Teaching Module for Operating system

Chapter One
Introduction to Operating System
1.1. Overview
Modern general-purpose computers, including personal computers and mainframes, have an operating system to
run other programs, such as application software. It has been rightly said that operating system is the first
software we see when we turn on the computer and the last
software we see when the computer is turned off.

An operating system is a program that acts as an intermediary

between a user of a computer and the computer hardware.
The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment/interface tthrough which a user can execute
programs without having the knowledge about the complex details of hardware that makes a computer system.
1.1.1. Computer System Components
A computer system can be divided into 4 important components as defined below:
1. Hardware
– Provides basic computing resources (CPU, memory, I/O devices).
2. System software
– Controls and coordinates the use of hardware among application programs.
– Operating software: Software that controls the overall operation of the
computer
It has two parts: a: kernel b: shell
A: Kernel: The one program running at all times on the computer” is kernel.
 Kernel is Core or nucleus of an operating system. it controls hardware such as CPU,
memory, hard disk, network card etc.
 Interacts with the hardware
 First program to get loaded when the system starts and runs till the session gets
terminated
B: Shell is Bridge between kernel and the user
 Shell is Program that interacts with kernel
 Shell interprets your input as commands and pass them to kernel.
 Shell is a Command interpreter, User can type command and the command is
conveyed to the kernel and it will be executed
– Utility software: Software that extends or customizes the capabilities of the operating system.
This software is used for:
• Formatting
• compressing/decompressing data
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Compiled by: Gebrearegawi G. (MSc.in IT)
Faculty of Computing Technology
 Teaching Module for Operating system

• network communications
3. Application software
– Solve computing problems of users (database systems, video games, business programs such as
banking software). t
4. Users
– People, machines, other computers
These components can be viewed as layers, where each layer uses the services provided by the layer beneath it.

A Dynamic View of System components

A Static View of System Components

1.2. What is an Operating System?
As we have seen above, the computer system consists hardware, software, and data as components. The operating
system is the main element of the computer system that provides the means for proper use of the resources in the
operation of the computer system. An operating system is similar to a government. Like a government, it
performs no useful function by itself. It simply provides an environment within which other programs can do
useful work.
Operating system can be explored from two-point view:
 (Top-down) user view
 (Bottom-up) system view
1.2.1. (Top-down) user view
User view is that it is a program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a computer and the computer
hardware, and makes the computer system convenient to use. It is because of the operating system that users of
a computer system don’t have to deal with computer’s hardware to get their work done. Users can use simple
commands to perform various tasks and let the operating system do the difficult work of interacting with
computer hardware. Thus, you can use a command like copy file1 file2 to copy ‘file1’ to ‘file2’ and let the
operating system communicate with the controller(s) of the disk that contain(s) the two files.
1.2.2. (Bottom-up) system view:
From the computer’s point of view, the operating system is the program that is most intimate with hardware.
We can view operating system as:
 OS is a resource allocator
 OS is a control program
• OS is a resource allocator or Resource Manager
– Manages all resources (such as CPU, memory, I/o)
– Decides between conflicting requests for efficient and fair resource use
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 Teaching Module for Operating system

