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Operating System - Quick Guide

Operating System - Overview

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, VMS, OS/400, AIX, z/OS, etc.

Definition
An operating system is a program that acts as an interface between the user and
the computer hardware and controls the execution of all kinds of programs.

Following are some of important functions of an operating System.

Memory Management
Processor Management
Device Management

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File Management
Security
Control over system performance
Job accounting
Error detecting aids
Coordination between other software and users

Memory Management
Memory management refers to management of Primary Memory or Main Memory.
Main memory is a large array of words or bytes where each word or byte has its own
address.

Main memory provides a fast storage that can be accessed directly by the CPU.
For a program to be executed, it must in the main memory.
An Operating System does the following activities for memory management −

Keeps tracks of primary memory, i.e., what part of it are in use by whom,
what part are not in use.
In multiprogramming, the OS decides which process will get memory when
and how much.
Allocates the memory when a process requests it to do so.

De-allocates the memory when a process no longer needs it or has been

terminated.

Processor Management
In multiprogramming environment, the OS decides which process gets the processor
when and for how much time.
This function is called process scheduling.
An Operating System does the following activities for processor management −

Keeps tracks of processor and status of process. The program responsible for
this task is known as traffic controller.
Allocates the processor (CPU) to a process.

De-allocates processor when a process is no longer required.

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Device Management
An Operating System manages device communication via their respective drivers.
It does the following activities for device management −

Keeps tracks of all devices. Program responsible for this task is known as the
I/O controller.

Decides which process gets the device when and for how much time.
Allocates the device in the efficient way.

De-allocates devices.

File Management
A file system is normally organized into directories for easy navigation and usage.
These directories may contain files and other directions.

An Operating System does the following activities for file management −

Keeps track of information, location, uses, status etc. The collective facilities
are often known as file system.

Decides who gets the resources.

Allocates the resources.
De-allocates the resources.

Other Important Activities

Following are some of the important activities that an Operating System performs −

Security − By means of password and similar other techniques, it prevents

unauthorized access to programs and data.

Control over system performance − Recording delays between request for

a service and response from the system.

Job accounting − Keeping track of time and resources used by various jobs
and users.
Error detecting aids − Production of dumps, traces, error messages, and
other debugging and error detecting aids.

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Coordination between other softwares and users − Coordination and

assignment of compilers, interpreters, assemblers and other software to the
various users of the computer systems.

Types of Operating System

Operating systems are there from the very first computer generation and they keep
evolving with time.
In this chapter, we will discuss some of the important types of operating systems
which are most commonly used.

Batch 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.

The problems with Batch Systems are as follows −

Lack of interaction between the user and the job.

CPU is often idle, because the speed of the mechanical I/O devices is slower
than the CPU.

Difficult to provide the desired priority.

Time-sharing operating systems

Time-sharing is a technique which enables many people, located at various
terminals, to use a particular computer system at the same time. Time-sharing or
multitasking is a logical extension of multiprogramming. Processor's time which is
shared among multiple users simultaneously is termed as time-sharing.

The main difference between Multiprogrammed Batch Systems and Time-Sharing

Systems is that in case of Multiprogrammed batch systems, the objective is to
maximize processor use, whereas in Time-Sharing Systems, the objective is to
minimize response time.

Multiple jobs are executed by the CPU by switching between them, but the switches
occur so frequently. Thus, the user can receive an immediate response. For example,

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in a transaction processing, the processor executes each user program in a short

burst or quantum of computation. That is, if n users are present, then each user can
get a time quantum. When the user submits the command, the response time is in
few seconds at most.

The operating system uses CPU scheduling and multiprogramming to provide each
user with a small portion of a time. Computer systems that were designed primarily
as batch systems have been modified to time-sharing systems.

Advantages of Timesharing operating systems are as follows −

Provides the advantage of quick response.

Avoids duplication of software.

Reduces CPU idle time.

Disadvantages of Time-sharing operating systems are as follows −

Problem of reliability.

Question of security and integrity of user programs and data.

Problem of data communication.

Distributed operating System

Distributed systems use multiple central processors to serve multiple real-time
applications and multiple users. Data processing jobs are distributed among the
processors accordingly.

The processors communicate with one another through various communication lines
(such as high-speed buses or telephone lines). These are referred as loosely
coupled systems or distributed systems. Processors in a distributed system may
vary in size and function. These processors are referred as sites, nodes, computers,
and so on.

The advantages of distributed systems are as follows −

With resource sharing facility, a 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.

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Better service to the customers.

Reduction of the load on the host computer.

Reduction of delays in data processing.

Network operating System

A Network Operating System runs on a server and provides the server the
capability to manage data, users, groups, security, applications, and other
networking functions.
The primary purpose of the network operating system is to allow shared file and
printer access among multiple computers in a network, typically a local area network
(LAN), a private network or to other networks.

Examples of network operating systems include Microsoft Windows Server 2003,

Microsoft Windows Server 2008, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Novell NetWare, and BSD.

The advantages of network operating systems are as follows −

Centralized servers are highly stable.

Security is server managed.
Upgrades to new technologies and hardware can be easily integrated into the
system.
Remote access to servers is possible from different locations and types of
systems.

The disadvantages of network operating systems are as follows −

High cost of buying and running a server.

Dependency on a central location for most operations.

Regular maintenance and updates are required.

Real Time operating System

A real-time system is defined as a data processing system in which the time
interval required to process and respond to inputs is so small that it controls the
environment.
The time taken by the system to respond to an input and display of required updated
information is termed as the response time. So in this method, the response time
is very less as compared to online processing.
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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.

Hard real-time systems

Hard real-time systems guarantee that critical tasks complete on time. In hard real-
time systems, secondary storage is limited or missing and the data is stored in ROM.
In these systems, virtual memory is almost never found.

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,
Advanced Scientific Projects like undersea exploration and planetary rovers, etc.

Operating System - Services

An Operating System provides services to both the users and to the programs.

It provides programs an environment to execute.

It provides users the services to execute the programs in a convenient

manner.

Following are a few common services provided by an operating system −

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Program execution
I/O operations

File System manipulation

Communication
Error Detection

Resource Allocation
Protection

Program execution
Operating systems handle many kinds of activities from user programs to system
programs like printer spooler, name servers, file server, etc. Each of these activities
is encapsulated as a process.

A process includes the complete execution context (code to execute, data to

manipulate, registers, OS resources in use). Following are the major activities of an
operating system with respect to program management −

Loads a program into memory.

Executes the program.

Handles program's execution.
Provides a mechanism for process synchronization.

Provides a mechanism for process communication.

Provides a mechanism for deadlock handling.

I/O Operation
An I/O subsystem comprises of I/O devices and their corresponding driver software.
Drivers hide the peculiarities of specific hardware devices from the users.

An Operating System manages the communication between user and device drivers.

I/O operation means read or write operation with any file or any specific I/O
device.
Operating system provides the access to the required I/O device when
required.

