Basics of Operating system

1. What is Operating System

2. Abstract view of Operating System
3. Goals and functions of Operating System
4. Evolution of Operating System
5. Multiprogramming Operating System
6. Multitasking/Time Sharing Operating System
7. Multiprocessing Processing Operating System
8. Real Time Operating System
9. Distributed Operating System
10. CLI Vs GUI
11. Structure of Operating System
12. Micro-Kernel approach
13. System call
 What is Operating System

• Whatever used as an interface between the user and the core machine is OS.
• E.g. steering of car, switch of the fan etc., Buttons over electronic devices.

• Question comes why we need an operating system?

• To enable everybody to use h/w In a convenient and efficient manner
 Definition of Operating System

• There is no exact or precise definition for OS but we can say, “A program or System
software”

• Which Acts as an intermediary between user & h/w

• Resource Manager/Allocator - Manage system resources in an unbiased fashion both h/w
(mainly CPU time, memory, system buses) & s/w (access, authorization, semaphores) and
provide functionality to application programs.
• OS controls and coordinates the use of resources among various application programs.
• OS provides platform on which other application programs can be installed, provides the
environment within which programs are executed.
• For personal computers - Microsoft windows (82.7%), Mac (13.23), Linux (1.57)

• For mobile phones - Android (87.5), IOS (12.1) etc.

Q An operating system is: (NET-DEC-2006)

(A) Collection of hardware components

(B) Collection of input-output devices

(C) Collection of software routines

(D) All the above

• Computer hardware – CPU, memory units, i/o devices, system bus, registers etc. provides the
basic computing resources.

• OS - Control and coordinates the use of the hardware among the various applications
programs.

• System and Applications programs - Defines the way in which these resources are used to
solve the computing problems of the user.

• User
 Goals and Functions of operating system
• Goals are the ultimate destination, but we follow functions to implement goals.

• Goals
• Primary goals (Convenience / user friendly)

• Secondary goals (Efficiency (Using resources in efficient manner) / Reliability /

maintainability)
सबका साथ सबका विकास
 Functions of operating system

• Process management

• Memory management

• I\O device management

• File management

• Network management

• Security & Protection

 Evolution of Operating System

• Early computers were not interactive device, there user use to prepare a job which consist
three parts
• Program
• Control information
• Input data

• Only one job is given input at a time as there was no memory, computer will take the input
then process it and then generate output.

• Common input/output device were punch card or tape drives.

• So these devices were very slow, and processor remain ideal most of the time.
 Batch Operating System
• To speed up the processing job with similar types (programming language) were batched together and were run
through the processor as a group (batch).

• In some system grouping is done by the operator while in some systems it is performed by the 'Batch Monitor'
resided in the low end of main memory)

• Then jobs (as a deck of punched cards) are bundled into batches with similar requirement.

• Then the submitted jobs were 'grouped as FORTRAN jobs, COBOL jobs etc.
Advantage
• The batched jobs were executed automatically one after another
saving its time by performing the activities (like loading of
compiler) only for once. It resulted in improved system utilization
due to reduced turnaround time.

• Increased performance as a new job get started as soon as the

previous job is finished, without any manual intervention

Disadvantage
• Memory limitation – memory was very limited, because of which
interactive process or multiprogramming was not possible
 Spooling
• ("Spool" is technically an acronym for simultaneous peripheral operations online.)
• In a computer system peripheral equipment, such as printers and punch card readers etc, are very slow relative
to the performance of the rest of the system. Spooling is useful because devices access data at different rates.
• Spooling is a process in which data is temporarily held to be used and executed by a device, program or the
system. Data is sent to and stored in memory or other volatile storage until the program or computer requests it
for execution.
• Generally, the spool is maintained on the computer’s physical memory, buffers or the I/O device-specific
interrupts.
• The most common implementation of spooling can be found in typical input/output devices such as the
keyboard, mouse and printer. For example, in printer spooling, the documents/files that are sent to the printer
are first stored in the memory. Once the printer is ready, it fetches the data and prints it.

