UNIT 1: OVERVIEW OF OPERATING

SYSTEMS
ICT 115: OPERATING SYSTEM & ADMINISTRATION

OPERATING SYSTEM- Operating System Software (OSS) – Manages and controls all other
application software on the computer and controls basic functions of the computer and its hard
ware devices.
MS DOS (Microsoft disk operating system)

ADMINISTRATION- administration is the process or activity of running a business or

organisation. (it is the synonymous term to the word Management)
(What is an Operating System (OS)? - An Operating System (OS) is a powerful program that
manages and controls the software and hardware on a computing device so as to make the
device behave in a predictable but flexible way. An OS acts an interface between a user and a
device. Thus, in general sense, an OS is that software which helps a user to run other
applications on his computing device. All the computers and computer-like devices comprise
Operating System, including laptop, desktop, or any other smart computing system like a smart
phone or a smart watch. Some of the popular OS are Linux, OS X, WINDOWS, VMS, OS/400,
AIX, z/OS, etc.).
 An operating system is an organized collection of software which controls the
management of a computer system’s resources.
 It is the main collection of systems software that enables the computer system to manages
the resource under its control. This group of programs manages the computer’s activities.
It is the most critical piece of software in the computer system, which plays a central role
in coordinating all of the computer’s work, and without an operating system, no other
program can run.
 Operating system works as “Interpreter” between hardware and application program.
 It controls input and output of data.
 Manages file storage, and detects equipment failure.
 The operating system contains instructions that coordinating all of the activities of
hardware devices of your computer. It also contains instructions that allow you to run any
application software.
 One may define the operating system as an Interface between a user and all computer
resources.
  When you start a computer, the operating system is loaded or copied into memory from
the computer hard disk. It remains while the computer is running and allows you to
communicate with the computers and other software.
 A computer cannot function without an operating system. It is an important component of
the computer system, because it sets the standards for the application programs that run
on it. All programs must “talk to” the operating system.
 The primary core of an operating system are management and control. The operating
system ensures that all actions requested by a user are valid and processed in an orderly
manner, it also manages the computer system’s resources to perform these operations
with efficiency and consistency.
 The operating system carries out three main functions, namely:
Internal management, Data Management and Job control to achieve management and
controls roles.

Operating System
Operating System (OS) is an important part of a computer. It intermediates between the user of a
computer and the computer hardware. Different kinds of application software use specific
hardware resources of a computer like CPU, I/O devices and memory, as needed by the
application software. OS controls and coordinates the use of hardware among the different
application software and the users. It provides an interface that is convenient for the user to use,
and facilitates efficient operations of the computer system resources.
The key functions of OS are:
 It provides an environment in which users and application software can do work.

 It manages different resources of the computer like the CPU time, memory space, file storage,
I/O devices etc. During the use of computer by other programs or users, operating system
manages various resources and allocates them whenever required, efficiently.
 It controls the execution of different programs to prevent occurrence of error.