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File system manipulation

A file represents a collection of related information. Computers can store files on the
disk (secondary storage), for long-term storage purpose.
Examples of storage media include magnetic tape, magnetic disk and optical disk
drives like CD, DVD.
Each of these media has its own properties like speed, capacity, data transfer rate
and data access methods.

A file system is normally organized into directories for easy navigation and usage.
These directories may contain files and other directions.
Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to file
management −

Program needs to read a file or write a file.

The operating system gives the permission to the program for operation on
file.

Permission varies from read-only, read-write, denied and so on.

Operating System provides an interface to the user to create/delete files.
Operating System provides an interface to the user to create/delete
directories.
Operating System provides an interface to create the backup of file system.

Communication
In case of distributed systems which are a collection of processors that do not share
memory, peripheral devices, or a clock, the operating system manages
communications between all the processes. Multiple processes communicate with
one another through communication lines in the network.

The OS handles routing and connection strategies, and the problems of contention
and security. Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect
to communication −

Two processes often require data to be transferred between them

Both the processes can be on one computer or on different computers, but
are connected through a computer network.

Communication may be implemented by two methods, either by Shared

Memory or by Message Passing.

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Error handling
Errors can occur anytime and anywhere.
An error may occur in CPU, in I/O devices or in the memory hardware.
Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to error
handling −

The OS constantly checks for possible errors.

The OS takes an appropriate action to ensure correct and consistent

computing.

Resource Management
In case of multi-user or multi-tasking environment, resources such as main memory,
CPU cycles and files storage are to be allocated to each user or job. Following are the
major activities of an operating system with respect to resource management −

The OS manages all kinds of resources using schedulers.

CPU scheduling algorithms are used for better utilization of CPU.

Protection
Considering a computer system having multiple users and concurrent execution of
multiple processes, the various processes must be protected from each other's
activities.

Protection refers to a mechanism or a way to control the access of programs,

processes, or users to the resources defined by a computer system.
Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to protection
−

The OS ensures that all access to system resources is controlled.

The OS ensures that external I/O devices are protected from invalid access
attempts.
The OS provides authentication features for each user by means of
passwords.

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Operating System - Properties

Batch processing
Batch processing is a technique in which an Operating System collects the programs
and data together in a batch before processing starts. An operating system does the
following activities related to batch processing −

The OS defines a job which has predefined sequence of commands, programs

and data as a single unit.
The OS keeps a number a jobs in memory and executes them without any
manual information.

Jobs are processed in the order of submission, i.e., first come first served
fashion.
When a job completes its execution, its memory is released and the output
for the job gets copied into an output spool for later printing or processing.

Advantages

Batch processing takes much of the work of the operator to the computer.
Increased performance as a new job get started as soon as the previous job is
finished, without any manual intervention.

Disadvantages

Difficult to debug program.

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A job could enter an infinite loop.

Due to lack of protection scheme, one batch job can affect pending jobs.

Multitasking
Multitasking is when 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. An OS does the following activities related to
multitasking −

The user gives instructions to the operating system or to a program directly,

and receives an immediate response.
The OS handles multitasking in the way that it can handle multiple
operations/executes multiple programs at a time.

Multitasking Operating Systems are also known as Time-sharing systems.

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.

A program that is loaded into memory and is executing is commonly referred

to as a process.
When a process executes, it typically executes for only a very short time
before it either finishes or needs to perform I/O.

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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.
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.

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.

Multiprogramming
Sharing the processor, when two or more programs reside in memory at the same
time, is referred as multiprogramming. Multiprogramming assumes a single shared
processor. Multiprogramming increases CPU utilization by organizing jobs so that the
CPU always has one to execute.

The following figure shows the memory layout for a multiprogramming system.

An OS does the following activities related to multiprogramming.

The operating system keeps several jobs in memory at a time.

This set of jobs is a subset of the jobs kept in the job pool.
The operating system picks and begins to execute one of the jobs in the
memory.

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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

High and efficient CPU utilization.

User feels that many programs are allotted CPU almost simultaneously.

Disadvantages

CPU scheduling is required.

To accommodate many jobs in memory, memory management is required.

Interactivity
Interactivity refers to the ability of users to interact with a computer system. An
Operating system does the following activities related to interactivity −

Provides the user an interface to interact with the system.

Manages input devices to take inputs from the user. For example, keyboard.
Manages output devices to show outputs to the user. For example, Monitor.

The response time of the OS needs to be short, since the user submits and waits for
the result.

Real Time System

Real-time systems are usually dedicated, embedded systems. An operating system
does the following activities related to real-time system activity.

In such systems, Operating Systems typically read from and react to sensor
data.
The Operating system must guarantee response to events within fixed periods
of time to ensure correct performance.

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Distributed Environment
A distributed environment refers to multiple independent CPUs or processors in a
computer system. An operating system does the following activities related to
distributed environment −

The OS distributes computation logics among several physical processors.

The processors do not share memory or a clock. Instead, each processor has
its own local memory.
The OS manages the communications between the processors. They
communicate with each other through various communication lines.

Spooling
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.

An operating system does the following activities related to distributed environment

−

Handles I/O device data spooling as devices have different data access rates.
Maintains the spooling buffer which provides a waiting station where data can
rest while the slower device catches up.
Maintains parallel computation because of spooling process as a computer can
perform I/O in parallel fashion. It becomes possible to have the computer
read data from a tape, write data to disk and to write out to a tape printer
while it is doing its computing task.

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Advantages

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.

Operating System - Processes

Process
A process is basically a program in execution. The execution of a process must
progress in a sequential fashion.

A process is defined as an entity which represents the basic unit of work

to be implemented in the system.

To put it in simple terms, we write our computer programs in a text file and when we
execute this program, it becomes a process which performs all the tasks mentioned
in the program.

When a program is loaded into the memory and it becomes a process, it can be
divided into four sections ─ stack, heap, text and data. The following image shows a
simplified layout of a process inside main memory −

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Program
A program is a piece of code which may be a single line or millions of lines. A
computer program is usually written by a computer programmer in a programming
language. For example, here is a simple program written in C programming language
−

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
printf("Hello, World! \n");
return 0;
}

A computer program is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when

executed by a computer. When we compare a program with a process, we can
conclude that a process is a dynamic instance of a computer program.

A part of a computer program that performs a well-defined task is known as an

algorithm. A collection of computer programs, libraries and related data are
referred to as a software.

Process Life Cycle

When a process executes, it passes through different states. These stages may differ
in different operating systems, and the names of these states are also not
standardized.

In general, a process can have one of the following five states at a time.

Process Control Block (PCB)

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A Process Control Block is a data structure maintained by the Operating System for
every process. The PCB is identified by an integer process ID (PID). A PCB keeps all
the information needed to keep track of a process as listed below in the table −

The architecture of a PCB is completely dependent on Operating System and may

contain different information in different operating systems. Here is a simplified
diagram of a PCB −

The PCB is maintained for a process throughout its lifetime, and is deleted once the
process terminates.

