9.

0 Network Operating Systems (NOS)

A computer operating system (OS) is the software foundation on which computer applications and
services run on a workstation. Similarly, a network operating system (NOS) enables communication
between multiple devices and the sharing of resources across a network. A NOS operates on UNIX,
Microsoft Windows NT, or Windows 2000 network servers.

Common functions of an OS on a workstation include controlling the computer hardware, executing

programs and providing a user interface. The OS performs these functions for a single user. Multiple
users can share the machine but they cannot log on at the same time. In contrast, a NOS distributes
functions over a number of networked computers. A NOS depends on the services of the native OS in
each individual computer. The NOS then adds functions that allow access to shared resources by a
number of users concurrently.

9.2 Specific Objectives

At the end of the lesson you should be able to;
 Explain what a Network Operating System and its features.
 Explain the functions of a NOS.
 Describe the generations of Windows-based Servers
 Describe the strengths of UNIX-based servers..
 Explain the Apple-based operating systems..

9.3 Lecture Outline

9.3.1 Introduction to NOS

9.3.2 Features of a NOS
9.3.3 Windows Servers (Microsoft-Based)
9.3.4 UNIX, Sun, HP, and LINUX
9.3.4.1 Origins of UNIX
9.3.4.2 Origins of Linux
9.3.4.3 Networking with Linux
9.3.5 Apple
9.4 Lecture Activities
9.5 Self-test Questions
9.6 Summary
9.3.1 Introduction to NOS

A network operating system is an operating system designed for the sole purpose of supporting
workstations, database sharing, application sharing and file and printer access sharing among multiple
computers in a network. Certain standalone operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows NT and
Digital’s OpenVMS, come with multipurpose capabilities and can also act as network operating
systems. Some of the most well-known network operating systems include Microsoft Windows Server
2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Linux and Mac OS X.

Network operating system refers, to software that implements an operating system of some kind that is
oriented to computer networking. For example, one that runs on a server and enables the server to
manage data, users, groups, security, applications, and other networking functions. The network
operating system is designed to allow shared file and printer access among multiple computers in a
network, typically a local area network (LAN), a private network or to other networks.

Workstations function as clients in a NOS environment. When a workstation becomes a client in a NOS
environment, additional specialized software enables the local user to access non-local or remote
resources, as if these resources were a part of the local system. The NOS enhances the reach of the
client workstation by making remote services available as extensions of the local operating system.

A system capable of operating as a NOS server must be able to support multiple users concurrently.
The network administrator creates an account for each user, allowing the user to logon and connect to
the server system. The user account on the server enables the server to authenticate that user and
allocate the resources that the user is allowed to access. Systems that provide this capability are called
multi-user systems.

A NOS server is a multitasking system, capable of executing multiple tasks or processes at the same
time. The NOS scheduling software allocates internal processor time, memory, and other elements of
the system to different tasks in a way that allows them to share the system resources. Each user on the
multi-user system is supported by a separate task or process internally on the server. These internal
tasks are created dynamically as users connect to the system and are deleted when users disconnect.

9.3.2 Features of a NOS

The main features to consider when selecting a NOS are performance, management and monitoring
tools, security, scalability, and robustness or fault tolerance. The following briefly define each of these
features:
 Performance: A NOS must perform well at reading and writing files across the network
between clients and servers. It must be able to maintain fast performance under heavy loads,
when many clients are making requests. Consistent performance under heavy demand is an
important standard for a NOS.
 Management and monitoring: The management interface on the NOS server provides the
tools for server monitoring, client administration, file, print, and disk storage management. The
management interface provides tools for the installation of new services and the configuration
of those services. Additionally, servers require regular monitoring and adjustment.
 Security: A NOS must protect the shared resources under its control. Security includes
authenticating user access to services to prevent unauthorized access to the network resources.
 Security also performs encryption to protect information as it travels between clients and
servers.
 Scalability: Scalability is the ability of a NOS to grow without degradation in performance.
The NOS must be capable of sustaining performance as new users join the network and new
servers are added to support them.
 Robustness/fault tolerance: A measure of robustness is the ability to deliver services
consistently under heavy load and to sustain its services if components or processes fail. Using
redundant disk devices and balancing the workload across multiple servers can improve NOS
robustness.

The salient features of network operating systems are:

 Basic operating system features support like protocol support, processor support, hardware
detection and multiprocessing support for applications
 Security features like authentication, restrictions, authorizations and access control
 Features for file, Web service, printing and replication
 Directory and name services management
 User management features along with provisions for remote access and system management
 Internetworking features like routing and WAN ports
 Clustering capabilities

Common tasks associated with network operating systems include:

 User administration
 System maintenance activities like backup
 Tasks associated with file management
 Security monitoring on all resources in the network
 Setting priority to print jobs in the network

9.3.3 Windows (Microsoft-Based) Servers

Microsoft NT, 2000, and .NET

Since the release of Windows 1.0 in November 1985, Microsoft has produced many versions of
Windows operating systems with improvements and changes to support a variety of users and purposes.