 It provides a convenient interface to the user in the form of commands and graphical interface,
which facilitates the use of computer.
Some available operating systems are Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS- DOS), Windows
7, Windows XP, Linux, UNIX, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
To gain a view of its importance, when we switch on the personal computer, some minimal
system software called Basic Input / output system (BIOS) that is stored on a Read only
Memory (ROM) chip quickly performs a Power On Self-Test (POST) that signals and checks
on the viability of the essential components of the computer, such as the Central Processing
Unit (CPU), Main Memory, the Hard Disk, the Screen, the Keyboard, Pointing Devices, etc.
If the hardware passes these checks, BIOS then initiates the booting process by accessing the
boot sector of the (Boot Drive) often the hard disk drive, where a copy of the operating system
(OS) resides, and is then transferred to main memory. Finally, it loads the user Interface and
transfers control the operating system so that the user may now start giving her/his commands to
the computer.
However, if an essential component of the computer fails to pass the POST checks, the BIOS
will not proceed with booting, instead the computer may make a pattern of beeps that indicate
that something is wrong with the corresponding component.
MANAGEMENT
The term Management can be defined as all the activities and tasks undertaken for archiving
goals by continuous activities like; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Management is
a process of planning, decision making, organizing, leading, motivation and
controlling the human resources, financial, physical, and information resources of an
organization to reach its goals efficiently and effectively.
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
This is a set of programs that control the operations of a computer and other types of software
that it runs. Examples of system software include:
a) Operating System (OS)
b) Programming languages
c) Utility programs.
b) Programming Language – a Programming language is a set of commands used to write
computer software. Computer programmers use these languages to develop new software and
controlling computers. In essence, programming languages are translators that take words and
symbols and convert them to binary codes that the CPU can understand.
Examples of programming languages include, JAVA, FORTRAN (Formula Translator),
PASCAL, C, C++, C# PYTHON, PHP etc.
C) Utility Programs – These are computer programs designed for general support of the
processes of a computer. This support includes performing routine file conversions, sort /merge
operations. Format diskettes and removal of viruses and data compression. Or
System Utilities - System utility software is required for the maintenance of computer. It is used
for supporting and enhancing the programs and the data in computer. Some system utilities may
come embedded with OS and others may be added later on. Some examples of system utilities
are:
 Anti-virus utility to scan computer for viruses.
 Data Compression utility to compress the files.
 Cryptographic utility to encrypt and decrypt files.
 Disk Compression utility to compress contents of a disk for increasing the capacity of a disk.

 Disk Partitioning to divide a single drive into multiple logical drives. Each drive is then treated
as an individual drive and has its own file system.
 Disk Cleaners to find files that have not been used for a long time. It helps the user to decide
what to delete when the hard disk is full.
 Backup Utility to make a copy of all information stored on the disk. It also restores the backed
up contents in case of disk failure.
 System Profiling Utility provides detailed information about the software installed on the
computer and the hardware attached to it.
 Network Managers to check the computer network and to log events.
The system utilities on a computer working on Windows XP OS and Windows 7 can be
viewed by clicking <Start><All Programs><Accessories><System Tools>.
Some of the utility programs include the following:
I. Antivirus utility – This is a program that prevents, detects and removes viruses from a
computer’s memory or storage devices. E.g. Norton, Kaspersky, Avast etc.
II. Disk defragmenter utility – A disk defragmenter is the utility that recognizes the files
and unused space on a computer’s hard disk so that data can be accessed more quick and
programs can run faster.
III. File compression utility – A file compression utility reduces or compresses the size of a
file. A compressed file takes up less storage space on a hard disk of floppy disk which
frees up room on the disk and improves system performance. E.g. WinZip, WinRAR.
IV. Backup Utility – A backup utility allows a user to copy or backup selected files or the
entire hard disk onto another disk. Backup files are usually not usable in their backup
form because many backup programs will compress to unpack the backed-up data in
order to access it for processing.
V. Diagnostic utility – A diagnostic utility compiles technical information about a
computer’s hardware and certain system software programs and then prepares a report
outlining any identified programs. Windows XP includes Dr. Watson as a diagnostic
utility.
VI. Screen saver utility – A Screen saver is a utility that causes the monitor’s screen to
display a moving image or blank screen if no keyboard or mouse activity occurs for a
specified period of time.
 How Operating System Manages Hardware Resources
The OS performs multiple functions and management. With some examples, we will understand
how the it manages computer’s hardware resources by performing required services:

Front End Management of Hardware Resources

o Managing Input and Output devices such as a mouse, keyboard, display monitors, scanners and
printers.

o Managing network devices such as routers, modems and network connections.

o Managing Storage devices, both internal and external drives.

Fig. 2 – Interface Between User and Computer’s Hardware

Back End Utilization of Software Applications for Managing Hardware Resources
o It manages the allocation of internal memory between multiple applications.
o An OS sends massage about the status of operation and any error that may have occurred to the
interactive user.

o It helps in performing batch jobs for example, printing etc.

o Depending on the capability of devices that can offer parallel processing, a program is managed
by OS such that it can run on more than one processor at a time.

