MODULE I

Introduction: Operating system overview – Operations, Functions, Service –

System calls, Types –
Operating System structure - Simple structure, Layered approach, Microkernel,
Modules
– System boot process.
Operating System: Overview
• An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a
computer and the computer hardware.
• The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in
which a user can execute programs in a convenient and efficient
manner.
• An operating system is software that manages the computer
hardware.
• Operating systems are varied in accomplishing the tasks:
• Mainframe operating systems are designed primarily to optimize utilization of
hardware.
• Personal computer (PC) operating systems support complex games, business
applications, and everything in between.
• Operating systems for handheld computers are designed to provide an
environment in which a user can easily interface with the computer to execute
programs.
• Thus, some operating systems are designed to be:
• convenient
• efficient
• Convenient+ efficient
Abstract view of the components of a computer system
A computer system can be divided roughly into four components:
1. Hardware:
• CPU, memory, I/O devices
• Provides the basic computing resources for the system
2. Application programs :
• word processors/ spreadsheets/ compilers, and Web browsers
• define the ways in which these resources are used to solve users' computing
problems.
3.Operating system:
• controls the hardware and coordinates its use among the various application
programs for the various users.
4.Users
Functions of an Operating System
• Process Management
• Memory Management
• Mass Storage Management
• File System Management
• Device Management
• Protection and Security
• Other important functions
Process Management
• A process is a program in execution
• Process scheduling:
• OS decides which process gets the processor when and for how
much time.
• multiprogramming environment(several programs run at the same time)
• An Operating System does the following activities for processor management:
• OS allocates the processor (CPU) to a process and also de-allocates processor
when a process is no longer required.
• OS keeps tracks of processor and status of process.
• Creating and deleting processes
• Suspending and resuming processes
• Providing mechanisms for process synchronization, process communication
and deadlock handling
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
• OS manages the memory by allocating main memory to different
process currently under the execution.
• 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
Mass-Storage Management
• Problems with main memory:
• Main memory is too small to accommodate all data and
programs
• When power is lost, the data that it hold are lost
• So secondary storage devices are used to back up the main
memory
• disk
• Mass-Storage management activities:
• Free-space management
• Storage allocation
• Disk scheduling
File System Management
• A file is a collection of related information.
• A file can be a text file, image, audio, video or may contain data in
any other form.
• A file system is normally organized into directories for easy
navigation and usage.
An Operating System does the following activities for file
management:
• Creating and deleting files
• Creating and deleting directories to organize files
• Supporting primitives for manipulating files and directories
• Mapping files onto secondary storage
• Backing up files on stable (nonvolatile) storage media
Device Management
• An Operating System manages device communication via their
respective drivers.
• It does the following activities for device management:
• Keeps track of all devices
• Decides which process gets the device when and for how much time.
• Allocates the device in the efficient way.
• De-allocates devices.
Protection and Security
• If a computer system has multiple users and allows the concurrent execution of multiple
processes, then access to data must be regulated.
• Only authorized users/processes must access data.
• Protection
• any mechanism for controlling access of processes or users to the resources defined by the
OS
• Security
• defense of the system against internal and external attacks

• By means of password and similar other techniques, it prevents unauthorized access to

programs and data.
• Protection and security require the system to be able to distinguish among all its users.
• Most operating systems maintain a list of user names and associated user identifiers
(user IDs).
Other Important Functions
• Following are some other important functions of OS:
• 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.
• Coordination between other software's and users
• Coordination and assignment of compilers, interpreters, assemblers and other software to
the various users of the computer systems.
Kernel in Operating System
• A Kernel is a computer program that is the heart and core of an
Operating System.
• Whenever a system starts, the Kernel is the first program that is
loaded
• The Kernel remains in the memory until the Operating System is shut-
down.
System Boot Process
• the bootstrap program must locate the operating-system kernel and
load it into memory.
• it is stored within the computer hardware in read-only memory
(ROM) or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
(EEPROM)
• Once the kernel is loaded and executing, it can start providing
services to the system and its users.
• On UNIX, the first system process is “init,” and it starts many other
background process.
