple Approach
• 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.

Fig: MS-DOS Layer Structure

System Structure – Simple Approach (Cont.)
• UNIX – limited by hardware functionality, the original UNIX operating
system had limited structuring. 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.
System Structure – Layered Approach
• The operating system is divided into a number of layers (levels), each
built on top of lower layers. The bottom layer (layer 0), is the hardware; the
highest (layer N) is the user interface.
• With modularity, layers are selected such that each uses functions
(operations) and services of only lower-level layers.
Virtual Machines
• A virtual machine takes the layered approach to its logical conclusion. It
treats hardware and the operating system kernel as though they were all
hardware.
• A virtual machine provides an interface identical to the underlying bare
hardware.
• The operating system creates the illusion of multiple processes, each
executing on its own processor with its own (virtual) memory.
• The resources of the physical computer are shared to create the virtual
machines.
– CPU scheduling can create the appearance that users have their
own processor.
– Spooling and a file system can provide virtual card readers and
virtual line printers.
– A normal user time-sharing terminal serves as the virtual machine
operator’s console.
Advantages/Disadvantages of Virtual Machines
• The virtual-machine concept provides complete protection of system
resources since each virtual machine is isolated from all other virtual
machines. This isolation, however, permits no direct sharing of resources.
• A virtual-machine system is a perfect vehicle for operating systems
research and development. System development is done on the virtual
machine, instead of on a physical machine and so does not disrupt normal
system operation.
• The virtual machine concept is difficult to implement due to the effort
required to provide an exact duplicate to the underlying machine.
1.3.4. Client-Server Model:
 This concepts is based on of two classes of processes, the servers, each of
which provides some service, and the clients, which use these services. This
model is known as client-server model. Communication between clients and
servers is often by message passing. To obtain a service, a client process
constructs a message saying what it wants and sends it to the appropriate
service. The service then does the work and sends back the answer. An
obvious generalization of this idea is to have the clients and servers run on
different computers, connected by a local or wide-area network.
System Design Goals
• User goals – operating system should be convenient to use, easy
to learn, reliable, safe, and fast.
• System goals – operating system should be easy to design,
implement, and maintain, as well as flexible, reliable, error-free,
and efficient.

Mechanisms and Policies

• Mechanisms determine how to do something, policies decide what will
be done.
• The separation of policy from mechanism is a very important principle, it
allows maximum flexibility if policy decisions are to be changed later.
System Implementation
• Traditionally written in assembly language, operating systems can now
be written in higher-level languages.
• Code written in a high-level language:
– can be written faster.
– is more compact.
– is easier to understand and debug.
• An operating system is far easier to port (move to some other hardware)
if it is written in a high-level language.

System Generation (SYSGEN)

• Operating systems are designed to run on any of a class of machines;
the system must be configured for each specific computer site.
• SYSGEN program obtains information concering the specific
configuration of the hardware system.
• Booting – starting a computer by loading the kernel.
• Bootstrap program – code stored in ROM that is able to locate the kernel,
load it into memory, and start its execution.