Functions of Operating System (OS)

o Memory Management

o Device Management

o Processor Management

o File Management

o Controls System Performance

o Security

o Error Detection

o Coordination among Software and Users

o Job accounting

Fig. 3 – Functions of Operating System (OS)

 Memory Management
One of the main functions of OS is to manage the primary and secondary memory. All the
memory devices such as hard disk, pen drive etc. are managed by OS.

Memory management keeps an eye on each and every memory location, in any case either it is
allocated or it is not allocated (free). Memory allocation to the processes is also decided and
checked by Operating System. It decides and checks which process will obtain memory and at
what time.

Device Management
An OS with help of their respective drivers manages device communication. Following activities
are performed by an Operating System for device management:

o It Keep a track of all devices. This task is performed by I/O controller.

o It decides which process will get the device when and for how long.

o It allocates and de-allocates the device efficiently.

Processor Management
In a multi-programming environment, it is OS who decides which process will get the processor
when and for how long. This task is called Process Scheduling. Following activities are done by
OS for processor management:
o It keeps a track of processor tasking and checks the status of process. Traffic controller performs
this task.

o It allocates the processor and also de-allocates processor when a process is complete and not
required.

File Management
In a file system, generally directories are organized for usage and easy navigation. Following
activities are performed by an OS under file management:

o It keeps a track of location, information, status etc. This collective is known as File System.
o It decides who will get the resources.

o It allocates and de-allocates the resources.

Types of User interfaces

Computer users need to be able to communicate with the operating system. This is called the
Operating system. This is called the “User Interface”.

User Interface - The Term User-interface: means by which the user and a computer system
interact, in particular the use of input devices and software.

Interface – The word Interface simply means, to meet or communicate directly; interact,
coordinate, synchronize, or harmonize (often followed by with): The two communications
systems are able to interface with each other.

There are two main types of user Interfaces

1. Command Line Interface (CLIs) and

2. Graphical User Interface (GUIs).
1. Command Line Interface (CLIs)
CLIs require a user to type in instructions in order to choose options from menus, open software
etc. There are often a number of commands that need to be typed in, for example to save or load
a file. The user therefore has to learn a number of commands just to carry out basic operations.

The advantages of CLI is that the user is in direct communication with the computer and is not
restricted to a number of pre-determined options.

Graphical User Interface (GUIs).

Advantages
 Very flexible with the use of “switches” (options).
 Good for “expert” users – can quickly access commands.
 Uses the fewest system resources.

Disadvantages
 Requires the user to learn “complex” commands or language.
 “Hidden” features i.e. if you don’t know the commands you won’t
know whether the features are there.
 Not very good for novice (unexperienced person) users.

Graphical User Interface (GUIs)

GUI - (graphical user interface) is a system of interactive visual components for computer
software. A GUI displays objects that convey information, and represent actions that can be
taken by the user. The objects change color, size, or visibility when the user interacts with them.

GUI – allows the user to interact with a computer (on MP3 player. Gaming devices, mobile
phone, etc.) using pictures or symbols (icons) rather than having to type in a number of
commands.
GUI use various technologies and devices to provide the user interface. One of the most common
is Windows Icons Menu and Pointing device(WIMP) which was developed for use on personal
computers (PCs). This uses a mouse to control a cursor, which then selects icons to open/ run
windows. Each window contains an application and modern computer systems allow several
windows to be open at the same time.

Advantages
 Most suitable interface for inexperienced users
 GUIs use more system resources than other types of interface

Easiness for non-technical people:-

 For non-technical people or for beginners good GUI’s tends to make easiness in
life. For example with few clicks on buttons user can easily make his work done.
Software in shops for calculation of products sold and inventory can be better
managed by an even non-technical guy. Similarly listening songs in the car is
easy for everyone.

Drag and drop feature:-

 In most of the software, we have drag and drop functionality by which complex
tasks are managed easily. Like dragging and dropping folders. And in mobile
 games, it is also nice to use. In much graphical software, drag and drop are
awesome.