• A spooler works by intercepting the information going to the printer, parking it temporarily on disk or in memory.
The computer can send the document information to the spooler at full speed, then immediately return control
of the screen to you.

• The spooler, meanwhile, hangs onto the information and feeds it to the printer at the slow speed the printer
needs to get it. So if your computer can spool, you can work while a document is being printed.
• Even experienced a situation when suddenly for some seconds your mouse or keyboard stops
working? Meanwhile, we usually click again and again here and there on the screen to check if
its working or not. When it actually starts working, what and wherever we pressed during its
hang state gets executed very fast because all the instructions got stored in the respective
device’s spool.

• Spooling is capable of overlapping I/O operation for one job with processor operations for
another job. i.e. multiple processes can write documents to a print queue without waiting and
resume with their work.
Q Which of the following is an example of a spooled device? (GATE-1996) (1 Marks)
(A) a line printer used to print the output of a number of jobs

(B) a terminal used to enter input data to a running program

(C) a secondary storage device in a virtual memory system

(D) a graphic display device

Q which of the following is an example of a spooled device? (GATE-1998) (1 Marks)
(a) The terminal used to enter the input data for the C program being executed

(b) An output device used to print the output of a number of jobs

(c) The secondary memory device in a virtual storage system

(d) The swapping area on a disk used by the swapper

 Multiprogramming Operating System
• A single program cannot, in general, keep either
the CPU or the I/O devices busy at all times. The
basic idea of multiprogramming operating system
is it keeps several jobs in main memory
simultaneously.

• The jobs are kept initially on the disk in the job

pool. This pool consists of all processes residing
on disk awaiting allocation of main memory.

• The operating system picks and begins to execute

one of the jobs in memory. Eventually, the job
may have to wait for some task, such as an I/O
operation, to complete.

Show must go on
• In a non-multi-programmed system, the CPU would
sit idle and wait but in a multi-programmed system,
the operating system simply switches to, and
executes, another job. When that job needs to wait,
the CPU switches to another job, and so on.

• Eventually, the first job finishes waiting and gets the

CPU back. So, conclusion is as long as at least one
job needs to execute, the CPU is never idle.

Processor वकसी के विए wait नहीीं करे गा

Advantage
• High and efficient CPU utilization.
• Less response time or waiting time or turnaround time
• In most of the applications multiple tasks are running and multiprogramming systems
better handle these type of applications
• Several processes share CPU time

Disadvantage
• It is difficult to program a system because of complicated schedule handling.
• To accommodate many jobs in main memory, complex memory management is required.
Q Which of the following features will characterize an OS as multi-programmed OS? (NET-DEC-
2012) (Gate-2002) (1 Marks)
(a) More than one program may be loaded into main memory at the same time.

(b) If a program waits for certain event another program is immediately scheduled.

(c) If the execution of a program terminates, another program is immediately scheduled.

(A) (a) only (B) (a) and (b) only

(C) (a) and (c) only (D) (a), (b) and (c) only
Multitasking Operating system/time sharing/Multiprogramming with Round Robin/ Fair Share
• In the modern operating systems, we are able to play MP3 music, edit documents in Microsoft
Word, surf the Google Chrome all running at the same time. (by context switching, the illusion
of parallelism is achieved)

• For multitasking to take place, firstly there should be multiprogramming i.e. presence of
multiple programs ready for execution. And secondly the concept of time sharing.
• Time sharing (or multitasking) is a logical extension of multiprogramming, it allows many users
to share the computer simultaneously. the CPU executes multiple jobs (May belong to
different user) by switching among them, but the switches occur so frequently that, each user
is given the impression that the entire computer system is dedicated to his/her use, even
though it is being shared among many users.
Q If you want to execute more than one program at a time, the systems software that are used
must be capable of: (NET-DEC-2005)

(A) word processing (B) virtual memory

(C) compiling (D) multitasking

 Multiprocessing Operating System/ tightly coupled system

• Multiprocessor Operating System refers to the use of two or more central processing units (CPU) within a
single computer system. These multiple CPUs are in a close communication sharing the computer bus, memory
and other peripheral devices. These systems are referred as tightly coupled systems

• So in multiprocessing, multiple concurrent processes each can run on a separate CPU, here we achieve a true
parallel execution of processes. Parallel processing is the ability of the CPU to simultaneously process incoming
jobs.
• Multiprocessing becomes most important in computer system, where the complexity of the job is
more, and CPU divides and conquers the jobs. Generally, the parallel processing is used in the fields
like artificial intelligence and expert system, image processing, weather forecasting etc.
 Multiprocessing can be of two types
• Symmetric multiprocessing - In a symmetric multi-processing, a single OS instance controls two or more identical
processors connected to a single shared main memory.

