Chapter 1: Introduction to Operating Systems

1. Introduction:
An operating system (OS)
is a collection of software that manages computer hardware resources
and
provides common services for computer programs.

The operating system is a vital component of the system software in a

computer system.

Why to Learn Operating System?

An Operating System (OS) is an interface between a computer user and
computer hardware.

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.

 Some popular Operating Systems include Linux Operating System,

Windows Operating System, VMS, OS/400, AIX, z/OS, etc.

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Applications of Operating System
Following are some of the important activities that an Operating System
performs −
 Security − By means of password and similar other techniques, it

prevents unauthorized access to programs and data.

 Control over system performance − Recording delays between

request for a service and response from the system.

 Job accounting − Keeping track of time and resources used by

various jobs and users.

 Error detecting aids − Production of dumps, traces, error messages,

and other debugging and error detecting aids.

 Coordination between other softwares and users − Coordination

and assignment of compilers, interpreters, assemblers and other
software to the various users of the computer systems.

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2. Operating Systems Functions
An operating system is a program that acts as an interface between the user
and the computer hardware and controls the execution of all kinds of
programs.

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Following are some of important functions of an
operating System:
1. Process management:- Process management helps OS to create and
delete processes. It also provides mechanisms for communication
among processes.

2. Memory management:- Memory management module performs the

task of allocation and de-allocation of memory space to programs in
need of this resources.

3. File management:- It manages all the file-related activities such as

organization storage, retrieval, naming, sharing, and protection of
files.

4. Device Management: Device management keeps tracks of all

devices. This module also responsible for this task is known as the I/O
controller. It also performs the task of allocation and de-allocation of
the devices.

5. I/O System Management: One of the main objects of any OS is to

hide the peculiarities of that hardware devices from the user.

6. Secondary-Storage Management: Systems have several levels of

storage which includes primary storage, secondary storage, and cache
storage. Instructions and data must be stored in primary storage or
cache so that a running program can reference it.

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7. Security:- Security module protects the data and information of a
computer system against malware threat and authorized access.

8. Command interpretation: This module is interpreting commands

given by the acting system resources to process that commands.

9. Networking: A distributed system is a group of processors which do

not share memory, hardware devices, or a clock. The processors
communicate with one another through the network.

10. Job accounting: Keeping track of time & resource used by various
job and users.

11. Communication management: Coordination and assignment of

compilers, interpreters, and another software resource of the various
users of the computer systems.

Functions of an Operating System

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2.1 Memory Management
Memory management refers to management of Primary Memory or Main
Memory.

Main memory is a large array of words or bytes where each word or byte
has its own address.
Main memory provides a fast storage that can be accessed directly by the
CPU. For a program to be executed, it must in the main memory.

An Operating System does the following activities for memory

management:
 Keeps tracks of primary memory, i.e., what part of it are in use by
whom, what part are not in use.
 In multiprogramming, the OS decides which process will get memory
when and how much.
 Allocates the memory when a process requests it to do so.
 De-allocates the memory when a process no longer needs it or has
been terminated.

2.2 Processor Management

In multiprogramming environment, the OS decides which process gets the
processor when and for how much time. This function is called process
scheduling.
An Operating System does the following activities for processor
management:

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  Keeps tracks of processor and status of process. The program
responsible for this task is known as traffic controller.
 Allocates the processor (CPU) to a process.
 De-allocates processor when a process is no longer required.

2.3 Device Management

An Operating System manages device communication via their respective
drivers.
It does the following activities for device management:
 Keeps tracks of all devices. Program responsible for this task is
known as the I/O controller.
 Decides which process gets the device when and for how much time.
 Allocates the device in the efficient way.
 De-allocates devices.

2.4 File Management

A file system is normally organized into directories for easy navigation and
usage. These directories may contain files and other directions.
An Operating System does the following activities for file management:
 Keeps track of information, location, uses, status etc. The collective
facilities are often known as file system.
 Decides who gets the resources.
 Allocates the resources.
 De-allocates the resources.