• Once this phase is complete, the system is fully booted, and the
system waits for some event to occur.
• The occurrence of an event is usually signaled by an interrupt from
either the hardware or the software.
• Hardware may trigger an interrupt at any time by sending a signal to
the CPU, usually by way of the system bus.
• Software may trigger an interrupt by executing a special operation
called a system call (also called a monitor call).
Operating-System Operation
• Dual-Mode Operation
• In order to ensure the proper execution of the operating system, we
must be able to distinguish between the execution of operating-
system code and user defined code.
• two separate modes of operation:
• user mode
• kernel mode (supervisor mode, system mode, or privileged mode).
A bit, called the mode bit, is added to the hardware of the computer
to indicate the current mode: kernel (0) or user (1).
1.User Mode
• A task that is executed on behalf of the user
2.Kernel mode
• A task that is executed on behalf of the operating system
Transition from user to kernel mode
• when a user application requests a service from the operating system
(via a system call), the system must transition from user to kernel
mode to fulfill the request.
System Calls
• System calls provide an interface to the services made available by an
operating system.
• Or a system call is the programmatic way in which a computer
program requests a service from the kernel of the operating system
• A system call is a way for programs to interact with the operating
system
• System calls are the only entry points into the kernel system
• These calls are generally available as routines written in C and C++
An example to illustrate how system calls are used:
writing a simple program to read data from one
file and copy them to another file
• An example to illustrate how system calls are used: writing a simple
program to read data from one file and copy them to another file
Types of System Calls
Grouped into five major categories:
1. Process control
2. File manipulation
3. Device manipulation
4. Information maintenance
5. Communications
Process attributes
Operating-System Services
• An operating system provides an environment for the execution of
programs.
• It provides certain services to programs and to the users of those
programs.
• The specific services provided, of course, differ from one operating
system to another, but we can identify common classes.
• These operating system services are provided for the convenience of
the programmer, to make the programming task easier.
• One set of operating system services provides functions that are
helpful to the user.
It includes:
1. User Interface
2. Program Execution
3. I/O Operations
4. File system manipulation
5. Communications
6. Error Detection
1. User interface
• Almost all operating systems have a user interface (UI).
• This interface can take several forms:
a. command-line interface (CLI)
• uses text commands and a method for entering them (say, a keyboard for typing in
commands in a specific format with specific options).
b. batch interface
• commands and directives to control those commands are entered into files, and those
files are executed
c. graphical user interface (GUI)
• Most commonly, a graphical user interface (GUI) is used.
• interface is a window system with a pointing device to direct I/O, choose from menus,
and make selections and a keyboard to enter text.
Some systems provide two or all three of these variations.
2. Program execution
• The system must be able to load a program into memory and to run
that program.
• The program must be able to end its execution, either normally or
abnormally (indicating error).
3. I/O operations
• A running program may require I/O, which may involve a file or an I/O
device.
• For specific devices, special functions may be desired (such as
recording to a CD or DVD drive or blanking a display screen).
• For efficiency and protection, users usually cannot control I/O devices
directly.
• Therefore, the operating system must provide a means to do I/O.
4. File-system manipulation
• need to:
• read and write files and directories.
• need to create and delete files and directories by name,
• search for a given file
• list file information.
• include permissions management to allow or deny access to files or
directories based on file ownership.
5. Communications
• one process needs to exchange information with another process.
• occur between processes that are executing on the same computer or
between processes that are executing on different computer systems
tied together by a computer network.
• Communications may be implemented by two ways:
• shared memory :two or more processes read and write to a shared section of
memory
• message passing: packets of information in predefined formats are moved
between processes by the operating system.
6. Error detection
• Needs to detect and correct errors constantly
• Errors may occur in:
• the CPU and memory hardware (such as a memory error or a power failure),
• in I/O devices (a connection failure on a network, or lack of paper in the printer)
• in the user program (such as an arithmetic overflow, an attempt to access an illegal
memory location, or a too-great use of CPU time).
• For each type of error, the operating system should take the appropriate
action to ensure correct and consistent computing.
