Operating System

Chapter 4: Device Management

CS Program BY: GIRMA A.

Outline
4.1. Characteristics of parallel and serial devices
4.2. Buffering strategies
4.3. Direct memory access
4.4. recovery from failure
Introduction
 A process may need several resources to execute task such as main memory,
disk drives, access to files, and so on.
 If the resources are available, they can be granted, and control can be
returned to the user process.
 Otherwise, the process will have to wait until sufficient resources are
available.
 The various resources controlled by the operating system can be thought

of as devices.
 Some of these devices are physical devices (for example, disk drives), while
others can be thought of as abstract or virtual devices (for example, files).
 Device management Function
 Keep tracks of all the devices and the programs
 Monitoring the status of each device

 Take the decision that which process gets the device when and

for how long.

 Efficiently allocates and deallocates the devices

 Optimize the performance of individual devices

 Types of Devices
✓ Peripheral devices are categorized as follows:
✓ Characteristics of the devices

✓ How they're managed by the Device Manager

✓ Different categories:
✓ Dedicated, shared, and virtual

✓ Most important differences among devices

✓ Speed

✓ Degree of shareability
Characteristics of parallel and serial devices
 Parallel Devices: Transfer data multiple bits at a time, resulting in
faster speed. 20
 Examples: printers, some older CPUs.
 Advantages: faster transmission, simpler hardware.
 Disadvantages: expensive cabling, limited transmission distance,
susceptibility to interference.
 Serial Devices: Transfer data one bit at a time, often slower but more
economical.
 Examples: keyboards, mice, most modern CPUs.
 Advantages: cheaper cabling, longer transmission distance, less susceptible
to interference.
 Disadvantages: slower transmission, requires more complex hardware.
Cont…
Dedicated Devices
 Assigned to only one job at a time and serves that job for entire time it's
active
 e.g., tape drives, printers, and plotters

 Disadvantage:
 Mustbe allocated to a single user for duration of a job's execution
 Can be quite inefficient, especially when device isn’t used 100% of the time
Cont…
Shared Devices
 Assigned to several processes
 e.g., disk pack or other DASDs can be shared by several processes at same
time by interleaving their requests
 Interleaving must be carefully controlled by Device Manager

 All conflicts must be resolved based on pre-determined policies

Cont..
Virtual Devices
 Dedicated devices that have been transformed into shared devices

 e.g.,
printers (dedicated devices) converted into sharable devices through a
spooling program
 Spooling is used to speed up slow dedicated I/O devices
 e.g.,USB controller, a virtual device that acts as an interface between OS,
device drivers, and applications and the devices that are attached via the
USB host
Sequential Access Storage Media

 Storage media are divided into two groups:

 Sequential access media
◼ Store records sequentially
 Direct access storage devices (DASD)
◼ Store either sequential or direct access files
◼ There are vast differences in their speed and shareability
Cont…

 Paper: First storage medium: printouts, punch cards

 Magnetic tape: Used for secondary storage on early computer systems;
now used for routine archiving & storing back-up data.
 Records on magnetic tapes are stored serially
 Record length determined by the application program
 Each record identified by its position on the tape
 Tape is mounted and fast-forwarded to access a single record
◼ Time-consuming process
Cont…
Cont…
 Data is recorded on 8 parallel tracks that run the length of tape
 Ninth track holds parity bit for routine error checking
 Density of tape determines number of characters that can be
recorded per inch.
 Records can be stored individually or in blocks
 Blocking provides efficient way of storing records
Cont…
 Interrecord gap (IRG) : Gap between records about 1/2 inch long
regardless of the sizes of the records it separates
 Interblock gap (IBG) : Gap between blocks of records; still 1/2 inch
long
 Transfer rate = Tape density x tape transport speed
Cont…
Cont…
 Advantages of blocking:
 Fewer I/O operations needed
 Less tape is wasted

 Disadvantages of blocking:
 Overhead and software routines are needed for blocking, deblocking, and
record keeping
 Buffer space wasted if only one logical record is needed
Cont…
 Advantages of magnetic tapes:
 Lowcost
 Compact storage capabilities
◼ Good medium for backing up magnetic disks and for long-term archival file storage
 Disadvantages of magnetic tapes:
 Accesstime variability
 Poor medium for routine secondary storage
◼ Not good for interactive applications
Direct Access Storage Devices
 DASDs, any devices that can directly read or write to a specific place
on a disk
 Categories:
◼ Magnetic disks
◼ Fixed-Head Magnetic Disk Storage
◼ Movable-Head Magnetic Disk Storage
◼ Optical discs
◼ Flash memory
◼ Magneto-optical disks

 Location of a record directly affects access time

Fixed-Head Magnetic Disk Storage
 Looks like a large CD or DVD covered with magnetic film.
 Formatted, usually on both sides, into concentric circles called
tracks.
 Data is recorded serially on each track by the fixed read/write

head positioned over it.