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2.5 Other Important Activities
Following are some of the important activities that an Operating System
performs −
 Security − By means of password and similar other techniques, it
prevents unauthorized access to programs and data.
 Control over system performance − Recording delays between
request for a service and response from the system.
 Job accounting − Keeping track of time and resources used by
various jobs and users.
 Error detecting aids − Production of dumps, traces, error messages,
and other debugging and error detecting aids.
 Coordination between other softwares and users − Coordination
and assignment of compilers, interpreters, assemblers and other
software to the various users of the computer systems.

3. OS Services:
An Operating System provides services to both the users and to the
programs.
 It provides programs an environment to execute.
 It provides users the services to execute the programs in a convenient
manner.

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Following are a few common services provided by an operating system:
 Program execution
 I/O operations
 File System manipulation
 Communication
 Error Detection
 Resource Allocation
 Protection

3.1 Program execution

Operating systems handle many kinds of activities from user programs to
system programs like printer spooler, name servers, file server, etc. Each of
these activities is encapsulated as a process.

A process includes the complete execution context (code to execute, data to

manipulate, registers, OS resources in use).
Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to

program management:
 Loads a program into memory.
 Executes the program.
 Handles program's execution.
 Provides a mechanism for process synchronization.
 Provides a mechanism for process communication.
 Provides a mechanism for deadlock handling.

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3.2 I/O Operation
An I/O subsystem comprises of I/O devices and their corresponding driver
software.
Drivers hide the peculiarities of specific hardware devices from the users.
An Operating System manages the communication between user and device
drivers.
 I/O operation means read or write operation with any file or any
specific I/O device.
 Operating system provides the access to the required I/O device when
required.

3.3 File system manipulation

A file represents a collection of related information.

Computers can store files on the disk (secondary storage), for long-term
storage purpose.

Examples of storage media include magnetic tape, magnetic disk and

optical disk drives like CD, DVD. Each of these media has its own
properties like speed, capacity, data transfer rate and data access methods.

A file system is normally organized into directories for easy navigation and
usage.

These directories may contain files and other directions.

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Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to
file management:
 Program needs to read a file or write a file.
 The operating system gives the permission to the program for
operation on file.
 Permission varies from read-only, read-write, denied and so on.
 Operating System provides an interface to the user to create/delete
files.
 Operating System provides an interface to the user to create/delete
directories.
 Operating System provides an interface to create the backup of file
system.

3.4 Communication
In case of distributed systems which are a collection of processors that do
not share memory, peripheral devices, or a clock, the operating system
manages communications between all the processes.

Multiple processes communicate with one another through communication

lines in the network.

The OS handles routing and connection strategies, and the problems of

contention and security.

Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to

communication:
 Two processes often require data to be transferred between them
 Both the processes can be on one computer or on different computers,
but are connected through a computer network.

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  Communication may be implemented by two methods, either by
Shared Memory or by Message Passing.

3.5 Error handling

Errors can occur anytime and anywhere. An error may occur in CPU, in I/O
devices or in the memory hardware.
Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to
error handling:
 The OS constantly checks for possible errors.
 The OS takes an appropriate action to ensure correct and consistent
computing.

3.6 Resource Management

In case of multi-user or multi-tasking environment, resources such as main
memory, CPU cycles and files storage are to be allocated to each user or
job.

Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to

resource management:
 The OS manages all kinds of resources using schedulers.
 CPU scheduling algorithms are used for better utilization of CPU.

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3.7 Protection
Considering a computer system having multiple users and concurrent
execution of multiple processes, the various processes must be protected
from each other's activities.
Protection refers to a mechanism or a way to control the access of
programs, processes, or users to the resources defined by a computer
system.
Following are the major activities of an operating system with respect to
protection:
 The OS ensures that all access to system resources is controlled.
 The OS ensures that external I/O devices are protected from invalid
access attempts.
 The OS provides authentication features for each user by means of
passwords.

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