NT 4 was designed to provide an environment for mission critical business that would be more stable
than the Microsoft consumer operating systems. It is available for both desktop (NT 4.0 Workstation)
and server (NT 4.0 Server). An advantage of NT over previous Microsoft OSs is that DOS and older
Windows programs can be executed in virtual machines (VMs). Program failures are isolated and do
not require a system restart.

Windows NT provides a domain structure to control user and client access to server resources. It is
administered through the User Manager for Domains application on the domain controller. Each NT
domain requires a single primary domain controller which holds the Security Accounts Management
Database (SAM) and may have one or more backup domain controllers, each of which contains a read-
only copy of the SAM. When a user attempts to logon, the account information is sent to the SAM
database. If the information for that account is stored in the database, the user will be authenticated to
the domain and have access to the workstation and network resources.

Based on the NT kernel, the more recent Windows 2000 has both desktop and server versions.
Windows 2000 supports “plug-and-play” technology, permitting installation of new devices without the
need to restart the system. Windows 2000 also includes a file encryption system for securing data on
the hard disk.

Windows 2000 enables objects, such as users and resources, to be placed into container objects called
organizational units (OUs). Administrative authority over each OU can be delegated to a user or group.
This feature allows more specific control than is possible with Windows NT 4.0.

Windows 2000 Professional is not designed to be a full NOS. It does not provide a domain controller,
DNS server, DHCP server, or render any of the services that can be deployed with Windows 2000
Server. The primary purpose of Windows 2000 Professional is to be part of a domain as a client-side
operating system. The type of hardware that can be installed on the system is limited. Windows 2000
Professional can provide limited server capabilities for small networks and peer-to-peer networks. It
can be a file server, a print server, an FTP server, and a web server, but will only support up to ten
simultaneous connections.

Windows 2000 Server adds to the features of Windows 2000 Professional many new server-specific
functions. It can also operate as a file, print, web and application server. The Active Directory Services
feature of Windows 2000 Server serves as the centralized point of management of users, groups,
security services, and network resources. It includes the multipurpose capabilities required for
workgroups and branch offices as well as for departmental deployments of file and print servers,
application servers, web servers, and communication servers.

Windows 2000 Server is intended for use in small-to-medium sized enterprise environments. It
provides integrated connectivity with Novell NetWare, UNIX, and AppleTalk systems. It can also be
configured as a communications server to provide dialup networking services for mobile users.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server provides the additional hardware and software support needed for
enterprise and extremely large networks.

Windows .NET Server is built on the Windows 2000 Server kernel, but tailored to provide a secure and
reliable system to run enterprise-level web and FTP sites in order to compete with the Linux and UNIX
server operating systems. The Windows .NET Server provides XML Web Services to companies which
run medium to high volume web traffic.

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 (sometimes referred to as Win2K3) is a server operating system produced by
Microsoft, released on April 24, 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to
manufacturing on December 6, 2005. Its successor, Windows Server 2008, was released on February 4,
2008. It is based on Windows XP, basically becoming an enhanced version of XP. According to
Microsoft, Windows Server 2003 is more scalable and delivers better performance than its predecessor,
Windows 2000. Windows Vista, as shipped, was developed based solely on Windows Server 2003
source code.
Windows Server 2003 was the follow-up to Windows 2000 Server, incorporating compatibility and
other features from Windows XP. Unlike Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003's default
installation has none of the server components enabled, to reduce the attack surface of new machines.
Windows Server 2003 includes compatibility modes to allow older applications to run with greater
stability. It was made more compatible with Windows NT 4.0 domain-based networking. Incorporating
and upgrading a Windows NT 4.0 domain to Windows 2000 was considered difficult and time-
consuming, and generally was considered an all-or-nothing upgrade, particularly when dealing with
Active Directory. Windows Server 2003 brought in enhanced Active Directory compatibility, and better
deployment support, to ease the transition from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows Server 2003 and
Windows XP Professional.

Changes to various services include those to the IIS web server, which was almost completely rewritten
to improve performance and security, Distributed File System, which now supports hosting multiple
DFS roots on a single server, Terminal Server, Active Directory, Print Server, and a number of other
areas. Windows Server 2003 was also the first operating system released by Microsoft after the
announcement of its Trustworthy Computing initiative, and as a result, contains a number of changes to
security defaults and practices.