Looks nicer than text interface:-

 In text interface, we have limited options to choose from and navigation is

difficult. For non-educated people, text interface is difficult to understand and
use. In GUI user can use any tool by detecting symbols or buttons.

Hotkeys usage:-

 Sometimes we want a couple of functionality performed by single click then we

use hotkeys. Like we see some buttons or mouse clicks/movements by which a
couple of actions performed. This is very handy for speeding up tasks.

User-friendly:

 A user can easily navigate to the system without knowing a lot of details. Easy
setup and ready to start working are awesome. Most of the software hides the
complexity of actions from the users and display only required information is key
to good interface.

Disadvantages of graphical user interface:

Difficult to develop and high cost: - Nice looking designs are difficult to make and
may also cost extra hardware support. Like high-quality games consume a lot of device
space and memory and it also required very skilled people to develop.

Slower than command line tools: - In command line tools like MS dos, we perform
some commands which do the work quickly. But if we do the same task in GUI then it
takes extra time to complete the task.

Extra attention required: - If we are driving a car then controlling music/radio in the
car requires attention which makes our driving disturbed.

Using flat screen: - Some graphical things do not display accurately on flat screens. In
airplanes, sticks are used to control most of the things because flat screen display is not
very handy. This makes the limitation of GUI.
Time consumption: - It takes a lot of time to develop and design a good looking
interface. If some bad interface builds then it makes difficult for the user to understand
and use.

Memory resources: - I see a lot of good GUI’s consuming lot of memory resources
which make system/device slow to perform.

Implementation: - Testing and implementation take a lot of time. Like we may require
extra software for running GUI’s

Examples of GUI: - Microsoft Windows, Mac OS

Controls System Performance

An OS records delays between a request and response of the system.

Security
An OS by using password and other similar techniques prevents and checks unauthorized users
to access the data and program.

Error Detection
By using various error detecting aids an operating system helps in prevention of errors.

Coordination among Software and Users

It Coordinates and assigns compilers, assemblers, interpreters and other software to users.

Job accounting
It keeps a track of resources and jobs used by different users all the time.

UNIT 2: TYPES OF OPERATING

SYSTEMS
 TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

The broad family of operating systems can be categorized in to four types based on their controlling
and supporting systems. These types of Operating System are:

o Real Time Operating System (RTOS)

o Single User Single Task OS

o Single User Multi-Tasking OS

o Multi User OS

1. Single-User Operating System- This is a type of OS which allows only one user a time.
There can be either a Single-User -Single– task or Single – User Multi-task.

The Single –User- Single- Task Operating System has to deal with only one person at a time
running only one application at a time MS DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) is an
example for a single user single task OS.

(Single User Single Task Operating System - As the name indicates, Single User Single Task
OS is a system in which only one program is executed at one time. It manages the computer in a
way that one user can successfully perform one thing at a time.
There is a problem with these types of Operating System that the program has to be arranged in a
queue.)
 2. Single User Multi-Tasking Operating System
Most people use this Operating-System on their computers, laptop and desktops today. Best
examples of these types of Operating System are Apple’s Mac OS platform and Microsoft’s
Windows.
This Operating System will allow a single user to operate several programs at the same time. For
example, a Windows user may be writing an e-mail while printing a word document while
downloading a file from Internet.

Think of the OS of your personal computer, it is designed mainly with only one user (i.e. you),
but you can deal with many application running at the same time.
You may process a document with a word processing application like MS WORD while
listening to music played in the windows media player in parallel, or you might be answering the
school assignment while searching more facts on the internet while a suitable video is being
download. This type of OS’s is of Single-User-Multi-Task OS. (An example of such OS is
windows 95).