Operating System - Process Scheduling

Definition
The process scheduling is the activity of the process manager that handles the
removal of the running process from the CPU and the selection of another process on
the basis of a particular strategy.

Process scheduling is an essential part of a Multiprogramming operating systems.

Such operating systems allow more than one process to be loaded into the
executable memory at a time and the loaded process shares the CPU using time
multiplexing.

Process Scheduling Queues

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The OS maintains all PCBs in Process Scheduling Queues. The OS maintains a

separate queue for each of the process states and PCBs of all processes in the same
execution state are placed in the same queue. When the state of a process is
changed, its PCB is unlinked from its current queue and moved to its new state
queue.

The Operating System maintains the following important process scheduling queues
−

Job queue − This queue keeps all the processes in the system.

Ready queue − This queue keeps a set of all processes residing in main
memory, ready and waiting to execute. A new process is always put in this
queue.
Device queues − The processes which are blocked due to unavailability of an
I/O device constitute this queue.

The OS can use different policies to manage each queue (FIFO, Round Robin,
Priority, etc.). The OS scheduler determines how to move processes between the
ready and run queues which can only have one entry per processor core on the
system; in the above diagram, it has been merged with the CPU.

Two-State Process Model

Two-state process model refers to running and non-running states which are
described below −

Schedulers

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Schedulers are special system software which handle process scheduling in various
ways. Their main task is to select the jobs to be submitted into the system and to
decide which process to run. Schedulers are of three types −

Long-Term Scheduler
Short-Term Scheduler
Medium-Term Scheduler

Long Term Scheduler

It is also called a job scheduler. A long-term scheduler determines which programs
are admitted to the system for processing. It selects processes from the queue and
loads them into memory for execution. Process loads into the memory for CPU
scheduling.

The primary objective of the job scheduler is to provide a balanced mix of jobs, such
as I/O bound and processor bound. It also controls the degree of multiprogramming.
If the degree of multiprogramming is stable, then the average rate of process
creation must be equal to the average departure rate of processes leaving the
system.

On some systems, the long-term scheduler may not be available or minimal. Time-
sharing operating systems have no long term scheduler. When a process changes the
state from new to ready, then there is use of long-term scheduler.

Short Term Scheduler

It is also called as CPU scheduler. Its main objective is to increase system
performance in accordance with the chosen set of criteria. It is the change of ready
state to running state of the process. CPU scheduler selects a process among the
processes that are ready to execute and allocates CPU to one of them.

Short-term schedulers, also known as dispatchers, make the decision of which

process to execute next. Short-term schedulers are faster than long-term
schedulers.

Medium Term Scheduler

Medium-term scheduling is a part of swapping. It removes the processes from the
memory. It reduces the degree of multiprogramming. The medium-term scheduler is
in-charge of handling the swapped out-processes.

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A running process may become suspended if it makes an I/O request. A suspended

processes cannot make any progress towards completion. In this condition, to
remove the process from memory and make space for other processes, the
suspended process is moved to the secondary storage. This process is called
swapping, and the process is said to be swapped out or rolled out. Swapping may
be necessary to improve the process mix.

Comparison among Scheduler

Context Switch
A context switch is the mechanism to store and restore the state or context of a CPU
in Process Control block so that a process execution can be resumed from the same
point at a later time. Using this technique, a context switcher enables multiple
processes to share a single CPU. Context switching is an essential part of a
multitasking operating system features.

When the scheduler switches the CPU from executing one process to execute
another, the state from the current running process is stored into the process control
block. After this, the state for the process to run next is loaded from its own PCB and
used to set the PC, registers, etc. At that point, the second process can start
executing.

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Context switches are computationally intensive since register and memory state
must be saved and restored. To avoid the amount of context switching time, some
hardware systems employ two or more sets of processor registers. When the process
is switched, the following information is stored for later use.

Program Counter
Scheduling information
Base and limit register value
Currently used register
Changed State
I/O State information
Accounting information

Operating System Scheduling algorithms

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A Process Scheduler schedules different processes to be assigned to the CPU based

on particular scheduling algorithms. There are six popular process scheduling
algorithms which we are going to discuss in this chapter −

First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Scheduling

Shortest-Job-Next (SJN) Scheduling
Priority Scheduling

Shortest Remaining Time

Round Robin(RR) Scheduling
Multiple-Level Queues Scheduling

These algorithms are either non-preemptive or preemptive. Non-preemptive

algorithms are designed so that once a process enters the running state, it cannot be
preempted until it completes its allotted time, whereas the preemptive scheduling is
based on priority where a scheduler may preempt a low priority running process
anytime when a high priority process enters into a ready state.

First Come First Serve (FCFS)

Jobs are executed on first come, first serve basis.

It is a non-preemptive, pre-emptive scheduling algorithm.

Easy to understand and implement.

Its implementation is based on FIFO queue.
Poor in performance as average wait time is high.

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Wait time of each process is as follows −

Average Wait Time: (0+4+6+13) / 4 = 5.75

Shortest Job Next (SJN)

This is also known as shortest job first, or SJF

This is a non-preemptive, pre-emptive scheduling algorithm.

Best approach to minimize waiting time.

Easy to implement in Batch systems where required CPU time is known in
advance.
Impossible to implement in interactive systems where required CPU time is
not known.
The processer should know in advance how much time process will take.

Given: Table of processes, and their Arrival time, Execution time

Waiting time of each process is as follows −

Average Wait Time: (0 + 4 + 12 + 5)/4 = 21 / 4 = 5.25

Priority Based Scheduling

Priority scheduling is a non-preemptive algorithm and one of the most

common scheduling algorithms in batch systems.
Each process is assigned a priority. Process with highest priority is to be
executed first and so on.
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Processes with same priority are executed on first come first served basis.
Priority can be decided based on memory requirements, time requirements or
any other resource requirement.

Given: Table of processes, and their Arrival time, Execution time, and priority. Here
we are considering 1 is the lowest priority.

Waiting time of each process is as follows −

Average Wait Time: (0 + 10 + 12 + 2)/4 = 24 / 4 = 6

Shortest Remaining Time

Shortest remaining time (SRT) is the preemptive version of the SJN

algorithm.
The processor is allocated to the job closest to completion but it can be
preempted by a newer ready job with shorter time to completion.
Impossible to implement in interactive systems where required CPU time is
not known.
It is often used in batch environments where short jobs need to give
preference.

Round Robin Scheduling

Round Robin is the preemptive process scheduling algorithm.

Each process is provided a fix time to execute, it is called a quantum.

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Once a process is executed for a given time period, it is preempted and other
process executes for a given time period.
Context switching is used to save states of preempted processes.

Wait time of each process is as follows −

Average Wait Time: (9+2+12+11) / 4 = 8.5

Multiple-Level Queues Scheduling

Multiple-level queues are not an independent scheduling algorithm. They make use
of other existing algorithms to group and schedule jobs with common characteristics.

