UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION
 An Operating System (OS) is an interface between
a computer user and computer hardware. An
operating system is a software which performs all
the basic tasks like file management, memory
management, process management, handling input
and output, and controlling peripheral devices
such as disk drives and printers.
 Some popular Operating Systems include Linux
Operating System, Windows Operating System.
 Memory Management
 Process Management
 Device Management
 File Management
 Security
 Coordination between other software and
users
 The first operating system was introduced in the
early 1950's, it was called GMOS and was created
by General Motors for IBM's machine.

 Operating systems in the 1950's were called

single-stream batch processing systems because
the data was submitted in groups. These new
machines were called mainframes, and they were
used by professional operators in large computer
rooms.
 By the late 1960's operating systems designers were
able to develop the system of multiprogramming in
which a computer program will be able to perform
multiple jobs at the same time.

 The introduction of multiprogramming was a major

part in the development of operating systems because
it allows a CPU to be busy nearly 100 percent of the
time that it was in operation.
1. Batch Processing Operating System
2. Multiprogramming Operating System
3. Multitasking(Time Sharing) Operating
System
4. Real Time Operating System
5. Multiprocessor Operating System
 The users of a batch operating system do not
interact with the computer directly. Each user
prepares his job on an off-line device like
punch cards and submits it to the computer
operator.
 To speed up processing, jobs with similar
needs are batched together and run as a group.
The programmers leave their programs with
the operator and the operator then sorts the
programs with similar requirements into
batches.
 Advantages

1. Batch processing takes much of the work of

the operator to the computer.
2. Increased performance as a new job get
started as soon as the previous job is finished,
without any manual intervention.
 Disadvantages

1. Lack of interaction between the user and the

job.
2. CPU is often idle, because the speed of the
mechanical I/O devices is slower than the
CPU.
3. Difficult to provide the desired priority.
4. Less throughput.
 When two or more programs reside in memory
at the same time, is referred to
as multiprogramming. Multiprogramming
assumes a single shared processor.
Multiprogramming increases CPU utilization
by organizing jobs so that the CPU always has
one to execute.
An OS does the following activities related to
multiprogramming.

1. The operating system keeps several jobs in memory at

a time.
2. This set of jobs is a subset of the jobs kept in the job
pool.
3. The operating system picks and begins to execute one
of the jobs in the memory.
4. Multiprogramming operating systems monitor the state
of all active programs and system resources using
memory management programs to ensures that the
CPU is never idle, unless there are no jobs to process.
Advantages

1. High and efficient CPU utilization.

2. User feels that many programs are allotted
CPU almost simultaneously.

 Disadvantages

1. CPU scheduling is required.

2. To accommodate many jobs in memory,
memory management is required.
In Multitasking OS multiple jobs are
executed by the CPU simultaneously by
switching between them. Switches occur
so frequently that the users may interact
with each program while it is running.
Multitasking Operating Systems are also
known as Time-sharing systems.
An OS does the following activities related to
multitasking −

1. The user gives instructions to the operating

system or to a program directly, and receives
an immediate response.
2. The OS handles multitasking in the way that
it can handle multiple operations/executes
multiple programs at a time.
 These Operating Systems were developed to
provide interactive use of a computer system at a
reasonable cost.
A time-shared operating system uses the concept
of CPU scheduling and multiprogramming to
provide each user with a small portion of a time-
shared CPU.
 Each
user has at least one separate program in
memory.
1. Since interactive I/O typically runs at slower speeds, it
may take a long time to complete. During this time, a
CPU can be utilized by another process.

2. The operating system allows the users to share the

computer simultaneously. Since each action or
command in a time-shared system tends to be short,
only a little CPU time is needed for each user.

3. As the system switches CPU rapidly from one

user/program to the next, each user is given the
impression that he/she has his/her own CPU, whereas
actually one CPU is being shared among many users.
1. Problem of reliability.
2. Question of security and integrity of user
programs and data.
Real Time operating System

Real-time systems are used when there are rigid time

requirements on the operation of a processor or the
flow of data and real-time systems can be used as a
control device in a dedicated application. A real-time
operating system must have well-defined, fixed time
constraints, otherwise the system will fail. For
example, Scientific experiments, medical imaging
systems, industrial control systems, weapon systems,
robots, air traffic control systems, etc.
There are two types of real-time operating systems.

1. Hard real-time systems

Hard real-time systems guarantee that critical
tasks complete on time..
2. Soft real-time systems
Soft real-time systems are less restrictive. A
critical real-time task gets priority over other tasks
and retains the priority until it completes. Soft
real-time systems have limited utility than hard
real-time systems. For example, multimedia,
virtual reality.
 Most computer systems are single processor
systems i.e. they only have one processor.
However, multiprocessor or parallel systems
have multiple processors working in parallel
that share the computer clock, memory, bus,
peripheral devices etc.
 There are mainly two types of multiprocessors

1. symmetric
2. asymmetric multiprocessors.
1. Symmetric Multiprocessors

In these types of systems, each processor contains a

similar copy of the operating system and they
all communicate with each other. All the
processors are in a peer to peer relationship i.e. no
master - slave relationship exists between them.

2. Asymmetric Multiprocessors
In asymmetric systems, each processor is given a
predefined task. There is a master processor that
gives instruction to all the other processors.
Asymmetric multiprocessor system contains a
master slave relationship..
 Reliable
 Enhanced throughput

Disadvantage

 IncreasedExpense
 Complicated Operating System Required
 Large Main Memory Required
 Spooling is an acronym for simultaneous peripheral operations
on line.

 Spooling refers to putting data of various I/O jobs in a buffer.

This buffer is a special area in memory or hard disk which is
accessible to I/O devices.

 Spooling works like a typical request queue or spool where

data, instructions and processes from multiple sources are
accumulated for execution later on. Generally, the spool is
maintained on the computer’s physical memory, buffers or the
I/O device-specific interrupts. The spool is processed in
ascending order, working on the basis of a FIFO (first in, first
out) algorithm.
 Themost common implementation of spooling can be
found in typical input/output devices such as the
keyboard, mouse and printer.

 For example, in printer spooling, the documents/files

that are sent to the printer are first stored in the
memory or printer spooler. Once the printer is ready,
it fetches the data from that spool and prints it.
 The spooling operation uses a disk as a very
large buffer.
 Spooling is capable of overlapping I/O
operation for one job with processor operations
for another job.
 CONVENIENCE(EASE OF USE): From the
user’s point of view operating system should
provide an environment where user can easily
learn and perform its task. OS should maximize
the work that user performs.
 EFFICIENT RESOURCE UTILIZATION: From
the system’s point of view OS is a resource
allocator. It efficiently allocates resources(h/w and
s/w)so that performance of system will be
increased.
 OPERATING SYSTEM
(Introduction to the OS)