The product went through several name changes during the course of development. When first
announced in 2000, it was known by its codename, "Whistler Server"; it was named "Windows 2002
Server" for a brief time in mid-2001, followed by "Windows .NET Server" and "Windows .NET Server
2003". After Microsoft chose to focus the ".NET" branding on the .NET Framework, the OS was
finally released as "Windows Server 2003".

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 (sometimes abbreviated as "Win2K8" or "W2K8") is one of Microsoft Windows'
server line of operating systems. Released to manufacturing on February 4, 2008, and officially
released on February 27, 2008, it is the successor to Windows Server 2003, released nearly five years
earlier. A second release, named Windows Server 2008 R2, was released to manufacturing on July 22,
2009.

Windows Server 2008 is built from the same code base as Windows Vista; therefore, it shares much of
the same architecture and functionality. Since the code base is common, it automatically comes with
most of the technical, security, management and administrative features new to Windows Vista such as
the rewritten networking stack (native IPv6, native wireless, speed and security improvements);
improved image-based installation, deployment and recovery; improved diagnostics, monitoring, event
logging and reporting tools; new security features such as BitLocker and ASLR (address space layout
randomization); improved Windows Firewall with secure default configuration; NET Framework 3.0
technologies, specifically Windows Communication Foundation, Microsoft Message Queuing and
Windows Workflow Foundation; and the core kernel, memory and file system improvements.
Processors and memory devices are modeled as Plug and Play devices, to allow hot-pluggingof these
devices. This allows the system resources to be partitioned dynamically using Dynamic Hardware
Partitioning; each partition has its own memory, processor and I/O host bridge devices independent of
other partitions.

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012, codenamed "Windows Server 8", is the sixth release of Windows Server. It is
the server version of Windows 8 and succeeds Windows Server 2008 R2. Two pre-release versions, a
developer preview and a beta version, were released during development. The software was generally
available to customers starting on September 4, 2012.

Unlike its predecessor, Windows Server 2012 has no support for Itanium-based computers, and has
four editions. Various features were added or improved over Windows Server 2008 R2 (with many
placing an emphasis on cloud computing), such as an updated version of Hyper-V, an IP address
management role, a new version of Windows Task Manager, and ReFS, a new file system. Windows
Server 2012 received generally good reviews in spite of having included the same controversial Metro-
based user interface seen in Windows 8.

The successor to Windows Server 2012, called Windows Server 2012 R2, was released along with
Windows 8.1 in October 2013. A service pack, formally designated Windows Server 2012 R2 Update,
was released in April 2014.

9.3.4 UNIX, Sun, HP, and LINUX

9.3.4.1 Origins of UNIX

UNIX is the name of a group of operating systems that trace their origins back to 1969 at Bell Labs.
Since its inception, UNIX was designed to support multiple users and multitasking. UNIX was also one
of the first operating systems to include support for Internet networking protocols. The history of
UNIX, which now spans over 30 years, is complicated because many companies and organizations
have contributed to its development.

UNIX was first written in assembly language, a primitive set of instructions that control the internal
instructions of a computer. However, UNIX could only run on a specific type of computer. In 1971,
Dennis Ritchie created the C language. In 1973, Ritchie along with fellow Bell Labs programmer Ken
Thompson rewrote the UNIX system programs in C language. Because C is a higher-level language,
UNIX could be moved or ported to another computer with far less programming effort. The decision to
develop this portable operating system proved to be the key to the success of UNIX. During the 1970s,
UNIX evolved through the development work of programmers at Bell Labs and several universities,
notably the University of California, at Berkeley.

When UNIX first started to be marketed commercially in the 1980s, it was used to run powerful
network servers, not desktop computers. Today, there are dozens of different versions of UNIX,
including the following:
 Hewlett Packard UNIX (HP-UX)
 Berkeley Software Design, Inc. (BSD UNIX), which has produced derivatives such as FreeBSD
 Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) UNIX
 Sun Solaris
 IBM UNIX (AIX)

UNIX, in its various forms, continues to advance its position as the reliable, secure OS of choice for
mission-critical applications that are crucial to the operation of a business or other organization. UNIX
is also tightly integrated with TCP/IP. TCP/IP basically grew out of UNIX because of the need for LAN
and WAN communications.

The Sun Microsystems Solaris Operating Environment and its core OS, SunOS, is a high-performance,
versatile, 64-bit implementation of UNIX. Solaris runs on a wide variety of computers, from Intel-
based personal computers to powerful mainframes and supercomputers. Solaris is currently the most
widely used version of UNIX in the world for large networks and Internet websites. Sun is also the
developer of the "Write Once, Run Anywhere" Java technology.

Despite the popularity of Microsoft Windows on corporate LANs, much of the Internet runs on
powerful UNIX systems. Although UNIX is usually associated with expensive hardware and is no user
friendly, recent developments, including the creation of Linux, have changed that image.

