Introduction to Operating

Systems

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edit9on Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 What is an Operating System?

A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a

computer and the 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

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 Computer System Structure

Computer system can be divided into four components:

Hardware – provides basic computing resources
 CPU, memory, I/O devices
Operating system
 Controls and coordinates use of hardware among various
applications and users
Application programs – define the ways in which the system
resources are used to solve the computing problems of the
users
 Word processors, compilers, web browsers, database
systems, video games
Users
 People, machines, other computers

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.3 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Four Components of a Computer System

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 What Operating Systems Do

Depends on the point of view

Users want convenience, ease of use and good performance
Don’t care about resource utilization
But shared computer such as mainframe or minicomputer must
keep all users happy
Users of dedicate systems such as workstations have dedicated
resources but frequently use shared resources from servers
Handheld computers are resource poor, optimized for usability
and battery life
Some computers have little or no user interface, such as
embedded computers in devices and automobiles

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.5 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Operating System Definition

OS is a resource allocator
Manages all resources
Decides between conflicting requests for efficient and
fair resource use
OS is a control program
Controls execution of programs to prevent errors and
improper use of the computer

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 Operating System Definition (Cont.)

No universally accepted definition

“Everything a vendor ships when you order an operating
system” is a good approximation
But varies wildly
“The one program running at all times on the computer” is
the kernel.
Everything else is either
a system program (ships with the operating system) , or
an application program.

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.7 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Computer Startup

bootstrap program is loaded at power-up or reboot

Typically stored in ROM or EPROM, generally known
as firmware
Initializes all aspects of system
Loads operating system kernel and starts execution

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.8 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Starting an Operating System(Booting)

✓ Power On Switch sends electricity to the ✓ BIOS will then look for a small sector at the very beginning of
motherboard on a wire called the Voltage your primary hard disk called MBR.
Good line. ✓ The MBR contains a list, or map, of all of the partitions on
✓ If the power supply is good, then the your computer‘s hard disk (or disks).
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) chip ✓ After the MBR is found the Bootstrap Loader follows basic
takes over. instructions for starting up the rest of the computer, including
✓ In Real Mode, CPU is only capable of the operating system.
using approximately 1 MB of memory ✓ In Early Kernel Initialization stage, a smaller core of the
built into the motherboard. Kernel is activated.
✓ The BIOS will do a Power-On Self Test ✓ This core includes the device drivers needed to use computer‘s
(POST) to make sure that all hardware are RAM chips.
working.
Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.9 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 System Boot

When power initialized on system, execution starts at a fixed

memory location
Firmware ROM used to hold initial boot code
Operating system must be made available to hardware so hardware
can start it
Small piece of code – bootstrap loader, stored in ROM or
EEPROM locates the kernel, loads it into memory, and starts it
Sometimes two-step process where boot block at fixed
location loaded by ROM code, which loads bootstrap loader
from disk
Common bootstrap loader, GRUB, allows selection of kernel from
multiple disks, versions, kernel options
Kernel loads and system is then running

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.10 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Computer System Organization

Computer-system operation
One or more CPUs, device controllers connect through common
bus providing access to shared memory
Concurrent execution of CPUs and devices competing for
memory cycles

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.11 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Computer-System Operation

I/O devices and the CPU can execute concurrently

Each device controller is in charge of a particular device type
Each device controller has a local buffer
CPU moves data from/to main memory to/from local buffers
I/O is from the device to local buffer of controller
Device controller informs CPU that it has finished its
operation by causing an interrupt

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.12 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Common Functions of Interrupts

Interrupt transfers control to the interrupt service routine

generally, through the interrupt vector, which contains the
addresses of all the service routines
Interrupt architecture must save the address of the
interrupted instruction
A trap or exception is a software-generated interrupt
caused either by an error or a user request
An operating system is interrupt driven

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.13 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Interrupt Handling

The operating system preserves the state of the CPU by

storing registers and the program counter
Determines which type of interrupt has occurred:
polling
vectored interrupt system
Separate segments of code determine what action should
be taken for each type of interrupt

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 Interrupt Timeline

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 Storage Structure
Main memory – only large storage media that the CPU can access
directly
Random access
Typically volatile
Secondary storage – extension of main memory that provides large
nonvolatile storage capacity
Hard disks – rigid metal or glass platters covered with magnetic
recording material
Disk surface is logically divided into tracks, which are subdivided into
sectors
The disk controller determines the logical interaction between the device
and the computer
Solid-state disks – faster than hard disks, nonvolatile
Various technologies
Becoming more popular

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 Storage-Device Hierarchy

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.17 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Computer-System Architecture

Most systems use a single general-purpose processor

Most systems have special-purpose processors as well
Multiprocessors systems growing in use and importance
Also known as parallel systems, tightly-coupled systems
Advantages include:
1. Increased throughput
2. Economy of scale
3. Increased reliability – graceful degradation or fault tolerance
Two types:
1. Asymmetric Multiprocessing – each processor is assigned a
specific task.
2. Symmetric Multiprocessing – each processor performs all tasks