Multiple queues are maintained for processes with common characteristics.

Each queue can have its own scheduling algorithms.
Priorities are assigned to each queue.

For example, CPU-bound jobs can be scheduled in one queue and all I/O-bound jobs
in another queue. The Process Scheduler then alternately selects jobs from each
queue and assigns them to the CPU based on the algorithm assigned to the queue.

Operating System - Multi-Threading

What is Thread?
A thread is a flow of execution through the process code, with its own program
counter that keeps track of which instruction to execute next, system registers which
hold its current working variables, and a stack which contains the execution history.

A thread shares with its peer threads few information like code segment, data
segment and open files. When one thread alters a code segment memory item, all
other threads see that.

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A thread is also called a lightweight process. Threads provide a way to improve

application performance through parallelism. Threads represent a software approach
to improving performance of operating system by reducing the overhead thread is
equivalent to a classical process.

Each thread belongs to exactly one process and no thread can exist outside a
process. Each thread represents a separate flow of control. Threads have been
successfully used in implementing network servers and web server. They also
provide a suitable foundation for parallel execution of applications on shared memory
multiprocessors. The following figure shows the working of a single-threaded and a
multithreaded process.

Difference between Process and Thread

Advantages of Thread

Threads minimize the context switching time.

Use of threads provides concurrency within a process.
Efficient communication.
It is more economical to create and context switch threads.
Threads allow utilization of multiprocessor architectures to a greater scale and
efficiency.

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Types of Thread
Threads are implemented in following two ways −

User Level Threads − User managed threads.

Kernel Level Threads − Operating System managed threads acting on
kernel, an operating system core.

User Level Threads

In this case, the thread management kernel is not aware of the existence of threads.
The thread library contains code for creating and destroying threads, for passing
message and data between threads, for scheduling thread execution and for saving
and restoring thread contexts. The application starts with a single thread.

Advantages

Thread switching does not require Kernel mode privileges.

User level thread can run on any operating system.
Scheduling can be application specific in the user level thread.

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User level threads are fast to create and manage.

Disadvantages

In a typical operating system, most system calls are blocking.

Multithreaded application cannot take advantage of multiprocessing.

Kernel Level Threads

In this case, thread management is done by the Kernel. There is no thread
management code in the application area. Kernel threads are supported directly by
the operating system. Any application can be programmed to be multithreaded. All
of the threads within an application are supported within a single process.

The Kernel maintains context information for the process as a whole and for
individuals threads within the process. Scheduling by the Kernel is done on a thread
basis. The Kernel performs thread creation, scheduling and management in Kernel
space. Kernel threads are generally slower to create and manage than the user
threads.

Advantages

Kernel can simultaneously schedule multiple threads from the same process
on multiple processes.

If one thread in a process is blocked, the Kernel can schedule another thread
of the same process.
Kernel routines themselves can be multithreaded.

Disadvantages

Kernel threads are generally slower to create and manage than the user
threads.
Transfer of control from one thread to another within the same process
requires a mode switch to the Kernel.

Multithreading Models

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Some operating system provide a combined user level thread and Kernel level thread
facility. Solaris is a good example of this combined approach. In a combined system,
multiple threads within the same application can run in parallel on multiple
processors and a blocking system call need not block the entire process.
Multithreading models are three types

Many to many relationship.

Many to one relationship.
One to one relationship.

Many to Many Model

The many-to-many model multiplexes any number of user threads onto an equal or
smaller number of kernel threads.

The following diagram shows the many-to-many threading model where 6 user level
threads are multiplexing with 6 kernel level threads. In this model, developers can
create as many user threads as necessary and the corresponding Kernel threads can
run in parallel on a multiprocessor machine. This model provides the best accuracy
on concurrency and when a thread performs a blocking system call, the kernel can
schedule another thread for execution.

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Many to One Model

Many-to-one model maps many user level threads to one Kernel-level thread. Thread
management is done in user space by the thread library. When thread makes a
blocking system call, the entire process will be blocked. Only one thread can access
the Kernel at a time, so multiple threads are unable to run in parallel on
multiprocessors.

If the user-level thread libraries are implemented in the operating system in such a
way that the system does not support them, then the Kernel threads use the many-
to-one relationship modes.

One to One Model

There is one-to-one relationship of user-level thread to the kernel-level thread. This
model provides more concurrency than the many-to-one model. It also allows
another thread to run when a thread makes a blocking system call. It supports
multiple threads to execute in parallel on microprocessors.

Disadvantage of this model is that creating user thread requires the corresponding
Kernel thread. OS/2, windows NT and windows 2000 use one to one relationship
model.

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Difference between User-Level & Kernel-Level Thread

Operating System - Memory Management

Memory management is the functionality of an operating system which handles or
manages primary memory and moves processes back and forth between main
memory and disk during execution. Memory management keeps track of each and
every memory location, regardless of either it is allocated to some process or it is
free. It checks how much memory is to be allocated to processes. It decides which
process will get memory at what time. It tracks whenever some memory gets freed
or unallocated and correspondingly it updates the status.

This tutorial will teach you basic concepts related to Memory Management.

Process Address Space

The process address space is the set of logical addresses that a process references in
its code. For example, when 32-bit addressing is in use, addresses can range from 0
to 0x7fffffff; that is, 2^31 possible numbers, for a total theoretical size of 2
gigabytes.

The operating system takes care of mapping the logical addresses to physical
addresses at the time of memory allocation to the program. There are three types of

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addresses used in a program before and after memory is allocated −

Virtual and physical addresses are the same in compile-time and load-time address-
binding schemes. Virtual and physical addresses differ in execution-time address-
binding scheme.

The set of all logical addresses generated by a program is referred to as a logical

address space. The set of all physical addresses corresponding to these logical
addresses is referred to as a physical address space.

The runtime mapping from virtual to physical address is done by the memory
management unit (MMU) which is a hardware device. MMU uses following
mechanism to convert virtual address to physical address.

The value in the base register is added to every address generated by a user
process, which is treated as offset at the time it is sent to memory. For
example, if the base register value is 10000, then an attempt by the user to
use address location 100 will be dynamically reallocated to location 10100.
The user program deals with virtual addresses; it never sees the real physical
addresses.

Static vs Dynamic Loading

The choice between Static or Dynamic Loading is to be made at the time of computer
program being developed. If you have to load your program statically, then at the
time of compilation, the complete programs will be compiled and linked without
leaving any external program or module dependency. The linker combines the object
program with other necessary object modules into an absolute program, which also
includes logical addresses.

If you are writing a Dynamically loaded program, then your compiler will compile the
program and for all the modules which you want to include dynamically, only
references will be provided and rest of the work will be done at the time of
execution.

At the time of loading, with static loading, the absolute program (and data) is
loaded into memory in order for execution to start.

