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Disk Scheduling

Disk scheduling is a critical function of operating systems that manages I/O requests for disk access, ensuring efficient service due to the slow nature of hard drives. Key goals of disk scheduling algorithms include high throughput, minimal head travel time, and fairness among requests. Various algorithms such as FCFS, SSTF, and SCAN each have unique advantages and disadvantages in terms of response time and efficiency.

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6 views

Disk Scheduling

Disk scheduling is a critical function of operating systems that manages I/O requests for disk access, ensuring efficient service due to the slow nature of hard drives. Key goals of disk scheduling algorithms include high throughput, minimal head travel time, and fairness among requests. Various algorithms such as FCFS, SSTF, and SCAN each have unique advantages and disadvantages in terms of response time and efficiency.

Uploaded by

shivprasadbaraskar08
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CHAPTER 3:

DISK SCHEDULING
Disk scheduling is done by operating systems to schedule I/O
requests arriving for the disk. Disk scheduling is also known as I/O
scheduling.
Disk scheduling is important because:

 Multiple I/O requests may arrive by different processes and only one
I/O request can be served at a time by the disk controller. Thus other
I/O requests need to wait in the waiting queue and need to be
scheduled.
 Two or more request may be far from each other so can result in
greater disk arm movement.
 Hard drives are one of the slowest parts of the computer system and
thus need to be accessed in an efficient manner.
Goals of disk scheduling
algorithm:
 high throughput.
 minimal travelling head time.
 fairness.
Important terms:
 Seek Time: Seek time is the time taken to locate the disk arm to a
specified track where the data is to be read or write. So the disk
scheduling algorithm that gives minimum average seek time is better.
 Rotational Latency: Rotational Latency is the time taken by the
desired sector of disk to rotate into a position so that it can access the
read/write heads. So the disk scheduling algorithm that gives minimum
rotational latency is better.
 Transfer Time: Transfer time is the time to transfer the data. It
depends on the rotating speed of the disk and number of bytes to be
transferred.
 Disk Access Time:
Disk Access Time = Seek Time+ Rotational Latency + Transfer Time
Disk Structure
Disk Scheduling Algorithms

FCFS: FCFS is the simplest of all the Disk Scheduling Algorithms. In FCFS, the
requests are addressed in the order they arrive in the disk queue

Advantages:
 Every request gets a fair chance
 No indefinite postponement

Disadvantages:
 Does not try to optimize seek time
 May not provide the best possible service
SSTF: In SSTF (Shortest Seek Time First), requests having shortest seek time are
executed first. So, the seek time of every request is calculated in advance in the
queue and then they are scheduled according to their calculated seek time. As a
result, the request near the disk arm will get executed first. SSTF is certainly an
improvement over FCFS as it decreases the average response time and increases the
throughput of system.
Advantages:
 The average Response Time decreases
 Throughput increases
Disadvantages:
 Overhead to calculate seek time in advance
 Can cause Starvation for a request if it has a higher seek time as compared to
incoming requests
 The high variance of response time as SSTF favors only some requests
SCAN: In the SCAN algorithm the disk arm moves in a particular direction and
services the requests coming in its path and after reaching the end of the disk, it
reverses its direction and again services the request arriving in its path. So, this
algorithm works as an elevator and is hence also known as an elevator
algorithm. As a result, the requests at the midrange are serviced more and those
arriving behind the disk arm will have to wait.
Advantages:
 High throughput
 Low variance of response time
 Average response time
Disadvantages:
 Long waiting time for requests for locations just visited by disk arm

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