A computer system has many hardware and software resources that may be required to solve a problem: CPU
time, memory space, file storage space, I/O devices etc. The operating system acts as the manager of these
resources, facing numerous and possibly conflicting requests for resources, the operating system must decide
how (and when) to allocate (and deallocate) them to specific programs and users so that it can operate the
computer system efficiently, fairly, and securely. So, the bottom-up view is that operating system is a resource
manager who manages the hardware and software resources in the computer system.
• OS is a control program
– Controls execution of programs to prevent errors and improper use of the computer
To generalize, it easier to define operating system by what they do, rather than what they are. Hence, 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. The OS performs basic tasks, such as controlling and
allocating memory prioritizing the processing of instructions, controlling input and output devices, facilitating
networking, and managing files. The operating system acts as a manager of the computer resources and allocates
them to specific programs of users as necessary for their tasks. The operating system is a control program
controlling the execution of user programs to prevent errors and improper use of computer, especially I/O
devices. Examples of operating systems for personal computers include Microsoft Windows, Mac OS (and
Darwin), Unix, and Linux.
The lowest level of any operating system is its kernel. This is the first layer of software loaded into memory
when a system boots or starts up. The kernel provides access to various common core services to all other system
and application programs. These services include, but are not limited to: disk access, memory management, task
scheduling, and access to other hardware devices.
As well as the kernel, an operating system is
often distributed with tools for programs to
display and manage a graphical user interface
(although Windows and the Macintosh have
these tools built into the operating system), as
well as utility programs for tasks such as
managing files and configuring the operating
system. They are also often distributed with
application software that does not relate directly
to the operating system's core function, but which
the operating system distributor finds
advantageous to supply with the operating
system.
Figure 1.1: system components
1.3. History of Operating Systems
The first computers did not have operating systems. However, software tools for managing
the system and simplifying the use of hardware appeared very quickly afterwards, and gradually expanded in
scope. By the early 1960s, commercial computer vendors were supplying quite extensive tools for streamlining
the development, scheduling, and execution of jobs on batch processing systems. Examples were produced by
UNIVAC and Control Data Corporation, amongst others.
Through the 1960s, several major concepts were developed, driving the development of
operating systems. The development of the IBM System/360 produced a family of mainframe computers
available in widely differing capacities and price points, for which a single operating system OS/360 was planned
(rather than developing ad-hoc programs for every individual model).
This concept of a single OS spanning an entire product line was crucial for the success of
System/360 and, in fact, IBM's current mainframe operating systems are distant descendants of this original
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system; applications written for the OS/360 can still be run on modern machines. OS/360 also contained another
important advance: the development of the hard disk permanent storage device (which IBM called DASD).
Another key development was the concept of time-sharing: the idea of sharing the resources of expensive
computers amongst multiple computer users interacting in real time with the system. Time sharing allowed all
of the users to have the illusion of having exclusive access to the machine; the Multics timesharing system was
the most famous of a number of new operating systems developed to take advantage of the concept. Multics,
particularly, was an inspiration to a number of operating systems developed in the 1970s, notably Unix. Another
commercially-popular minicomputer operating system was VMS.
The first microcomputers did not have the capacity or need for the elaborate operating systems that had been
developed for mainframes and minis; minimalistic operating systems were developed. One notable early
operating system was CP/M, which was supported on many early microcomputers and was largely cloned in
creating MS-DOS, which became wildly popular as the operating system chosen for the IBM PC (IBM's version
of it was called IBM-DOS or PC-DOS), its successors making Microsoft one of the world's most profitable
companies. The major alternative throughout the 1980s in the microcomputer market was Mac OS, tied
intimately to the Apple Macintosh computer.
By the 1990s, the microcomputer had evolved to the point where, as well as extensive GUI facilities, the
robustness and flexibility of operating systems of larger computers became increasingly desirable. Microsoft's
response to this change was the development of Windows NT, which served as the basis for Microsoft's entire
operating system line starting in 1999. Apple rebuilt their operating system on top of a Unix core as Mac OS X,
released in 2001. Hobbyist-developed reimplementation of Unix, assembled with the tools from the GNU project,
also became popular; versions based on the Linux kernel are by far the most popular, with the BSD derived
UNIXes holding a small portion of the server market.
The growing complexity of embedded devices has a growing trend to use embedded operating systems on them.
Jelena Mamčenko Operating Systems
Today
Command line interface (or CLI) operating systems can operate using only the keyboard for input. Modern OS's
use a mouse for input with a graphical user interface (GUI) sometimes implemented as a shell. The appropriate
OS may depend on the hardware architecture, specifically the CPU, with only Linux and BSD running on almost
any CPU. Windows NT has been ported to other CPUs, most notably the Alpha, but not many. Since the early
1990s the choice for personal computers has been largely limited to the Microsoft Windows family and the Unix-
like family, of which Linux and Mac OS X are becoming the major choices. Mainframe computers and embedded
systems use a variety of different operating systems, many with no direct connection to Windows or Unix, but
typically more similar to Unix than Windows.
 Personal computers
 IBM PC compatible - Microsoft Windows and smaller Unix-variants (like Linux and BSD)
 Apple Macintosh - Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and BSD
 Mainframes - A number of unique OS's, sometimes Linux and other Unix variants.
 Embedded systems - a variety of dedicated OS's, and limited versions of Linux or other OS's
1.4. The evolution of operating systems
In attempting to understand the key requirements for an operating system and the significance of the major
features of a contemporary operating system, it is useful to consider how operating systems have evolved over
the years.
1. Serial Processing
 These machines were run from console consisting of display lights, toggle switches, some form of input
device, and a printer.
 Programs in machine code were loaded with the input device (e.g. card readers). If an error halted the
program, the error condition was indicated by the lights. The programmer could proceed to examine
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 Teaching Module for Operating system