If you are using dynamic loading, dynamic routines of the library are stored on a
disk in relocatable form and are loaded into memory only when they are needed by
the program.

Static vs Dynamic Linking

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As explained above, when static linking is used, the linker combines all other
modules needed by a program into a single executable program to avoid any runtime
dependency.

When dynamic linking is used, it is not required to link the actual module or library
with the program, rather a reference to the dynamic module is provided at the time
of compilation and linking. Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) in Windows and Shared
Objects in Unix are good examples of dynamic libraries.

Swapping
Swapping is a mechanism in which a process can be swapped temporarily out of
main memory (or move) to secondary storage (disk) and make that memory
available to other processes. At some later time, the system swaps back the process
from the secondary storage to main memory.

Though performance is usually affected by swapping process but it helps in running

multiple and big processes in parallel and that's the reason Swapping is also
known as a technique for memory compaction.

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The total time taken by swapping process includes the time it takes to move the
entire process to a secondary disk and then to copy the process back to memory, as
well as the time the process takes to regain main memory.

Let us assume that the user process is of size 2048KB and on a standard hard disk
where swapping will take place has a data transfer rate around 1 MB per second. The
actual transfer of the 1000K process to or from memory will take

2048KB / 1024KB per second

= 2 seconds
= 2000 milliseconds

Now considering in and out time, it will take complete 4000 milliseconds plus other
overhead where the process competes to regain main memory.

Memory Allocation
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Main memory usually has two partitions −

Low Memory − Operating system resides in this memory.

High Memory − User processes are held in high memory.

Operating system uses the following memory allocation mechanism.

Fragmentation
As processes are loaded and removed from memory, the free memory space is
broken into little pieces. It happens after sometimes that processes cannot be
allocated to memory blocks considering their small size and memory blocks remains
unused. This problem is known as Fragmentation.

Fragmentation is of two types −

The following diagram shows how fragmentation can cause waste of memory and a
compaction technique can be used to create more free memory out of fragmented
memory −

External fragmentation can be reduced by compaction or shuffle memory contents to

place all free memory together in one large block. To make compaction feasible,
relocation should be dynamic.

The internal fragmentation can be reduced by effectively assigning the smallest

partition but large enough for the process.

Paging
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A computer can address more memory than the amount physically installed on the
system. This extra memory is actually called virtual memory and it is a section of a
hard that's set up to emulate the computer's RAM. Paging technique plays an
important role in implementing virtual memory.

Paging is a memory management technique in which process address space is

broken into blocks of the same size called pages (size is power of 2, between 512
bytes and 8192 bytes). The size of the process is measured in the number of pages.

Similarly, main memory is divided into small fixed-sized blocks of (physical) memory
called frames and the size of a frame is kept the same as that of a page to have
optimum utilization of the main memory and to avoid external fragmentation.

Address Translation

Page address is called logical address and represented by page number and the
offset.

Logical Address = Page number + page offset

Frame address is called physical address and represented by a frame number

and the offset.

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Physical Address = Frame number + page offset

A data structure called page map table is used to keep track of the relation
between a page of a process to a frame in physical memory.

When the system allocates a frame to any page, it translates this logical address into
a physical address and create entry into the page table to be used throughout
execution of the program.

When a process is to be executed, its corresponding pages are loaded into any
available memory frames. Suppose you have a program of 8Kb but your memory can
accommodate only 5Kb at a given point in time, then the paging concept will come
into picture. When a computer runs out of RAM, the operating system (OS) will move
idle or unwanted pages of memory to secondary memory to free up RAM for other
processes and brings them back when needed by the program.

This process continues during the whole execution of the program where the OS
keeps removing idle pages from the main memory and write them onto the
secondary memory and bring them back when required by the program.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Paging

Here is a list of advantages and disadvantages of paging −

Paging reduces external fragmentation, but still suffer from internal

fragmentation.

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Paging is simple to implement and assumed as an efficient memory

management technique.
Due to equal size of the pages and frames, swapping becomes very easy.
Page table requires extra memory space, so may not be good for a system
having small RAM.

Segmentation
Segmentation is a memory management technique in which each job is divided into
several segments of different sizes, one for each module that contains pieces that
perform related functions. Each segment is actually a different logical address space
of the program.

When a process is to be executed, its corresponding segmentation are loaded into

non-contiguous memory though every segment is loaded into a contiguous block of
available memory.

Segmentation memory management works very similar to paging but here segments
are of variable-length where as in paging pages are of fixed size.

A program segment contains the program's main function, utility functions, data
structures, and so on. The operating system maintains a segment map table for
every process and a list of free memory blocks along with segment numbers, their
size and corresponding memory locations in main memory. For each segment, the
table stores the starting address of the segment and the length of the segment. A
reference to a memory location includes a value that identifies a segment and an
offset.

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Operating System - Virtual Memory

A computer can address more memory than the amount physically installed on the
system. This extra memory is actually called virtual memory and it is a section of a
hard disk that's set up to emulate the computer's RAM.

The main visible advantage of this scheme is that programs can be larger than
physical memory. Virtual memory serves two purposes. First, it allows us to extend
the use of physical memory by using disk. Second, it allows us to have memory
protection, because each virtual address is translated to a physical address.

Following are the situations, when entire program is not required to be loaded fully in
main memory.

User written error handling routines are used only when an error occurred in
the data or computation.
Certain options and features of a program may be used rarely.
Many tables are assigned a fixed amount of address space even though only a
small amount of the table is actually used.

The ability to execute a program that is only partially in memory would

counter many benefits.

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Less number of I/O would be needed to load or swap each user program into
memory.
A program would no longer be constrained by the amount of physical memory
that is available.
Each user program could take less physical memory, more programs could be
run the same time, with a corresponding increase in CPU utilization and
throughput.

Modern microprocessors intended for general-purpose use, a memory management

unit, or MMU, is built into the hardware. The MMU's job is to translate virtual
addresses into physical addresses. A basic example is given below −

Virtual memory is commonly implemented by demand paging. It can also be

implemented in a segmentation system. Demand segmentation can also be used to
provide virtual memory.

Demand Paging
A demand paging system is quite similar to a paging system with swapping where
processes reside in secondary memory and pages are loaded only on demand, not in
advance. When a context switch occurs, the operating system does not copy any of
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the old program’s pages out to the disk or any of the new program’s pages into the
main memory Instead, it just begins executing the new program after loading the
first page and fetches that program’s pages as they are referenced.

While executing a program, if the program references a page which is not available
in the main memory because it was swapped out a little ago, the processor treats
this invalid memory reference as a page fault and transfers control from the
program to the operating system to demand the page back into the memory.

Advantages

Following are the advantages of Demand Paging −

Large virtual memory.

More efficient use of memory.
There is no limit on degree of multiprogramming.

Disadvantages

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Number of tables and the amount of processor overhead for handling page
interrupts are greater than in the case of the simple paged management
techniques.