3. Multi-User OS: In some situations, we need to share the Single computer among few
users, So the OS should be a multi-user where more than one user is logged on to the
computer and uses it at the same time. These multi users may work with remote desktop
connections. Further, these different users may need to run different applications at the
same time. So the OS must support multi-task facility as well. Obviously the computer
should be a powerful one. Each user draws on a big power of the computer in a shared
way
. This type of Multi –user multi-task OSs have to manage some tasks as listed below:
- Each user logged on to the system, their workspace and so on.
- Allocate resources to the jobs they want to run.
- Keep logs of how much processing time and resources they use
- Work out the most efficient use of computer processing cycles
- Maintain security Following are some examples of such OS:
 Windows XP, 7, 8 etc.
 Unix
 Linux (Ubuntu, Centos, Fedora etc.)
(Multi User Operating System: Multi User Operating System allows various different users on
different desktop or computer to access a single System. A user at the terminal or desktop,
through a network takes access of the system and other system attached machines such as
printers.
The Operating System takes care of all the requirements of the various users in a balanced
manner. Also, it ensures that each of the programs being used has a separate and sufficient
resource so that problem of one user doesn’t affect the entire community of users).

4. Real Time Operating System (RTOS)

A Real Time Operating System (RTOS) intends to provide real time applications that process
data without buffer delays. A Real Time Operating System is a time bound operating system
which has fixed time constraints. Processing has to be done within the defined time constraints or
the system will definitely fail. Examples of Real Time systems are Air Traffic Control Systems,
Command Control Systems etc.
Real Time systems are classified in three types depending on two factors i.e. on factors inside the
computer system and factors outside the computer system. A missed deadline in Hard Real Time
Systems is disastrous. In case of Soft Real Time Systems, it may lead to a significant loss. In
Firm RTOS, the deadline is specified but missing it does not cause a big impact.
Command Control systems and Air traffic control systems are best examples of Hard Real Time
systems. Online transaction systems, like booking a movie ticket or airline reservation systems
are best examples of Soft Real Time systems. Multimedia applications is one example of Firm
RTOS.
OTHER TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

2.1 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. To
speed up processing, jobs with similar needs are batched together and run as a group. The
programmers leave their programs with the operator and the operator then sorts the programs with
similar requirements into batches.
The problems with Batch Systems are as follows:

 Lack of interaction between the user and the job.

 CPU is often idle, because the speed of the mechanical I/O devices is slower than the CPU.
 Difficult to provide the desired priority.

2.1.1 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. Processor's time which is shared among multiple users simultaneously is
termed as time-sharing.
The main difference between Multi-Programmed Batch Systems and Time-Sharing Systems is that
in case of Multi-programmed batch systems, the objective is to maximize processor use, whereas
in Time-Sharing Systems, the objective is to minimize response time.

Multiple jobs are executed by the CPU by switching between them, but the switches occur so
frequently. Thus, the user can receive an immediate response. For example, in a transaction
processing, the processor executes each user program in a short burst or quantum of computation.
That is, if n users are present, then each user can get a time quantum. When the user submits the
command, the response time is in few seconds at most. The operating system uses CPU scheduling
and multiprogramming to provide each user with a small portion of a time. Computer systems that
were designed primarily as batch systems have been modified to time-sharing systems.
2.1.2 Advantages of Timesharing operating systems are as follows:
 Provides the advantage of quick response
 Avoids duplication of software
 Reduces CPU idle time
2.1.3 Disadvantages of Time-sharing operating systems are as follows:
 Problem of reliability
 Question of security and integrity of user programs and data
 Problem of data communication

2.2 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.
The processors communicate with one another through various communication lines (such as high-
speed buses or telephone lines). These are referred as loosely coupled systems or distributed
systems. Processors in a distributed system may vary in size and function.
These processors are referred as sites, nodes, computers, and so on.

The advantages of distributed systems are as follows:

 With resource sharing facility, a user at one site may be able to use the resources available
at another.
 Speedup the exchange of data with one another via electronic mail.
 If one site fails in a distributed system, the remaining sites can potentially continue
operating.
 Better service to the customers.
 Reduction of the load on the host computer.
 Reduction of delays in data processing.

2.3 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.
Examples of network operating systems include Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft
Windows Server 2008, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Novell NetWare, and BSD.

The advantages of network operating systems are as follows:

 Centralized servers are highly stable.
 Security is server managed.
 Upgrades to new technologies and hardware can be easily integrated into the
system.
 Remote access to servers is possible from different locations and types of systems.
 The disadvantages of network operating systems are as follows:
 High cost of buying and running a server.
 Dependency on a central location for most operations.
 Regular maintenance and updates are required.