registers and main memory to determine the cause of the error. If the program proceeded to the normal
completion, the output appeared in the printer.
These systems suffered with two important problems
 Scheduling: Most installations used a sign-up sheet to reserve machine time. Typically, a user could sign
up for a block of time in multiples of a half hour or so. A user might sign up for an hour and finish in 45
minutes; this would result in wasted computer idle time. On the other hand, the user might run into
problems, not finish in the allotted time, and be forced to stop before resolving the problem.
 Setup time: A single program, called a job, could involve loading the complier plus the high-level
language program (source program) into memory, saving the complied program (object code) and then
loading and linking together the object program and common functions. Each of these steps could involve
mounting or dismounting tapes or setting up card decks. If an error occurred, the unfortunate user typically
had to go back to the beginning of the setup sequence. Thus, a considerable amount of time was spent just
in setting up the program to run.
This mode of operation could be termed serial processing, reflecting the fact that users had access to the
computer in series.
2. Simple Batch Systems
 Serial processing machines were very expensive and therefore it was important to maximize machine use.
 To speed up processing jobs with similar needs were batched together and were run through the computer
as a group.
 A batch OS reads a stream of jobs each with its own control cards that predefine what the job does.
 The central idea behind the simple batch processing scheme was the use of a piece of software known as
the monitor.
 In this type of OS, the user no longer has direct access to the machine. Rather, the user submits the job on
cards or tape to a computer operator, who batches the jobs together sequentially and places the entire batch
on an input device for use by the monitor.
 Each program is constructed to branch back to the monitor when it completes processing, at which point
the monitor automatically begins loading the next program.
 Monitor controls the sequence of events, for this monitor must always be in main memory and available
for execution. The portion is referred to as the resident monitor.
 The processor is executing instructions from the portion of main memory containing the monitor. These
instructions cause the next job to be read into another portion of main memory.
 Once a job has been read in, the processor encounters in the monitor a branch instruction that instructs the
processor to continue execution at the start of the user program. The processor then executes the
instructions in the user’s program until it encounters ending or error condition.
 It is clear that batch operating system is simply a computer program. It relies on the ability of the processor
to fetch instructions for various portions of main memory to alternately seize and relinquish control.
Certain other hardware features are also desirable, like Memory protection, Timer, Privileged instructions
and interrupts.
OS

