Introduction

Operating Systems Concepts and Structure

Lecture 1
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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
Applications

Compilers

Editors

Shells

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

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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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