• Most of the multi-processing PC motherboards utilize symmetric multiprocessing. Here each processor runs an
identical copy of operating system and these copies communicate with each other.

• SMP means that all processors are peers; no boss–worker relationship exists between processors. Windows, Mac
OSX and Linux.
• Asymmetric - This scheme defines a master-slave relationship, where one processor behaves as a master and control other
processor which behaves as slaves.
• For e.g. It may require that only one particular CPU respond to all hardware interrupts, whereas all other work in the system
may be distributed equally among CPUs;
• Or execution of kernel-mode code may be restricted to only one particular CPU, whereas user-mode code may be executed in
any combination of processors.
• Multiprocessing systems are often easier to design if such restrictions are imposed, but they tend to be less efficient than
systems in which all CPUs are utilized.
• A boss processor controls the system, other processors either look to the boss for instruction or have predefined tasks. This
scheme defines a boss–worker relationship. The boss processor schedules and allocates work to the worker processors.
 Advantage of multiprocessing
•Increased Throughput - By increasing the number of processors, we expect to get more work done in less time. The speed-up
ratio with N processors is not N, however; rather, it is less than N. When multiple processors cooperate on a task, a certain
amount of overhead is incurred in keeping all the parts working correctly. This overhead, plus contention for shared resources,
lowers the expected gain from additional processors. These types of systems are used when very high speed is required to
process a large volume of data.
•Economy of Scale - Multiprocessor systems can cost less than equivalent multiple single-processor systems, because they can
share peripherals, mass storage, and power supplies. If several programs operate on the same set of data, it is cheaper to store
those data on one disk and to have all the processors share them than to have many computers with local disks and many copies
of the data.
•Increased Reliability (fault tolerance) - If functions can be distributed properly among several processors, then the failure of
one processor will not halt the system, only slow it down. If we have ten processors and one fail, then each of the remaining nine
processors can pick up a share of the work of the failed processor. Thus, the entire system runs only 10 percent slower, rather
than failing altogether
•Less Battery consumption and heat generation
 Disadvantages
•It’s more complex than simple operating systems.
•It requires context switching which may impacts performance.
•If one processor fails then it will affect in the speed
•large main memory required
 Real time Operating system
• A real time system is a time bound system which has well defined fixed time constraints. Processing must be done within the
defined constraints or the system will fail. Very fast and quick respondent systems.

• RTOS intended to serve real-time applications that process data as it comes in, typically without buffer delays. Are used in an
environment where a large number of events (generally external) must be accepted and processed in a short time.

• For example, a measurement from a petroleum refinery indicating that temperature is getting too high and might demand for
immediate attention to avoid an explosion. Airlines reservation system, Air traffic control system, Systems that provide
immediate updating, Systems that provide up to the minute information on stock prices, Defense application systems like as
RADAR.
• Valued more for how quickly or how predictably it can respond than for the amount of work it
can perform in a given period of time.

• Little swapping of programs between primary and secondary memory. Most of the time,
processes remain in primary memory in order to provide quick response, therefore, memory
management in real time system is less demanding compared to other systems.
• Hard real-time operating system - This is also a type of OS and it is predicted by
a deadline. The predicted deadlines will react at a time t = 0. Some examples of
this operating system are air bag control in cars, anti-lock brake, and engine
control system etc.
• There are three different types of RTOS which are following
• Soft real-time operating system - The soft real-time operating system has certain
deadlines, may be missed and they will take the action at a time t=0+. The soft real-time
operating system is a type of OS and it does not contain constrained to extreme rules. The
critical time of this operating system is delayed to some extent. The examples of this
operating system are the digital camera, mobile phones and online data etc.
 Distributed OS
• A distributed operating system is a software over a collection of independent, networked, communicating, loosely coupled
nodes and physically separate computational nodes.

