Operating System I

Unit – 3
Kavitha S N
Computer
 SOFTWARE
Software is a set of instructions, data or programs
used to operate computers and perform specific tasks.
It is the opposite of hardware, which describes the
physical aspects of a computer.
System Software & Application Software
System Softwares
• Enables the applications to interact with the computer and
manages the computer internal resources.
• E.g. Operating System, Compiler, Linker, Loader, Device drivers
etc
 Operating System
An Operating System is a program that manages the computer
hardware. It acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer
and the hardware of a computer.
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.
 Types of Operating Systems
Some widely used operating systems are as follows-
1. Batch Operating System
2. Time-Sharing Operating Systems
3. Distributed Operating System
4. Network Operating System
5. Real-Time Operating System
 Batch Operating System
• This type of operating system does not interact with the computer directly.
• There is an operator which takes similar jobs having the same requirement and group them into batches.
• It is the responsibility of the operator to sort jobs with similar needs.
Examples of Batch based Operating System: Payroll System, Bank Statements, etc.
Time-Sharing Operating Systems
• Each task is given some time to execute so that all the tasks work smoothly.
• Each user gets the time of CPU as they use a single system. These systems are also known as
Multitasking Systems.
• The task can be from a single user or different users also.
• The time that each task gets to execute is called quantum. After this time interval is over OS switches
over to the next task.
Examples of Time-Sharing OSs are: Multics, Unix, etc.
Distributed Operating System
• Various autonomous interconnected computers communicate with each other using a shared
communication network(LAN).
• Independent systems possess their own memory unit and CPU.
• These are referred to as loosely coupled systems or distributed systems.
Examples of Distributed Operating System are- LOCUS, etc.
Network Operating System
• These systems run on a server and provide the capability to manage data, users, groups, security,
applications, and other networking functions.
• These types of operating systems allow shared access of files, printers, security, applications, and other
networking functions over a small private network.
Examples of Network Operating System are: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server
2008, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Novell NetWare, and BSD, etc.
Real-Time Operating System
• A Real Time Operating System, commonly known as an RTOS, is a software component that rapidly
switches between tasks, giving the impression that multiple programs are being executed at the same
time on a single processing core.
• These types of OSs serve real-time systems. The time interval required to process and respond to inputs
is very small. This time interval is called response time.
• Real-time systems are used when there are time requirements that are very strict like missile systems,
air traffic control systems, robots, etc.
Operating System Structure
● Simple Structure

● Layered Approach

● Microkernels

● Modules
 Simple Structure
MS-DOS – written to provide the most functionality in the
least space
● Not divided into modules
● Although MS-DOS has some structure, its interfaces and
levels of functionality are not well separated
 Layered Approach
The operating system is divided into a number of layers
(levels), each built on top of lower layers. The bottom layer
(layer 0), is the hardware; the highest (layer N) is the user
interface.
● With modularity, layers are selected such that each uses
functions (operations) and services of only lower-level layers
 Microkernels
• Moves as much from the kernel into user space
● Communication takes place between user modules using
message passing
●Benefits:
● 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
Detriments:
● Performance overhead of user space to kernel space
communication
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 flexible
● Linux, Solaris, etc
Operating System Operations

● The major operations of

the operating system are
process management,
memory management,
device management and
file management.
Generations Operating System

GENERATION COMPONENTS USED

First Generation Computers (1946-1959) Vaccum Tubes
Second Generation Computers (1959-1965) Transistors

Third Generation Computers (1965-1970) IC (Integrated Circuits)

Fourth Generation Computers (1971-1980) VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)

Fifth Generation Computers (1980 – till date) ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration)
The First Generation:
Vacuum Tubes

• These early computers were designed, built and maintained by a single

group of people.
• Programming languages were unknown and there were no operating
systems so all the programming was done in machine language.
• All the problems were simple numerical calculations.
The Second Generation:
Transistors and Batch Systems

• Transistors led to the development of the computer systems that could be

manufactured and sold to paying customers.
• These machines were known as mainframes and were locked in air-
conditioned computer rooms with staff to operate them.
The Third Generation:
Integrated Circuits and Multiprogramming

• Until the 1960’s, there were two types of computer systems i.e the
scientific and the commercial computers.
• These were combined by IBM in the System/360.
• This used integrated circuits and provided a major price and performance
advantage over the second generation systems.
The Fourth Generation:
Personal Computers

• Personal Computers were easy to create with the development of large-

scale integrated circuits.
• These were chips containing thousands of transistors on a square
centimeter of silicon. Because of these, microcomputers were much
cheaper than minicomputers and that made it possible for a single
individual to own one of them.
System Calls
System calls provide an interface between the process and the operating
system. System calls provide an interface to the services made available by an
operating system.
Ex: Writing a simple program to read data from one file and copy them to another
file.
 Types of System Calls
Process Control
Process control calls deal with processes such as process creation,
process termination etc.
Linux Commands: fork() ,exit() ,wait()
 Types of System Calls

File Management
File management is used for file manipulation such as creating a file,
reading a file, writing into a file etc.
Linux Commands: open() , read(), write(), close()
 Types of System Calls

Device Management
Device management is used for device manipulation such as reading
from device buffers, writing into device buffers etc.
Linux Commands: ioctl(), read(), write()
 Types of System Calls

Information Maintenance
Information maintenance handles information and its transfer between
the operating system and the user program.
Linux Commands: getpid(), alarm(), sleep()
 Types of System Calls

Communication
Inter process communication happens in this system. They also deal
with creating and deleting a communication connection.
Linux Commands: pipe()