User
program
area

Memory layout for a simple batch system,

 With a batch operating system, machine time alternates between execution of user programs and execution
of the monitor. There have been two sacrifices:
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 Some main memory is now given over to the monitor and some machine time is consumed by the monitor.
Both of these forms of overhead. Even with this overhead, the simple batch system improves the use of
the computer.
 In this execution environment CPU is often idle. This idleness occurs because the speeds of mechanical
I/O devices are intrinsically slower than those of electronic devices.
 The introduction of disk technology has helped in this regard.
 Rather than the cards being read from the card reader directly into memory, and then the job being
processed, cards are read directly from the card reader onto the disk. The location of card images is
recorded in a table kept by the (monitor) OS when a job is executed; the OS satisfies its requests for card
reader input by reading from the disk. Similarly, when the job requests the printer to output a line, that
line is copied into a system buffer and is written to the disk. When the job is completed the output is
actually printed. This form of processing is called spooling.
 Spooling is also used for processing data at remote sites.
 Spooling has a direct beneficial effect on the performance of the system. For the cost of some disk space
and a few tables, the computation of one job can overlap with the I/O of other jobs.
 This Spooling can keep both the CPU and the I/O devices working at much higher rates.
Multi-programmed Batch Systems
 Multiprogramming increases CPU utilization by organizing jobs such that the CPU always has one to
execute. the idea is as follows:
 The OS keeps several jobs in memory at a time. This set of jobs is a subset of the jobs kept in the job pool.
The OS picks and begins to execute one of the jobs in the memory. Eventually, the job may have to wait
for some task, such as a tape to be mounted, or an I/O operation to complete. In a nonmulti-programmed
system, the CPU would sit idle. In a multiprogramming system, the OS simply switches to and executes
another job. When the job needs to wait, the CPU is switched to another job, and so on. Eventually, the
first job finishes waiting and gets the CPU back. As long as there is always some job to execute, the CPU
will never be idle.
 Multiprogramming is the first instance where the operating system must make decision for the users.
Multi-programmed operating systems are therefore highly sophisticated.
OS
job1
job2
job3
The problems with Batch Systems are following.
 Lack of interaction between the user and job.
 CPU is often idle, because the speeds of the mechanical I/O devices are slower than CPU.
 Difficult to provide the desired priority.
Time-Sharing Systems
 A time shared OS allows the many 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 rapidly form one user to the next, each user is given impression that she has her own
computer, whereas actually one computer is being shared among many users.
 Time sharing systems were developed to provide interactive use of a Computer at a reasonable cost.
 A time shared operating system uses CPU scheduling and multiprogramming to provide each user with a
small portion of a time- shared computer.
 Time sharing OS are more complex than multi programmed operating systems.
Advantages of Timesharing operating systems are following

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 Provide advantage of quick response.

 Avoids duplication of software.
 Reduces CPU idle time.
Disadvantages of Timesharing operating systems are following.
 Problem of reliability.
 Question of security and integrity of user programs and data.
 Problem of data communication.
Parallel Systems
 Most systems to date are single-processor systems, that is, they have only one main CPU.
However, there is a trend toward multiprocessor systems. Such systems have more than one
processor in close communication, sharing the computer bus, the clock, and sometimes memory
and peripheral devices. These systems are referred to as tightly coupled systems. There are several
reasons for building such systems, as mention below.
 Increased throughput
 Multiprocessors can also save money compared to multiple single systems because the processors
can share peripherals, cabinets, and power supplies.
 There are two types of multiprocessor systems, namely, symmetric multiprocessing and
asymmetric multiprocessing.
 In symmetric multiprocessing system, each processor runs an identical copy of the operating
system, and these copies communicate with one other as needed.
 An example of symmetric multiprocessing system is Encore’s version of UNIX for the Multimax
computer. The benefit of this model is that many processes can run at once without deterioration
of performance.
 In asymmetric multiprocessing system each processor is assigned a specific task. A master
processor controls the system; the other processors either look to the master for instruction or have
predefined tasks. this scheme defines a master-slave relationship. The master processor schedules
and allocates work to the slave processors.
 Asymmetric multiprocessing is more common in extremely large systems, where one of the most
time-consuming activities is simply processing I/O.
Distributed Systems
 A recent trend in computer systems is to distribute computation among several processors. In
contrast to tightly coupled systems the processors do not share memory or a clock. Instead, each
processor has its own local memory. The processors communicate with one another through
various communication lines, such as high-speed buses or telephone lines. These systems are
usually referred to as loosely coupled systems or distributed systems.
 There are variety of reasons for building distributed systems, the major ones being here:
 Resource sharing
 Computation speedup
 Reliability
 Communication
Processors in a distributed system may vary in size and function. These processors are referred as sites,
nodes, and computers and so on.
The advantages of distributed systems are following.
 With resource sharing facility 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.