Page Replacement Algorithm

Page replacement algorithms are the techniques using which an Operating System
decides which memory pages to swap out, write to disk when a page of memory
needs to be allocated. Paging happens whenever a page fault occurs and a free page
cannot be used for allocation purpose accounting to reason that pages are not
available or the number of free pages is lower than required pages.

When the page that was selected for replacement and was paged out, is referenced
again, it has to read in from disk, and this requires for I/O completion. This process
determines the quality of the page replacement algorithm: the lesser the time
waiting for page-ins, the better is the algorithm.

A page replacement algorithm looks at the limited information about accessing the
pages provided by hardware, and tries to select which pages should be replaced to
minimize the total number of page misses, while balancing it with the costs of
primary storage and processor time of the algorithm itself. There are many different
page replacement algorithms. We evaluate an algorithm by running it on a particular
string of memory reference and computing the number of page faults,

Reference String
The string of memory references is called reference string. Reference strings are
generated artificially or by tracing a given system and recording the address of each
memory reference. The latter choice produces a large number of data, where we
note two things.

For a given page size, we need to consider only the page number, not the
entire address.
If we have a reference to a page p, then any immediately following references
to page p will never cause a page fault. Page p will be in memory after the
first reference; the immediately following references will not fault.
For example, consider the following sequence of addresses −
123,215,600,1234,76,96
If page size is 100, then the reference string is 1,2,6,12,0,0

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First In First Out (FIFO) algorithm

Oldest page in main memory is the one which will be selected for
replacement.
Easy to implement, keep a list, replace pages from the tail and add new
pages at the head.

Optimal Page algorithm

An optimal page-replacement algorithm has the lowest page-fault rate of all

algorithms. An optimal page-replacement algorithm exists, and has been
called OPT or MIN.
Replace the page that will not be used for the longest period of time. Use the
time when a page is to be used.

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Least Recently Used (LRU) algorithm

Page which has not been used for the longest time in main memory is the one
which will be selected for replacement.
Easy to implement, keep a list, replace pages by looking back into time.

Page Buffering algorithm

To get a process start quickly, keep a pool of free frames.

On page fault, select a page to be replaced.

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Write the new page in the frame of free pool, mark the page table and restart
the process.
Now write the dirty page out of disk and place the frame holding replaced
page in free pool.

Least frequently Used(LFU) algorithm

The page with the smallest count is the one which will be selected for
replacement.
This algorithm suffers from the situation in which a page is used heavily
during the initial phase of a process, but then is never used again.

Most frequently Used(MFU) algorithm

This algorithm is based on the argument that the page with the smallest
count was probably just brought in and has yet to be used.

Operating System - I/O Hardware

One of the important jobs of an Operating System is to manage various I/O devices
including mouse, keyboards, touch pad, disk drives, display adapters, USB devices,
Bit-mapped screen, LED, Analog-to-digital converter, On/off switch, network
connections, audio I/O, printers etc.

An I/O system is required to take an application I/O request and send it to the
physical device, then take whatever response comes back from the device and send
it to the application. I/O devices can be divided into two categories −

Block devices − A block device is one with which the driver communicates
by sending entire blocks of data. For example, Hard disks, USB cameras,
Disk-On-Key etc.
Character devices − A character device is one with which the driver
communicates by sending and receiving single characters (bytes, octets). For
example, serial ports, parallel ports, sounds cards etc

Device Controllers

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Device drivers are software modules that can be plugged into an OS to handle a
particular device. Operating System takes help from device drivers to handle all I/O
devices.

The Device Controller works like an interface between a device and a device driver.
I/O units (Keyboard, mouse, printer, etc.) typically consist of a mechanical
component and an electronic component where electronic component is called the
device controller.

There is always a device controller and a device driver for each device to
communicate with the Operating Systems. A device controller may be able to handle
multiple devices. As an interface its main task is to convert serial bit stream to block
of bytes, perform error correction as necessary.

Any device connected to the computer is connected by a plug and socket, and the
socket is connected to a device controller. Following is a model for connecting the
CPU, memory, controllers, and I/O devices where CPU and device controllers all use
a common bus for communication.

Synchronous vs asynchronous I/O

Synchronous I/O − In this scheme CPU execution waits while I/O proceeds
Asynchronous I/O − I/O proceeds concurrently with CPU execution

Communication to I/O Devices

The CPU must have a way to pass information to and from an I/O device. There are
three approaches available to communicate with the CPU and Device.

Special Instruction I/O

Memory-mapped I/O
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Direct memory access (DMA)

Special Instruction I/O

This uses CPU instructions that are specifically made for controlling I/O devices.
These instructions typically allow data to be sent to an I/O device or read from an
I/O device.

Memory-mapped I/O

When using memory-mapped I/O, the same address space is shared by memory and
I/O devices. The device is connected directly to certain main memory locations so
that I/O device can transfer block of data to/from memory without going through
CPU.

While using memory mapped IO, OS allocates buffer in memory and informs I/O
device to use that buffer to send data to the CPU. I/O device operates
asynchronously with CPU, interrupts CPU when finished.

The advantage to this method is that every instruction which can access memory can
be used to manipulate an I/O device. Memory mapped IO is used for most high-
speed I/O devices like disks, communication interfaces.

Direct Memory Access (DMA)

Slow devices like keyboards will generate an interrupt to the main CPU after each
byte is transferred. If a fast device such as a disk generated an interrupt for each
byte, the operating system would spend most of its time handling these interrupts.
So a typical computer uses direct memory access (DMA) hardware to reduce this
overhead.

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Direct Memory Access (DMA) means CPU grants I/O module authority to read from
or write to memory without involvement. DMA module itself controls exchange of
data between main memory and the I/O device. CPU is only involved at the
beginning and end of the transfer and interrupted only after entire block has been
transferred.

Direct Memory Access needs a special hardware called DMA controller (DMAC) that
manages the data transfers and arbitrates access to the system bus. The controllers
are programmed with source and destination pointers (where to read/write the
data), counters to track the number of transferred bytes, and settings, which
includes I/O and memory types, interrupts and states for the CPU cycles.

The operating system uses the DMA hardware as follows −

Polling vs Interrupts I/O

A computer must have a way of detecting the arrival of any type of input. There are
two ways that this can happen, known as polling and interrupts. Both of these
techniques allow the processor to deal with events that can happen at any time and
that are not related to the process it is currently running.

Polling I/O

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Polling is the simplest way for an I/O device to communicate with the processor. The
process of periodically checking status of the device to see if it is time for the next
I/O operation, is called polling. The I/O device simply puts the information in a
Status register, and the processor must come and get the information.

Most of the time, devices will not require attention and when one does it will have to
wait until it is next interrogated by the polling program. This is an inefficient method
and much of the processors time is wasted on unnecessary polls.

Compare this method to a teacher continually asking every student in a class, one
after another, if they need help. Obviously the more efficient method would be for a
student to inform the teacher whenever they require assistance.