• These modes do not share memory or a clock. Instead, each node has its own local memory. The nodes communicate with
one another through various networks, such as high-speed buses and the Internet.

• They handle jobs which are serviced by multiple CPUs. Each individual node holds a specific software subset of the global
aggregate operating system.
• Each subset is a composite of two distinct service provisioners. The first is a ubiquitous minimal kernel, or microkernel, that directly controls
that node's hardware.

• Second is a higher-level collection of system management components that coordinate the node's individual and collaborative activities. These
components abstract microkernel functions and support user applications.
• The microkernel and the management components collection work together. They support the system's goal of
integrating multiple resources and processing functionality into an efficient and stable system.

• This seamless integration of individual nodes into a global system is referred to as transparency, or single system
image; describing the illusion provided to users of the global system's appearance as a single computational
entity.
• To a user, a distributed OS works in a manner similar to a single-node, monolithic operating
system. That is, although it consists of multiple nodes, it appears to users and applications as a
single-node.

• There are four major reasons for building distributed systems: resource sharing, computation
speedup, reliability, and communication.

• E.g. Plan 9 from Bell Labs, Inferno

Q Match the following: (NET-June-2015)

List - I List - II
(1) Spooling (i) Allows several jobs in memory to improve CPU utilization
(2) Multiprogramming (ii)Access to shared resources among geographically dispersed
computers in a transparent way
(3)Time sharing (iii) Overlapping I/O and computations
(4)Distributed computing (iv)Allows many users to share a computer simultaneously by
switching processor frequently

(1) (2) (3) (4)

a) iii i ii iv
b) iii i iv ii
c) iv iii ii i
d) ii iii iv i
 User and Operating-System Interface
• There are several ways for users to interface with the operating system. Here, we discuss two
fundamental approaches.
• One provides a command-line interface, or command interpreter, that allows users to directly
enter commands to be performed by the operating system.
• The other allows users to interface with the operating system via a graphical user interface, or
GUI.
• Command Interpreters - Some operating systems include the command interpreter in the kernel.

• Others, such as Windows and UNIX, treat the command interpreter as a special program that is running when a
job is initiated or when a user first logs on (on interactive systems).

• On systems with multiple command interpreters to choose from, the interpreters are known as shells. For
example, on UNIX and Linux systems, a user may choose among several different shells, including the Bourne
shell, C shell, Bourne-Again shell, Korn shell, and others.
• Graphical User Interfaces - A second strategy for interfacing with the operating system is through a user- friendly
graphical user interface, or GUI.

• Here, users employ a mouse-based window- and-menu system characterized by a desktop.

• The user moves the mouse to position its pointer on images, or icons, on the screen (the desktop) that represent
programs, files, directories, and system functions.

• Depending on the mouse pointer’s location, clicking a button on the mouse can invoke a program, select a file or
directory—known as a folder —or pull down a menu that contains commands.
• Because a mouse is impractical for most mobile systems, smartphones and handheld tablet computers typically
use a touchscreen interface.

• Here, users interact by making gestures on the touchscreen—for example, pressing and swiping fingers across the
screen.
• The choice of whether to use a command-line or GUI interface is mostly one of personal preference.

• System administrators who manage computers and power users who have deep knowledge of a system
frequently use the command-line interface. For them, it is more efficient, giving them faster access to the
activities they need to perform.

• Indeed, on some systems, only a subset of system functions is available via the GUI, leaving the less common
tasks to those who are command-line knowledgeable.
 Structure of Operating System
• A common approach is to partition the task into small components, or modules, rather than
have one monolithic system. Each of these modules should be a well-defined portion of the
system, with carefully defined inputs, outputs, and functions.