• Sometimes, it has no choice but to halt the system.
• At other times, it might terminate an error-causing process or return an error code to
a process for the process to detect and possibly correct.
• Another set of operating system functions exists for ensuring the
efficient operation of the system itself:
a) Resource allocation.
b) Accounting.
c) Protection and security
a. Resource allocation
• When there are multiple users or multiple jobs running at the same time,
resources must be allocated to each of them.
• The operating system manages many different types of resources.
For instance:
• in determining how best to use the CPU:
• operating systems have CPU-scheduling routines that take into account the speed of
the CPU,
• the jobs that must be executed,
• the number of registers available, and other factors.
• routines to allocate printers, USB storage drives, and other peripheral
devices.
b. Accounting
• We want to keep track of which users use how much and what kinds
of computer resources.
• This record keeping may be used for accounting (so that users can be
billed) or simply for accumulating usage statistics.
• Usage statistics may be a valuable tool for researchers who wish to
reconfigure the system to improve computing services.
c. Protection and security
• The owners of information stored in a multiuser or networked computer
system may want to control use of that information.
• When several separate processes execute concurrently, it should not be
possible for one process to interfere with the others or with the operating
system itself.
• Protection involves ensuring that all access to system resources is
controlled.
• Security of the system from outsiders is also important.
• security starts with requiring each user to authenticate himself or herself
to the system, usually by means of a password, to gain access to system
resources.
Operating-System Structure
• how the operating system components are interconnected and
melded into a kernel.
• Various ways to structure OS:
• Simple structure
• Monolithic
• Layered
• Microkernel
• Modular
Simple Structure
• do not have well-defined structures.
• small, simple, and limited systems
• MS-DOS is an example of such a system
• In MS-DOS, the interfaces and levels of functionality are not well
separated.
• For instance, application programs are able to access the basic I/O routines
to write directly to the display and disk drives.
• Such freedom leaves MS-DOS vulnerable to errant (or malicious) programs,
causing entire system crashes
• no dual mode and no hardware protection
Monolithic structure
• Earlier UNIX system
• limited by hardware functionality.
• It consists of two separable parts:
• the kernel and the system programs.
• The kernel is further separated into a series of interfaces and device drivers.
• Everything below the system-call interface and above the physical hardware is
the kernel.
• The kernel provides the file system, CPU scheduling, memory management,
and other operating-system functions through system calls.
• Taken in sum, that is an enormous amount of functionality to be combined
into one level.
• This monolithic structure was difficult to implement and maintain.
Layered Approach
• the operating system is broken into a number of layers (levels).
• The bottom layer (layer 0) is the hardware, the highest (layer N) is the
user interface.
• A typical operating-system layer M, consists of data structures and a
set of routines that can be invoked by higher-level layers.
• Layer M, in turn, can invoke operations on lower-level layers.
• Advantage: simplicity of construction and
debugging.
• Disadvantage: appropriately defining the various layers.
Because a layer can use only lower-level layers, careful
planning is necessary.
Microkernel
• Microkernel(smaller kernel) :structures the operating system by
removing all nonessential components from the kernel and
implementing them as system and user-level programs.
• microkernels provide:
• minimal process and memory management
• a communication facility
• main function of the microkernel is to provide communication
between the client program and the various services that are also
running in user space.
• Advantage:
• it makes extending the operating system easier.
• All new services are added to user space and consequently do not
require modification of the kernel
• The resulting operating system is easier to port from one hardware
design to another.
• provides more security and reliability
• since most services are running as user rather than kernel processes.
• If a service fails, the rest of the operating system remains untouched
Modules
• Many modern operating systems implement loadable kernel modules
• Uses object-oriented approach
• Each core component is separate
• Each talks to the others over known interfaces
• Each is loadable as needed within the kernel
• Overall, similar to layers but with more flexibility
• Linux, Solaris, etc
Solaris Modular Approach
Tutorial 1
❑Batch OS
❑Multitasking/Time Sharing OS
❑Multiprocessing OS
❑Distributed OS
❑Real Time OS
❑Network OS
❑Mobile OS