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 If one site fails in a distributed system, the remaining sites can potentially continue
operating.
 Better service to the customers.
 Reduction of the load on the host computer.
 Reduction of delays in data processing.
Network operating System
runs on a server and provides 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 are Microsoft Windows
Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, and Novell NetWare.
The advantages of network operating systems are:
 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:
 High cost of buying and running a server.
 Dependency on a central location for most operations.
 Regular maintenance and updates are required.
Real-Time Systems
A real time-time operating system has well defined fixed time constraints. A real-time system is considered
to function correctly only if it returns the correct result within any time constraints. 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. Real-time operating system has
well-defined, fixed time constraints otherwise system will fail. For example, Scientific experiments,
medical imaging systems, industrial control systems, weapon systems, robots, and home-appliance
controllers, Air traffic control system etc.
There are two types of real-time operating systems.
Hard real-time systems: are guarantee that critical tasks complete on time. In hard real-time
systems secondary storage is limited or missing with data stored in ROM. In these systems virtual
memory is almost never found.
 Soft real-time systems: are less restrictive. 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. Soft real-time systems are useful in multimedia, virtual reality and advanced
scientific projects such as planetary rovers.
1.5. Classification of Operating Systems
Access based –
1. Single User – Only one user can access the OS at a time. E.g. DOS, Windows 9x
2. Multi User – Multiple users can access the OS at the same time. E.g. Unix, Windows NT, Linux
Processing Based
1. Single processing – Only one process (job) has control of the whole system at a time. E.g. DOS
2. Multi-Processing – Multiple processes (jobs) control defined domain of their own. E.g. Windows (All
versions), Unix, Linux
Environment Based
1. Stand-alone – Does not support connection from other systems. E.g. DOS,
2. Networking – Supports connection from other systems. E.g. Unix, Linux, Server versions of Windows
NT.

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1.6. Operating System goals and purposes

Goals:
 Convenience
 Makes the computer more convenient to use
 Efficiency
 Allows computer system resources to be used in an efficient manner
 Ability to evolve
 Permit effective development, testing, and introduction of new system functions without
interfering with service
Purpose: the main purpose of the OS is to provide an environment in which a user may execute programs.
1.7. Why do we study operating systems?
Any person who uses computers will use operating systems. Very often the knowledge of the operating system
interface is sufficient for that person to use the computer system. However, it is important to know how operating
systems are built to use the computer more confidently and efficiently.
 Abstraction — how do you give the users the illusion of infinite resources (CPU time, memory, and
file space)?
 System design —tradeoffs between:
 performance and convenience of these abstractions
 performance and simplicity of OS
 functionality in hardware or software
1.8. Structure of Operating System
Just like any other software, the operating system code can be structured in different Ways. The following are
some of the commonly used structures.
 Simple/monolithic Structure
 Layered Approach
 Microkernel’s
 Virtual Machines
Simple/Monolithic Structure
In this case, the operating system code has not structure. It is written for functionality and efficiency (in terms of
time and space). DOS and UNIX are examples of such systems, The key feature of the monolithic:
 Monolithic kernel is not very portable.
 Monolithic kernel get loaded completely into memory at boot time.
Layered Approach
In the layered approach the OS is broken up into a number of layers or levels each built on top of lower layer.

Figure 1.2: Structure of operating system

As shown in the figure 1.2 above, structure of operating system consists of 4 layers:
1. Hardware: Hardware consists of CPU, Main memory, I/O Devices, etc,

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2. Software (Operating System): Software includes process management routines, memory

management routines, I/O control routines, file management routines.
3. System programs: consists of compilers, Assemblers, linker etc.
4. Application programs: This is dependent on users need. Ex. Railway reservation system, Bank
database management etc.
 The operating system by Dijkstra and IBM’s OS/2 are examples of layered operating systems.
Advantage
 Modularity
 Each layer uses functions and services of only lower layers
 Simplifies debugging and system verification.
Disadvantage:
 The major difficulty with layered approach is careful definition of layers, because a layer can
only use the layers below it
Micro kernels
 This method structures the operating system by removing all non-essential components from the
kernel and implementing into user space. Thus making kernel as small as possible and therefore
it called micro kernel.
 Micro kernels typically provide minimum process and memory management in addition to a
communication facility.
 Mach, MacOS X Server, QNX, OS/2, and Windows NT are examples of microkernel based
operating systems.
Benefits Micro kernels
- Easier to extend a microkernel
- Easier to port the operating system to new architectures
- More reliable (less code is running in kernel mode)
- More secure
1.9. Properties of Operating System
1. 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.