9.3.4.2 Origins of Linux

In 1991, a Finnish student named Linus Torvalds began work on an operating system for an Intel
80386-based computer. Torvalds became frustrated with the state of desktop operating systems, such as
DOS, and the expense and licensing issues associated with commercial UNIX. Torvalds set out to
develop an operating system that was UNIX-like in its operation but used software code that was open
and completely free of charge to all users.

Torvald's work led to a world-wide collaborative effort to develop Linux, an open source operating
system that looks and feels like UNIX. By the late 1990s, Linux had become a viable alternative to
UNIX on servers and Windows on the desktop. The popularity of Linux on desktop PCs has also
contributed to interest in using UNIX distributions, such as FreeBSD and Sun Solaris on the desktop.
Versions of Linux can now run on almost any 32-bit processor, including the Intel 80386, Motorola
68000, Alpha, and PowerPC chips.

As with UNIX, there are numerous versions of Linux. Some are free downloads from the web, and
others are commercially distributed. The following are a few of the most popular versions of Linux:
 Red Hat Linux – distributed by Red Hat Software
 OpenLinux – distributed by Caldera
 Corel Linux
 Slackware
 Debian GNU/Linux
 SuSE Linux

Linux is one of the most powerful and reliable operating systems in the world today. Because of this,
Linux has already made inroads as a platform for power users and in the enterprise server arena. Linux
is less often deployed as a corporate desktop operating system. Although graphical user interfaces
(GUIs) are available to make Linux user-friendly, most beginning users find Linux more difficult to use
than Mac OS or Windows. Currently, many companies, such as Red Hat, SuSE, Corel, and Caldera, are
striving to make Linux a viable operating system for the desktop.

Application support must be considered when Linux is implemented on a desktop system. The number
of business productivity applications is limited when compared to Windows. However, some vendors
provide Windows emulation software, such as WABI and WINE, which enables many Windows
applications to run on Linux. Additionally, companies such as Corel are making Linux versions of their
office suites and other popular software packages.
9.3.4.3 Networking with Linux

Recent distributions of Linux have networking components built in for connecting to a LAN,
establishing a dial-up connection to the Internet, or other remote network. In fact, TCP/IP is integrated
into the Linux kernel instead of being implemented as a separate subsystem.

Some advantages of Linux as a desktop operating system and network client include the following:
 It is a true 32-bit operating system.
 It supports preemptive multitasking and virtual memory.
 The code is open source and thus available for anyone to enhance and improve.

9.3.5 Apple

Apple Macintosh computers were designed for easy networking in a peer-to-peer, workgroup situation.
Network interfaces are included as part of the hardware and networking components are built into the
Macintosh operating system. Ethernet and Token Ring network adapters are available for the
Macintosh.

The Macintosh, or Mac, is popular in many educational institutions and corporate graphics
departments. Macs can be connected to one another in workgroups and can access AppleShare file
servers. Macs can also be connected to PC LANs that include Microsoft, NetWare, or UNIX servers.

Mac OS X (10)

The Macintosh operating system, Mac OS X, is sometimes referred to as Apple System 10. Some of
the features of Mac OS X are in the GUI called Aqua. The Aqua GUI resembles a cross between
Microsoft Windows XP and Linux X-windows GUI. Mac OS X is designed to provide features for the
home computer, such as Internet browsing, video and photo editing, and games, while still providing
features that offer powerful and customizable tools that IT professionals need in an operating system.

The Mac OS X is fully compatible with older versions of the Mac operating systems. Mac OS X
provides a new feature that allows for AppleTalk and Windows connectivity. The Mac OS X core
operating system is called Darwin. Darwin is a UNIX-based, powerful system that provides stability
and performance. These enhancements provide Mac OS X with support for protected memory,
preemptive multitasking, advanced memory management, and symmetric multiprocessing. This makes
Mac OS X a formidable competitor among operating systems.

9.4 Lecture Activities

 Continue with the fact -finding mission and get information from the Network
Administrator/Engineer of your company/organization. Try to find out the
following:
 Which type of server is being used by your organization?
 What informed that choice?
 What are it's main features?
 9.5 Self –Test Questions
 What are the main functions of a network operating system?
 What factors would you consider when choosing a NOS?
 Compare and contrast between Windows-based NOS and UNIX-based NOS?

9.6 Summary
In this lesson we have learned:
 About Network Operating Systems and their features.
 The functions of Network Operating System.
 About the Windows Servers (Microsoft-Based).
 About UNIX-based operating systems.

9.7 Suggestion for Further Reading

The learner can read further by visiting the link provided below and reading the literature
presented:
 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/products/windows-server-2012-r2/