Chapter 2: Operating-System Structures
Chapter 2: Operating-System Structures
• Operating System Services
• User Operating System Interface
• System Calls
• Types of System Calls
• System Programs
• Operating System Design and Implementation
• Operating System Structure
• Virtual Machines
• Operating System Generation
• System Boot
Objectives
• To describe the services an operating system provides to users,
processes, and other systems
• To discuss the various ways of structuring an operating system
• To explain how operating systems are installed and customized and
how they boot
Operating System Services
Operating System Services
• One set of operating-system services provides functions that are helpful to the user:
• User interface - Almost all operating systems have a user interface (UI)
• Varies between Command-Line (CLI), Graphics User Interface (GUI), Batch
• Program execution - The system must be able to load a program into memory
and to run that program, end execution, either normally or abnormally
(indicating error)
• I/O operations - A running program may require I/O, which may involve a file or
an I/O device.
• File-system manipulation - The file system is of particular interest. Obviously,
programs need to read and write files and directories, create and delete them,
search them, list file Information, permission management.
Operating System Services (Cont.)
• One set of operating-system services provides functions that are helpful to the user (Cont):
• Communications – Processes may exchange information, on the same
computer or between computers over a network
• Communications may be via shared memory or through message passing (packets
moved by the OS)
• Error detection – OS needs to be constantly aware of possible errors
• May occur in the CPU and memory hardware, in I/O devices, in user program
• For each type of error, OS should take the appropriate action to ensure correct and
consistent computing
• Debugging facilities can greatly enhance the user’s and programmer’s abilities to
efficiently use the system
Operating System Services (Cont.)
• Another set of OS functions exists for ensuring the efficient operation of the
system itself via resource sharing
• Resource allocation - When multiple users or multiple jobs running concurrently,
resources must be allocated to each of them
• Many types of resources - Some (such as CPU cycles,mainmemory, and file storage) may have
special allocation code, others (such as I/O devices) may have general request and release code.
• Accounting - To keep track of which users use how much and what kinds of computer
resources
Operating System Services (Cont.)
• Protection and security - The owners of information stored in a multiuser or
networked computer system may want to control use of that information,
parallel processes should not interfere with each other
• Protection involves ensuring that all access to system resources is controlled
• Security of the system from outsiders requires user authentication, extends to defending
external I/O devices from invalid access attempts