• Simple Structure - Many operating systems do not

have well-defined structures. Frequently, such
systems started as small, simple, and limited
systems and then grew beyond their original scope.
MS-DOS is an example of such a system.
• Layered Approach - With proper hardware support, operating systems can be broken into pieces. The operating
system can then retain much greater control over the computer and over the applications that make use of that
computer.

• Implementers have more freedom in changing the inner workings of

the system and in creating modular operating systems.

• Under a top-down approach, the overall functionality and features

are determined and are separated into components.

• Information hiding is also important, because it leaves programmers

free to implement the low-level routines as they see fit.

• A system can be made modular in many ways. One method is the

layered approach, in which the operating system is broken into a
number of layers (levels). The bottom layer (layer 0) is the hardware;
the highest (layer N) is the user interface.
 Micro-Kernel approach
• In the mid-1980s, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University developed an operating system called Mach that modularized
the kernel using the microkernel approach.
• This method structures the operating system by removing all nonessential components from the kernel and implementing
them as system and user-level programs. The result is a smaller kernel.
• One benefit of the microkernel approach is that it makes extending the operating system
easier. All new services are added to user space and consequently do not require modification
of the kernel.

• When the kernel does have to be modified, the changes tend to be fewer, because the
microkernel is a smaller kernel.

• The MINIX 3 microkernel, for example, has only approximately 12,000 lines of code.

• Developer Andrew S. Tanenbaum

 Mode bit
• In order to ensure the proper execution of the operating system, we must be able to distinguish between the
execution of operating-system code and user- defined code.
• At the very least, we need two separate modes of operation: user mode and kernel mode (also called supervisor
mode, system mode, or privileged mode). A bit, called the mode bit, is added to the hardware of the computer
to indicate the current mode: kernel (0) or user (1).
• When the computer system is executing on behalf of a user application, the system is in user mode. However,
when a user application requests a service from the operating system (via a system call), the system must
transition from user to kernel mode to fulfill the request.
User Mode

Kernel Mode
• At system boot time, the hardware starts in kernel mode. The operating system is then loaded and starts user
applications in user mode. Whenever a trap or interrupt occurs, the hardware switches from user mode to kernel
mode (that is, changes the state of the mode bit to 0).

• The hardware allows privileged instructions to be executed only in kernel mode. If an attempt is made to
execute a privileged instruction in user mode, the hardware does not execute the instruction but rather treats it
as illegal and traps it to the operating system.

• The instruction to switch to kernel mode is an example of a privileged instruction. Some other examples
include I/O control, timer management, and interrupt management.
 Farmer

Instruction set programmer

Industry(Gov / Private)

OS designer(API)
 Chef

Programmer
Instruction set programmer

OS designer(API)

Programmer
 System call
• System calls provide the means for a user program to ask
the operating system to perform tasks reserved for the
operating system on the user program’s behalf.

• System calls provide an interface to the services made

available by an operating system. These calls are generally
available as routines written in C and C++.

• The API specifies a set of functions that are available to an

application programmer, including the parameters that are
passed to each function and the return values the
programmer can expect.
• Three of the most common APIs available to application programmers are the
• Windows API for Windows systems

• POSIX API for POSIX-based systems (which include virtually all versions of UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS X)

• The Java API for programs that run on the Java virtual machine.

• The caller need know nothing about how the system call is implemented or what it does during execution. Rather,
the caller need only obey the API and understand what the operating system will do as a result of the execution
of that system call.
• Types of System Calls - System calls can be grouped roughly into six major categories: process
control, file manipulation, device manipulation, information maintenance, communications,
and protection.
• Process control
o end, abort

o load, execute

o create process, terminate process

o get process attributes, set process attributes

o wait for time

o wait event, signal event

o allocate and free memory

• File management

ocreate file, delete file

oopen, close

oread, write, reposition

oget file attributes, set file attributes

• Device management

orequest device, release device

oread, write, reposition

oget device attributes, set device attributes

ologically attach or detach devices

• Information maintenance

oget time or date, set time or date

oget system data, set system data

oget process, file, or device attributes

oset process, file, or device attributes

• Communications

ocreate, delete communication connection

osend, receive messages transfer status information