Interrupts I/O

An alternative scheme for dealing with I/O is the interrupt-driven method. An

interrupt is a signal to the microprocessor from a device that requires attention.

A device controller puts an interrupt signal on the bus when it needs CPU’s attention
when CPU receives an interrupt, It saves its current state and invokes the
appropriate interrupt handler using the interrupt vector (addresses of OS routines to
handle various events). When the interrupting device has been dealt with, the CPU
continues with its original task as if it had never been interrupted.

Operating System - I/O Softwares

I/O software is often organized in the following layers −

User Level Libraries − This provides simple interface to the user program to
perform input and output. For example, stdio is a library provided by C and
C++ programming languages.
Kernel Level Modules − This provides device driver to interact with the
device controller and device independent I/O modules used by the device
drivers.
Hardware − This layer includes actual hardware and hardware controller
which interact with the device drivers and makes hardware alive.

A key concept in the design of I/O software is that it should be device independent
where it should be possible to write programs that can access any I/O device without
having to specify the device in advance. For example, a program that reads a file as
input should be able to read a file on a floppy disk, on a hard disk, or on a CD-ROM,
without having to modify the program for each different device.

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Device Drivers
Device drivers are software modules that can be plugged into an OS to handle a
particular device. Operating System takes help from device drivers to handle all I/O
devices. Device drivers encapsulate device-dependent code and implement a
standard interface in such a way that code contains device-specific register
reads/writes. Device driver, is generally written by the device's manufacturer and
delivered along with the device on a CD-ROM.

A device driver performs the following jobs −

To accept request from the device independent software above to it.

Interact with the device controller to take and give I/O and perform required
error handling
Making sure that the request is executed successfully

How a device driver handles a request is as follows: Suppose a request comes to

read a block N. If the driver is idle at the time a request arrives, it starts carrying out
the request immediately. Otherwise, if the driver is already busy with some other
request, it places the new request in the queue of pending requests.

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Interrupt handlers
An interrupt handler, also known as an interrupt service routine or ISR, is a piece of
software or more specifically a callback function in an operating system or more
specifically in a device driver, whose execution is triggered by the reception of an
interrupt.

When the interrupt happens, the interrupt procedure does whatever it has to in
order to handle the interrupt, updates data structures and wakes up process that
was waiting for an interrupt to happen.

The interrupt mechanism accepts an address ─ a number that selects a specific

interrupt handling routine/function from a small set. In most architectures, this
address is an offset stored in a table called the interrupt vector table. This vector
contains the memory addresses of specialized interrupt handlers.

Device-Independent I/O Software

The basic function of the device-independent software is to perform the I/O functions
that are common to all devices and to provide a uniform interface to the user-level
software. Though it is difficult to write completely device independent software but
we can write some modules which are common among all the devices. Following is a
list of functions of device-independent I/O Software −

Uniform interfacing for device drivers

Device naming - Mnemonic names mapped to Major and Minor device
numbers
Device protection
Providing a device-independent block size
Buffering because data coming off a device cannot be stored in final
destination.
Storage allocation on block devices
Allocation and releasing dedicated devices
Error Reporting

User-Space I/O Software

These are the libraries which provide richer and simplified interface to access the
functionality of the kernel or ultimately interactive with the device drivers. Most of

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the user-level I/O software consists of library procedures with some exception like
spooling system which is a way of dealing with dedicated I/O devices in a
multiprogramming system.

I/O Libraries (e.g., stdio) are in user-space to provide an interface to the OS resident
device-independent I/O SW. For example putchar(), getchar(), printf() and scanf()
are example of user level I/O library stdio available in C programming.

Kernel I/O Subsystem

Kernel I/O Subsystem is responsible to provide many services related to I/O.
Following are some of the services provided.

Scheduling − Kernel schedules a set of I/O requests to determine a good

order in which to execute them. When an application issues a blocking I/O
system call, the request is placed on the queue for that device. The Kernel I/O
scheduler rearranges the order of the queue to improve the overall system
efficiency and the average response time experienced by the applications.
Buffering − Kernel I/O Subsystem maintains a memory area known as
buffer that stores data while they are transferred between two devices or
between a device with an application operation. Buffering is done to cope with
a speed mismatch between the producer and consumer of a data stream or to
adapt between devices that have different data transfer sizes.
Caching − Kernel maintains cache memory which is region of fast memory
that holds copies of data. Access to the cached copy is more efficient than
access to the original.
Spooling and Device Reservation − A spool is a buffer that holds output
for a device, such as a printer, that cannot accept interleaved data streams.
The spooling system copies the queued spool files to the printer one at a
time. In some operating systems, spooling is managed by a system daemon
process. In other operating systems, it is handled by an in kernel thread.
Error Handling − An operating system that uses protected memory can
guard against many kinds of hardware and application errors.

Operating System - File System

File
A file is a named collection of related information that is recorded on secondary
storage such as magnetic disks, magnetic tapes and optical disks. In general, a file is

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a sequence of bits, bytes, lines or records whose meaning is defined by the files
creator and user.

File Structure
A File Structure should be according to a required format that the operating system
can understand.

A file has a certain defined structure according to its type.

A text file is a sequence of characters organized into lines.
A source file is a sequence of procedures and functions.
An object file is a sequence of bytes organized into blocks that are
understandable by the machine.
When operating system defines different file structures, it also contains the
code to support these file structure. Unix, MS-DOS support minimum number
of file structure.

File Type
File type refers to the ability of the operating system to distinguish different types of
file such as text files source files and binary files etc. Many operating systems
support many types of files. Operating system like MS-DOS and UNIX have the
following types of files −

Ordinary files

These are the files that contain user information.

These may have text, databases or executable program.
The user can apply various operations on such files like add, modify, delete or
even remove the entire file.

Directory files

These files contain list of file names and other information related to these
files.

Special files
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These files are also known as device files.

These files represent physical device like disks, terminals, printers, networks,
tape drive etc.

These files are of two types −

Character special files − data is handled character by character as in case

of terminals or printers.
Block special files − data is handled in blocks as in the case of disks and
tapes.

File Access Mechanisms

File access mechanism refers to the manner in which the records of a file may be
accessed. There are several ways to access files −

Sequential access
Direct/Random access
Indexed sequential access

Sequential access

A sequential access is that in which the records are accessed in some sequence, i.e.,
the information in the file is processed in order, one record after the other. This
access method is the most primitive one. Example: Compilers usually access files in
this fashion.

Direct/Random access

Random access file organization provides, accessing the records directly.

Each record has its own address on the file with by the help of which it can be
directly accessed for reading or writing.

The records need not be in any sequence within the file and they need not be
in adjacent locations on the storage medium.

Indexed sequential access

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This mechanism is built up on base of sequential access.

An index is created for each file which contains pointers to various blocks.

Index is searched sequentially and its pointer is used to access the file
directly.