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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 programs.
 A job could enter an infinite loop.
 Due to lack of protection scheme, one batch job can affect other pending jobs.
2. Multitasking
Multitasking Operating Systems are also known as Time-sharing systems. In Multitasking Operating Systems,
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.
 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.

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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.
 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.
3. 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.
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Faculty of Computing Technology
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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.
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.
Advantage
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.
4. 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.
5. Real-Time Systems
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.
6. 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.
7. 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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Compiled by: Gebrearegawi G. (MSc.in IT)
Faculty of Computing Technology
 Teaching Module for Operating system

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.
1.10. Operating system services
Operating System provides services to both the users and to the programs which means:
 It provides programs, an environment to execute.
 It provides users, services to execute the programs in a convenient manner.
These services are provided for the convenience of the programmer, to make the programming task easier.
Some classes of services provided by the Operating System are:
 Program creation: The operating system provides a variety of facilities and services to assist the
programmers and debuggers in creating programs. These are taken under the generic name
utilities.
 Program execution: A number of tasks need to be performed to execute a program. Instruction
and data must be loaded into main memory, I/O devices and files must be initialized and other
resources must be prepared. The operating system handles all this for the user. The program must
be able to end its execution, either normally or abnormally (indicating error).
 Access to I/O devices: An Each I/O device requires its own peculiar set of instructions, or control
signals, for operation. I/O subsystem comprised of I/O devices and their corresponding driver
software. Drivers hides the peculiarities of specific hardware devices from the user as the device
driver knows the peculiarities of the specific device.
 Controlled access to files: In case of multi-users the operating system can provide protection
mechanisms to control access to the files.
 System access: In case of shared or public systems, the operating system controls access to the
system as a whole and to specific system resources.
 Error detection and response: A variety of errors can occur while a computer system is running.
These include internal and external hardware errors, such as a memory error or a device failure
and several software failures such as arithmetic overflow, attempt to access forbidden memory
location and inability of the operating system to grant the request of an application.
 Resource Allocation: 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.
 Protection: refers to mechanism or a way to control the access of programs, processes, or users
to the resources defined by computer systems.
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Faculty of Computing Technology
 Teaching Module for Operating system

