OPERATING
SYSTEM: CSET209
OUTLINE
Distributed Systems
Network vs Distributed OS
RPC its structure and working
Sun RPC and XDR
1. DISTRIBUTED OPERATING SYSTEM S
• A distributed operating system is system software over a collection of
independent, networked, communicating, and physically separate
computational nodes.
• The distributed operating system manages a set of independent, networked,
communicating computers and makes them look like an ordinary centralized
operating system. Its main objective is to manage hardware resources.
Few examples of a distributed OS are as follows: AIX
operating system for IBM RS/6000 computers. Solaris
operating system for SUN multiprocessor workstations
S
DISTRIBUTED OPERATING SYSTEM
Advantages of Distributed OS
• The distributed operating system provides sharing of resources.
• This type of system is fault-tolerant.
Disadvantages of Distributed OS
• Protocol overhead can dominate computation cost.
S
2. NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM
• Network operating systems are server-based operating systems that provide networking-
related functionality. Its primary objective is to give local services to remote users. It's all
nodes can have a different operating system.
Examples of Network Operating System are: Microsoft
Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server
2008, UNIX, Linux
• It can be used for providing file server, email
server etc. services over the network.
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NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM
Advantages of Network OS
• In this type of operating system, network traffic reduces due to the division between
clients and the server.
• This type of system is less expensive to set up and maintain.
Disadvantages of Network OS
• In this type of operating system, the failure of any node in a system affects the whole
system.
• Security and performance are important issues. So trained network administrators are
required for network administration.
NETWORK VS DISTRIBUTED OPERATING SYSTEM
[Link] Network Operating System Distributed Operating System
Network Operating System’s main objective is to provide Distributed Operating System’s main objective is to manage the
1.
the local services to remote client. hardware resources.
In Network Operating System, Communication takes place In Distributed Operating System, Communication takes place on
2.
on the basis of files. the basis of messages and shared memory.
Network Operating System is more scalable than Distributed Operating System is less scalable than Network
3.
Distributed Operating System. Operating System.
4. In Network Operating System, fault tolerance is less. While in Distributed Operating System, fault tolerance is high.
Ease of implementation in Network Operating System is While in Distributed Operating System Ease of implementation is
5.
also high. less.
In Network Operating System, All nodes can have different While in Distributed Operating System, All nodes have same
6.
operating system. operating system.
3. REMOTE PROCEDURE CALL (RPC) PROTOCOL IN DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM
Remote Procedure Call is
a software communication
protocol that one program can use
to request a service from a
program located in another
computer on a network without
having to understand the network's
details.
RPC uses the client-server model.
NOTE: RPC is especially well
suited for client-server (e.g.
query-response) interaction in
which the flow of
control alternates between the
caller and callee.
Example Applications: Remote
file and database access, remote
monitoring program control,
remote error logging etc.
HOW TO MAKE A REMOTE PROCEDURE CALL?
The following steps take place during a RPC :
1. A client invokes a client stub procedure, passing parameters in the
usual way. The client stub resides within the client’s own address
space.
2. The client stub marshalls(pack) the parameters into a message.
Marshalling includes converting the representation of the parameters
into a standard format, and copying each parameter into the message.
3. The client stub passes the message to the transport layer, which sends it
to the remote server machine.
4. On the server, the transport layer passes the message to a server stub,
which demarshalls(unpack) the parameters and calls the desired server
routine using the regular procedure call mechanism.
5. When the server procedure completes, it returns to the server stub (e.g.,
via a normal procedure call return), which marshalls the return
values into a message. The server stub then hands the message to the
transport layer.
6. The transport layer sends the result message back to the client transport
layer, which hands the message back to the client stub.
7. The client stub demarshalls the return parameters and execution returns
to the caller.
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN RPC
1. RPC Runtime:
RPC run-time system is a library of routines and a set of services that handle the network communications
that underlie the RPC mechanism. In the course of an RPC call, client-side and server-side run-time systems’
code handle binding, establish communications over an appropriate protocol, pass call data between the client
and server, and handle communications errors.
2. Stub:
The function of the stub is to provide transparency to the programmer-written application code.
• On the client side, the stub handles the interface between the client’s local procedure call and the run-time
system, marshaling and unmarshalling data, invoking the RPC run-time protocol, and if requested, carrying
out some of the binding steps.
• On the server side, the stub provides a similar interface between the run-time system and the local manager
procedures that are executed by the server.
3. Binding: How does the client know who to call, and where the service resides?
The most flexible solution is to use dynamic binding and find the server at run time when the RPC is first
made.
FEATURES OF RPC
In an operating system, remote procedure call (RPC) has the following
features, such as:
RPC hides the complexity of the message passing process from the user.
RPC only uses specific layers of the OSI model like the transport layer.
Clients can communicate with the server by using higher-level languages.
RPC works well with both local environments and remote environments.
4 SUN RPC AND ROLE OF XDR
• The first popular implementation of RPC on Unix was Sun's RPC (now called ONC
RPC), used as the basis for Network File System (NFS).
• Role of XDR in Sun RPC: RPC package uses XDR (eXternal Data Representation)
to represent data sent between client and server stubs.
• In Sun RPC The XDR (eXternal Data Routines) are responsible for
marshalling/unmarshalling procedure parameters onto/from XDR streams.
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