Space Allocation
Files are allocated disk spaces by operating system. Operating systems deploy
following three main ways to allocate disk space to files.

Contiguous Allocation
Linked Allocation
Indexed Allocation

Contiguous Allocation

Each file occupies a contiguous address space on disk.

Assigned disk address is in linear order.
Easy to implement.
External fragmentation is a major issue with this type of allocation technique.

Linked Allocation

Each file carries a list of links to disk blocks.

Directory contains link / pointer to first block of a file.
No external fragmentation
Effectively used in sequential access file.
Inefficient in case of direct access file.

Indexed Allocation

Provides solutions to problems of contiguous and linked allocation.

A index block is created having all pointers to files.

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Each file has its own index block which stores the addresses of disk space
occupied by the file.
Directory contains the addresses of index blocks of files.

Operating System - Security

Security refers to providing a protection system to computer system resources such
as CPU, memory, disk, software programs and most importantly data/information
stored in the computer system. If a computer program is run by an unauthorized
user, then he/she may cause severe damage to computer or data stored in it. So a
computer system must be protected against unauthorized access, malicious access
to system memory, viruses, worms etc. We're going to discuss following topics in this
chapter.

Authentication
One Time passwords
Program Threats
System Threats
Computer Security Classifications

Authentication
Authentication refers to identifying each user of the system and associating the
executing programs with those users. It is the responsibility of the Operating System
to create a protection system which ensures that a user who is running a particular
program is authentic. Operating Systems generally identifies/authenticates users
using following three ways −

Username / Password − User need to enter a registered username and

password with Operating system to login into the system.
User card/key − User need to punch card in card slot, or enter key
generated by key generator in option provided by operating system to login
into the system.
User attribute - fingerprint/ eye retina pattern/ signature − User need
to pass his/her attribute via designated input device used by operating
system to login into the system.

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One Time passwords

One-time passwords provide additional security along with normal authentication. In
One-Time Password system, a unique password is required every time user tries to
login into the system. Once a one-time password is used, then it cannot be used
again. One-time password are implemented in various ways.

Random numbers − Users are provided cards having numbers printed along
with corresponding alphabets. System asks for numbers corresponding to few
alphabets randomly chosen.
Secret key − User are provided a hardware device which can create a secret
id mapped with user id. System asks for such secret id which is to be
generated every time prior to login.
Network password − Some commercial applications send one-time
passwords to user on registered mobile/ email which is required to be entered
prior to login.

Program Threats
Operating system's processes and kernel do the designated task as instructed. If a
user program made these process do malicious tasks, then it is known as Program
Threats. One of the common example of program threat is a program installed in a
computer which can store and send user credentials via network to some hacker.
Following is the list of some well-known program threats.

Trojan Horse − Such program traps user login credentials and stores them
to send to malicious user who can later on login to computer and can access
system resources.
Trap Door − If a program which is designed to work as required, have a
security hole in its code and perform illegal action without knowledge of user
then it is called to have a trap door.
Logic Bomb − Logic bomb is a situation when a program misbehaves only
when certain conditions met otherwise it works as a genuine program. It is
harder to detect.

Virus − Virus as name suggest can replicate themselves on computer

system. They are highly dangerous and can modify/delete user files, crash
systems. A virus is generatlly a small code embedded in a program. As user
accesses the program, the virus starts getting embedded in other files/
programs and can make system unusable for user

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System Threats
System threats refers to misuse of system services and network connections to put
user in trouble. System threats can be used to launch program threats on a
complete network called as program attack. System threats creates such an
environment that operating system resources/ user files are misused. Following is
the list of some well-known system threats.

Worm − Worm is a process which can choked down a system performance by

using system resources to extreme levels. A Worm process generates its
multiple copies where each copy uses system resources, prevents all other
processes to get required resources. Worms processes can even shut down an
entire network.
Port Scanning − Port scanning is a mechanism or means by which a hacker
can detects system vulnerabilities to make an attack on the system.
Denial of Service − Denial of service attacks normally prevents user to
make legitimate use of the system. For example, a user may not be able to
use internet if denial of service attacks browser's content settings.

Computer Security Classifications

As per the U.S. Department of Defense Trusted Computer System's Evaluation
Criteria there are four security classifications in computer systems: A, B, C, and D.
This is widely used specifications to determine and model the security of systems
and of security solutions. Following is the brief description of each classification.

Operating System - Linux

Linux is one of popular version of UNIX operating System. It is open source as its
source code is freely available. It is free to use. Linux was designed considering UNIX
compatibility. Its functionality list is quite similar to that of UNIX.

Components of Linux System

Linux Operating System has primarily three components

Kernel − Kernel is the core part of Linux. It is responsible for all major
activities of this operating system. It consists of various modules and it
interacts directly with the underlying hardware. Kernel provides the required

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abstraction to hide low level hardware details to system or application

programs.
System Library − System libraries are special functions or programs using
which application programs or system utilities accesses Kernel's features.
These libraries implement most of the functionalities of the operating system
and do not requires kernel module's code access rights.
System Utility − System Utility programs are responsible to do specialized,
individual level tasks.

Kernel Mode vs User Mode

Kernel component code executes in a special privileged mode called kernel mode
with full access to all resources of the computer. This code represents a single
process, executes in single address space and do not require any context switch and
hence is very efficient and fast. Kernel runs each processes and provides system
services to processes, provides protected access to hardware to processes.

Support code which is not required to run in kernel mode is in System Library. User
programs and other system programs works in User Mode which has no access to
system hardware and kernel code. User programs/ utilities use System libraries to
access Kernel functions to get system's low level tasks.

Basic Features
Following are some of the important features of Linux Operating System.

Portable − Portability means software can works on different types of

hardware in same way. Linux kernel and application programs supports their
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installation on any kind of hardware platform.

Open Source − Linux source code is freely available and it is community
based development project. Multiple teams work in collaboration to enhance
the capability of Linux operating system and it is continuously evolving.
Multi-User − Linux is a multiuser system means multiple users can access
system resources like memory/ ram/ application programs at same time.
Multiprogramming − Linux is a multiprogramming system means multiple
applications can run at same time.
Hierarchical File System − Linux provides a standard file structure in which
system files/ user files are arranged.
Shell − Linux provides a special interpreter program which can be used to
execute commands of the operating system. It can be used to do various
types of operations, call application programs. etc.
Security − Linux provides user security using authentication features like
password protection/ controlled access to specific files/ encryption of data.

Architecture
The following illustration shows the architecture of a Linux system −

The architecture of a Linux System consists of the following layers −

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Hardware layer − Hardware consists of all peripheral devices (RAM/ HDD/

CPU etc).
Kernel − It is the core component of Operating System, interacts directly
with hardware, provides low level services to upper layer components.
Shell − An interface to kernel, hiding complexity of kernel's functions from
users. The shell takes commands from the user and executes kernel's
functions.
Utilities − Utility programs that provide the user most of the functionalities
of an operating systems.

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