 Accounting: A good operating system collects usage statistics for various resources and monitors
performance parameters such as response time.
1.11. Functions of Operating System
Following are some of the important functions of an operating System.
 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.
 Processor Management: In multiprogramming environment, OS decides which process gets the
processor when and how much time. This function is called process scheduling.
 Device Management: manages device communication via their respective drivers.
 File Management: file system is normally organized into directories for easy navigation and usage.
These directories may contain files and other directions.
 Security: By means of password and similar other techniques, preventing 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.
 Coordination bet0ween other software and users: Coordination and assignment of compilers,
interpreters, assemblers and other software to the various users of the computer systems.
1.12. Operating System Design issues
Let us understand the different types of advanced operating systems to understand the major design issues
better. But here, some design issues are described below:
 Simplicity. The obviousness of this sometimes means that it is overlooked, but an operating system
kernel is a complex entity that has to be able to work in an uncontrolled and potentially even hostile
environment. Programming errors in the operating system are much less acceptable than in most
normal programs, and the security issues are paramount. A complex design is harder to verify against
either errors or security issues, so simplicity of the basic services is required.
 Efficiency. The kernel is involved with almost all activity in the machine, and as such the kernel must
be efficient enough to never be seen as a performance constraint.
 Compatibility. While the basic operations of a kernel are of supreme interest to researchers in the
operating system area, most people do not want to know what is going on as long as their programs
work. As such, one of the most important features of an operating system is the lack of surprises it
offers to the user, be he a normal end-user or a programmer. Even new features should be offered as
a superset, rather than instead of functionality that the user is accustomed to.
 Robustness: refers to an operating system or other program that performs well not only under ordinary
conditions but also under unusual conditions that stress its designers' assumptions. The Operating
system can operate for prolonged periods (sometimes years) without crashing (i.e., stopping
operating) or requiring rebooting (i.e., restarting). And although individual application programs
sometimes crash, they almost always do so without affecting other programs or the operating system
itself.
 Flexibility: flexible operating systems are taken to be those whose designs have been motivated to
some degree by the desire to allow the system to be tailored, either statically or dynamically, to the
requirements of specific applications or application domains.
 Portability: Portability is a characteristic attributed to a computer program if it can be used in
operating systems other than the one in which it was created without requiring major rework. Porting
is the task of doing any work necessary to make the computer program run in the new environment.
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Faculty of Computing Technology
 Teaching Module for 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.
1.13. Common Operating System Components
Due to the complex nature of the modern operating systems, it is partitioned into smaller component.
Each component performs a well-defined function with well-defined inputs and outputs. Many modern
operating systems have the following components.
 Process Management
 Main Memory Management
 File Management
 I/O System Management
 Secondary Storage Management
 Protection System
 Command-Interpreter System
Process Management
A process is a program in execution. A process needs certain resources, including CPU time,
memory, files, and I/O devices, to accomplish its task.
The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connection with process
Process creation and deletion.
• Process suspension and resumption.
• Provision of mechanisms for:
• process synchronization
• process communication
• Providing mechanisms for deadlock handling
Main-Memory Management
• Memory is a large array of words or bytes, each with its own address. It is a repository of quickly
accessible data shared by the CPU and I/O devices.
• Main memory is a volatile storage device. It loses its contents in the case of system failure.
The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connections with memory
management:
• Keep track of which parts of memory are currently being used and by whom.
• Decide which processes to load when memory space becomes available.
• Allocate and deallocate memory space as needed.
File Management
A file is a collection of related information defined by its creator. Commonly, files represent
programs (both source and object forms) and data.
The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connections with file management:
• File creation and deletion.
• Directory creation and deletion.
• Support of primitives for manipulating files and directories.
• Mapping files onto secondary storage.
• File backup on stable (nonvolatile) storage media.
I/O System Management
The I/O system consists of:
• A buffer-caching system
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Compiled by: Gebrearegawi G. (MSc.in IT)
Faculty of Computing Technology
 Teaching Module for Operating system

• A general device-driver interface

• Drivers for specific hardware devices
Secondary-Storage Management
Since main memory (primary storage) is volatile and too small to accommodate all data and programs
permanently, the computer system must provide secondary storage to back up main memory.
The operating system is responsible for the following activities in connection with disk
management:
• Free space management
• Storage allocation
• Disk scheduling
Protection System
Protection refers to a mechanism for controlling access by programs, processes, or users to both
system and user resources defined by computer system.
The protection mechanism must:
• Distinguish between authorized and unauthorized usage.
• Specify the controls to be imposed.
• Provide a means of enforcement.
Command-Interpreter System
• The program that reads and interprets control statements is called variously:
• command-line interpreter
• shell (in UNIX)

Summery
 A program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a computer and the computer hardware.
Operating system goals:
 Execute user programs and make solving user problems easier.
 Make the computer system convenient to use.
 Use the computer hardware in an efficient manner.
 The basic concepts on which all operating systems are built are processes, memory management, I/O
management, the file system, and security.

 Operating systems can be structured in several ways. The most common ones are as a monolithic
system, a hierarchy of layers, a virtual machine system.

Reading Assignment
 Write a short summery on the history of OS (1 page)
 Write and explain all OS like windows, xp, Vista, unix, and linux (1 page)

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Compiled by: Gebrearegawi G. (MSc.in IT)
Faculty of Computing Technology