Introduction

Operating Systems Concepts and Structure

Lecture 1
~ Spring, 2008 ~

Spring, 2008 TUCN. Operating Systems. Lecture 1

 Contents
Definition of an Operating System (OS)
Role of an Operating System
History of Operating Systems
Classification of Operating Systems
Specific terms and concepts
Structure of an OS

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 The Definition of an OS
Where comes the OS in?
A computer system consists of:
User software
System software
Hardware
User
Compilers Editors Shells
Applications

Operating System

System hardware

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 The Definition of an OS
What is an OS?
A system software
A collection of procedures that:
manage all the systems hardware resources
provide the users the environment in which
they can:
use the system resources
run their own applications

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 The Role of an OS
Extended or virtual machine
The external or the user point of view
A top-down perspective
Hides the complexity of using the hardware devices
Provides the user a more convenient view of the system resources
Purpose: Convenience
Resource manager
The inside or the designer point of view
A bottom-up perspective
Brings the hardware resources in a functional state
Provides each program with time and space for using resources
Purpose: Efficiency

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 A Classification of OSs
Mainframe operating systems: OS/390
Server operating systems: UNIX, Windows 2000, Linux
Multiprocessor operating systems
PC operating systems:
Windows 98, Windows ME, Macintosh, Linux
Real-time operating systems: VxWorks, QNX
Embedded operating systems:
PalmOS, Windows CE, Windows Mobile, Symbia

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 Specific Terms and Concepts
Batch systems: no user interaction
Multiprogramming: multiple programs loaded in memory
Time-sharing: each process receives slices of CPU time
Interactive systems: provides quick response to users actions
Multi-user: distinction between users
Network OS: users aware of the existence of multiple computers
Distributed OS: looks like a traditional single-processor system
Processes, Files, System Calls

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 Computer Hardware (1)
An OS is closely tied to the HW it runs on
HW components
CPU
Memory
I/O devices
Monitor
Keyboard
Storage devices (HDD, Floppy etc.)
Others
BUSes

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 Computer Hardware (2)

Monitor

BUS

Tanenbaum, Fig. 1-5.

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 CPU
Functionality
fetch instructions from memory, decode and execute them
Instruction set
has a specific set of instructions that can be executed
specific executable programs each processor can run
Registers
Program counter
Stack pointer
Many others architecture dependent
Machine state saved at context switch
Kernel vs. User mode of execution
switches between
system calls
hardware exceptions, interruptions

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 Memory
Should be extremely fast, large and cheap
Hierarchy of layers
Registers: fastest, no delay, but limited size
Cache memory
cache hits and misses
Main memory RAM (Random Access Memory)
HDDs
2 orders of magnitude cheaper and larger then RAM, but 3 orders of
magnitude slower
mechanical device heads, tracks (cylinders), sectors,
Magnetic tapes
used as a backup for very large data sets
very slow, but very cheap and removable

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 I/O Devices
Components
controller and the device itself
Controller
Directly controls the physical device
Receives commands from the OS
Device driver
Supplied by controller manufacturer
Inserted into the OS run in kernel mode
Functionality
Busy waiting
Interrupts

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 Processes
Definition
A program in execution
Consists of: executable code, data, stack, CPU registers
value, and other information
A process hierarchy (tree)
A created two child processes:
B and C
B created three child processes:
D, E, and F
Process synchronization
Inter-Process Communication (IPC)
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 Files
Definition
A collection of related information
An abstraction of data stored on HDD
A process tree
File system mounting
File linking

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 System calls (1)
Definition
a call to an OS service
a trap into the OS code
Examples of system calls
File manipulation: open(), read(), write(), lseek(), close()
File system management: mkdir(), mount(), link(), chown()
Process management: fork(), exec(), wait(), exit()

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 System Calls (2)
Steps in making a system call

There are 11 steps executing

the system call:
read (fd, buffer, nbytes)

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 The Structure of an OS
Architectures(1). Monolithic OS

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 The Structure of an OS
Architectures (2). Layered OS

The Structure of the THE operating system

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 The Structure of an OS
Architectures (3). Client-Server

The client-server model

A distributed OS
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 The Structure of an OS
Architectures (4).Advantages
Advantages of micro-kernels
the modules run in user mode protection against bugs
adaptability to use in distributed systems
forces the programmers to adopt a modularize approach
easily ported to other architectures
better use of RAM than monolithic ones
Modules in monolithic systems (Linux) - advantages
monolithic OS faster than micro-kernel OS
modularized approach
platform independence
frugal main memory usage
no performance penalty

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 The Structure of an OS
Components
Process manager: creates, schedules and destroy processes
Memory manager: allocates and releases memory
Disk manager
I/O devices manager
File system: create, read, modify, remove etc. files
Communication system
Protection system
Shells
text interface command interpreter
graphical interface

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 Readings
Andrew Tannenbaum, Modern Operating
Systems, second edition, Prentice Hall,
2001, pgs. 1-20, 34-63
D. Bovet, M. Cesati, Understanding
Linux Kernel, OReilly, 2001, pgs.11-12

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