 Applications: Spacecraft monitoring or aircraft applications

(where speed is of utmost importance)

 Disadvantages: High cost and reduced storage
Cont….
Movable-Head Magnetic Disk Storage
 Have one read/write head that floats over the surface of each disk,
e.g., PC hard drives
 Can be a single platter
 Can be a part of a disk pack (stack of platters)

 Disk Pack:
 Each platter has two surfaces for recording (except those at the top and
bottom of the stack)
 Each surface is formatted with concentric tracks
 Number of tracks ranges from 100 on a floppy disk to a thousand or more
on a high-capacity hard disk
Cont…
 Optical Disc Storage
 Optical disc vs. Magnetic disk:
 Magnetic disk
◼ Consists of concentric tracks of sectors
◼ Spins at a constant angular velocity (CAV)
◼ Wastes storage space but data retrieval is fast
 Optical disc
◼ Consists of a single spiraling track of same-sized sectors running
from center to rim of disc
◼ Spins at a constant linear velocity (CLV)
◼ Allows more sectors and more data to fit on a disc
Cont…

Magnetic disk
Optical Disc
 Flash Memory Storage
 Flash memory is a removable medium that emulates RAM, but
stores data securely even when removed from power source
 Allows users to store data on a microchip card or "key" and
move it from device to device.
 Configurations include compact flash, smart cards, and memory
sticks; often connected to the computer through the USB port
 To write data to the chip, an electric charge is sent through
floating gate; to erase, a strong electrical field (flash) is
applied
DASD Access Times
 Time required to access a file depends on:
 Seek time: Time to position read/write head
◼ Slowest of the three factors
◼ Doesn't apply to devices with fixed read/write heads

 Search time (rotational delay): Time to rotate DASD until desired record is
under read/write head
 Transfer time: Time to transfer data from secondary storage to main memory
◼ Fastest
Communication Among Devices

 For efficient system, Device Manager must:

 Know which components are busy/free.
◼ Solved by structuring the interaction between units
 Accommodate requests during heavy I/O traffic
◼ Handled by buffering records and queuing requests
 Accommodate speed disparity between CPU and I/O devices
◼ Handled by buffering records and queuing requests
Management of I/O Requests
 Device Manager divides task into three parts, each
handled by specific software component of I/O
subsystem:
 I/O traffic controller watches status of all devices, control
units, and channels
 I/O scheduler implements policies that determine allocation
of, and access to, devices, control units, and channels
 I/O device handler performs actual transfer of data and
processes the device interrupts
Device Handler Seek Strategies
 Predetermined policy used by device handler to determine
order in which processes get the device.
 Goal is to keep seek time to a minimum
 Types of seek strategies:
 First come, first served (FCFS), shortest seek time first (SSTF), SCAN
(including LOOK, N-Step SCAN, C-SCAN, & C-LOOK)
 Every scheduling algorithm should:
 Minimize arm movement
 Minimize mean response time
 Minimize variance in response time
Cont…
 FCFS: On average, it doesn't meet any of the three goals of a seek
strategy.
 Disadvantage: Extreme arm movement
 Shortest Seek Time First (SSTF):
 Request with track closest to one being served is satisfied next
 Minimizes overall seek time

 Postpones traveling to those that are out of way

cont…

 SCAN:
 Uses a directional bit to indicate whether the arm is moving
toward center of the disk or away from it.
 Algorithm moves arm methodically from outer to inner track
servicing every request in its path.
 When it reaches innermost track it reverses direction and
moves toward outer tracks, again servicing every request in its
path.
 LOOK:
 Arm doesn't necessarily go all the way to either edge unless there are
requests
 Eliminates possibility of indefinite postponement
Cont…
 N-Step SCAN: Holds all requests until arm starts on way back
 New requests are grouped together for next sweep
 C-SCAN (Circular SCAN) : Arm picks up requests on its path
during inward sweep
 Provides a more uniform wait time
 C-LOOK: Inward sweep stops at last high- numbered track
request
 Arm doesn't move to last track unless required to
Which strategy is the best?
 FCFS works well with light loads, but service time becomes
unacceptably long under high loads
 SSTF works well with moderate loads but has problem of localization
under heavy loads
 SCAN works well with light to moderate loads and eliminates problem
of indefinite postponement. Similar to SSTF in throughput and mean
service times
 C-SCAN works well with moderate to heavy loads and has a very
small variance in service times
Search Strategies: Rotational Ordering

 Rotational ordering : Optimizes search times by ordering

requests once read/write heads have been positioned
 Time
spent on moving read/write head is hardware
dependent
 Amount of time wasted due to rotational delay can be
reduced
 Arrange requests so that first sector requested on second
track is next number higher than one just served
End!!