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 Symmetric Multiprocessing Architecture

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 Clustered Systems

Like multiprocessor systems, but multiple systems working together

Usually sharing storage via a storage-area network (SAN)
Provides a high-availability service which survives failures
 Asymmetric clustering has one machine in hot-standby mode
 Symmetric clustering has multiple nodes running applications,
monitoring each other
Some clusters are for high-performance computing (HPC)
 Applications must be written to use parallelization
Some have distributed lock manager (DLM) to avoid conflicting
operations

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 Clustered Systems

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 Operating System Structure
Multiprogramming (Batch system) needed for efficiency
Single user cannot keep CPU and I/O devices busy at all times
Multiprogramming organizes jobs (code and data) so CPU always has one
to execute
A subset of total jobs in system is kept in memory
One job selected and run via job scheduling
When it has to wait (for I/O for example), OS switches to another job

Timesharing (multitasking) is logical extension in which CPU switches jobs

so frequently that users can interact with each job while it is running, creating
interactive computing
Response time should be < 1 second
Many users share the computer simultaneously
Uses CPU scheduling and multiprogramming to provide for each user
Each user has at least one program executing in memory process
If several jobs ready to run at the same time Job and CPU scheduling
If processes don’t fit in memory, swapping moves them in and out to run
Virtual memory allows execution of processes not completely in memory
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 Memory Layout for Multiprogrammed System

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.23 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Operating-System Operations
Interrupt driven (hardware and software)
Hardware interrupt by one of the devices
Software interrupt (exception or trap):
 Software error (e.g., division by zero)
 Request for operating system service
 Other process problems include infinite loop, processes
modifying each other or the operating system

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.24 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Operating-System Operations (cont.)

Dual-mode operation allows OS to protect itself and other system

components
User mode and kernel mode
Mode bit provided by hardware
 Provides ability to distinguish when system is running user
code or kernel code
 Some instructions designated as privileged, only
executable in kernel mode
 System call changes mode to kernel, return from call resets
it to user
Increasingly CPUs support multi-mode operations
i.e. virtual machine manager (VMM) mode for guest VMs

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.25 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Transition from User to Kernel Mode
Timer to prevent infinite loop / process hogging resources
Timer is set to interrupt the computer after some time period
Keep a counter that is decremented by the physical clock.
Operating system set the counter (privileged instruction)
When counter zero generate an interrupt
Set up before scheduling process to regain control or terminate
program that exceeds allotted time

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.26 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 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 active entity.
Process needs resources to accomplish its task
CPU, memory, I/O, files
Initialization data
Process termination requires reclaim of any reusable resources
Single-threaded process has one program counter specifying
location of next instruction to execute
Process executes instructions sequentially, one at a time,
until completion
Multi-threaded process has one program counter per thread
Typically 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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.27 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Process Management Activities

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 processes
Providing mechanisms for process synchronization
Providing mechanisms for process communication
Providing mechanisms for deadlock handling

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 Memory Management

To execute a program all (or part) of the instructions must be in

memory
All (or part) of the data that is needed by the program must be in
memory.
Memory management determines what is in memory and when
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 thereof) and data to
move into and out of memory
Allocating and deallocating memory space as needed

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.29 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Storage Management
OS provides uniform, logical view of information storage
Abstracts physical properties to logical storage unit - file
Each medium is controlled by device (i.e., disk drive, tape drive)
 Varying properties include access speed, capacity, data-
transfer rate, access method (sequential or random)

File-System management
Files usually organized into directories
Access control on most systems to determine who can access
what
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

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.30 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Mass-Storage Management
Usually disks used to store data that does not fit in main memory or
data that must be kept for a “long” period of time
Proper management is of central importance
Entire speed of computer operation hinges on disk subsystem and its
algorithms
OS activities
Free-space management
Storage allocation
Disk scheduling
Some storage need not be fast
Tertiary storage includes optical storage, magnetic tape
Still must be managed – by OS or applications
Varies between WORM (write-once, read-many-times) and RW
(read-write)

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.31 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 I/O Subsystem
One purpose of OS is to hide peculiarities of hardware devices
from the user
I/O subsystem 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 (the
overlapping of output of one job with input of other jobs)
General device-driver interface
Drivers for specific hardware devices

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.32 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 Protection and Security

Protection – any mechanism for controlling access of processes or

users to resources defined by the OS
Security – defense of the system against internal and external attacks
Huge range, including denial-of-service, worms, viruses, identity
theft, theft of service
Systems generally first distinguish among users, to determine who
can do what
User identities (user IDs, security IDs) include name and
associated number, one per user
User ID then associated with all files, processes of that user to
determine access control
Group identifier (group ID) allows set of users to be defined and
controls managed, then also associated with each process, file
Privilege escalation allows user to change to effective ID with
more rights

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edition 1.33 Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013
 End of Chapter 1

Operating System Concepts – 9th Edit9on Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne ©2013