OPERATING SYSTEMS - ESSENTIAL POINTS
- 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.
- 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, Windows, OS X, VMS, OS/400, AIX, z/OS, etc.
- Some of the important functions of an operating System are:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Types Of Operating System:
- Batch operating system: The users of a batch operating system do not interact with the computer directly. Each user prepares his job on an off-line device like punch cards and submits it to the computer operator.
- Time-sharing operating systems: Time-sharing is a technique which enables many people, located at various terminals, to use a particular computer system at the same time. Time-sharing or multitasking is a logical extension of multiprogramming.
- Distributed operating System: Distributed systems use multiple central processors to serve multiple real-time applications and multiple users. Data processing jobs are distributed among the processors accordingly.
- Network operating System: A Network Operating System runs on a server and provides the server the capability to manage data, users, groups, security, applications, and other networking functions. The primary purpose of the network operating system is 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.
- Real Time operating System:
A real-time system is defined as a data processing system in which the time interval required to
process and respond to inputs is so small that it controls the environment.
The time taken by the system to respond to an input and display of required updated information is termed as the response time.
There are two types of real-time operating systems.
- Hard real-time systems: Hard real-time systems guarantee that critical tasks complete on time. In hard real-time systems, secondary storage is limited or missing and the data is stored in ROM. In these systems, virtual memory is almost never found.
- Soft real-time systems: Soft real-time systems are less restrictive. A critical real-time task gets priority over other tasks and retains the priority until it completes. Soft real-time systems have limited utility than hard real-time systems.
- Multitasking is when multiple jobs are executed by the CPU simultaneously by switching between them. Switches occur so frequently that the users may interact with each program while it is running.
- Sharing the processor, when two or more programs reside in memory at the same time, is referred as multiprogramming. Multiprogramming assumes a single shared processor. Multiprogramming increases CPU utilization by organizing jobs so that the CPU always has one to execute.
- Spooling is an acronym for simultaneous peripheral operations on line. Spooling refers to putting data of various I/O jobs in a buffer. This buffer is a special area in memory or hard disk which is accessible to I/O devices.