2.4. 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. So in this method, the response time is very less as compared to online processing.
Real-time systems are used when there are rigid time requirements on the operation of a processor
or the flow of data and real-time systems can be used as a control device in a dedicated application.
A real-time operating system must have well-defined, fixed time constraints, otherwise the system
will fail. For example, Scientific experiments, medical imaging systems, industrial control
systems, weapon systems, robots, air traffic control systems, etc.
There are two types of real-time operating systems.
2.4.1 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.
2.4.2 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. For example, multimedia, virtual reality, Advanced Scientific
Projects like undersea exploration and planetary rovers, etc.

UNIT 3: SERVICES OF THE OPERATING

SYSTEM
3.1 SERVICES OF AN OPERATING SYSTEM

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.
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
3.1.1 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

3.1.2 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.

3.1.3 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. 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.

3.1.4 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.
 Communication may be implemented by two methods, either by Shared Memory or by
Message Passing.

3.1.5 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.

3.1.6 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.

3.1.7 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.

UNIT 4: PROPERTIES OF AN OPERATING

SYSTEM
4.1 Processing

Batch processing is a technique in which an Operating System collects the programs and data
together in a batch before processing starts. An operating system does the following activities
related to batch processing:
 The OS defines a job which has predefined sequence of commands, programs and data as
a single unit.
  The OS keeps a number of jobs in memory and executes them without any manual
information.
 Jobs are processed in the order of submission, i.e., first come first served fashion.
 When a job completes its execution, its memory is released and the output for the job gets
copied into an output spool for later printing or processing.

4.1.1 Advantages of Batch Processing

 Batch processing takes much of the work of the operator to the computer.
 Increased performance as a new job get started as soon as the previous job is finished,
without any manual intervention.

4.1.2 Disadvantages Batch Processing

 Difficult to debug programs.

 A job could enter an infinite loop.
 Due to lack of protection scheme, one batch job can affect other pending jobs.
4.1.3 Multitasking

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.
An OS does the following activities related to multitasking:
 The user gives instructions to the operating system or to a program directly, and receives
an immediate response.
 The OS handles multitasking in the way that it can handle multiple operations / executes
multiple programs at a time.
 Multitasking Operating Systems are also known as Time-sharing systems.
 These Operating Systems were developed to provide interactive use of a computer system
at a reasonable cost.
 A time-shared operating system uses the concept of CPU scheduling and
multiprogramming to provide each user with a small portion of a time-shared CPU.
 Each user has at least one separate program in memory.
  A program that is loaded into memory and is executing is commonly referred to as a
process.
 When a process executes, it typically executes for only a very short time before it either
finishes or needs to perform I/O.
 Since interactive I/O typically runs at slower speeds, it may take a long time to complete.
During this time, a CPU can be utilized by another process.
 The operating system allows the users to share the computer simultaneously. Since each
action or command in a time-shared system tends to be short, only a little
 CPU time is needed for each user.
 As the system switches CPU rapidly from one user/program to the next, each user is given
the impression that he/she has his/her own CPU, whereas actually one CPU is being shared
among many users.

4.1.4 Multiprogramming

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.

The following figure shows the memory layout for a multiprogramming system.
An OS does the following activities related to multiprogramming.
 The operating system keeps several jobs in memory at a time.
 This set of jobs is a subset of the jobs kept in the job pool.
 The operating system picks and begins to execute one of the jobs in the memory.
 Multiprogramming operating systems monitor the state of all active programs and system
resources using memory management programs to ensure that the CPU is never idle, unless
there are no jobs to process.
Advantage
 High and efficient CPU utilization.
 User feels that many programs are allotted CPU almost simultaneously.

Disadvantages
 CPU scheduling is required.
 To accommodate many jobs in memory, memory management is required.
Interactivity
Interactivity refers to the ability of users to interact with a computer system. An Operating system
does the following activities related to interactivity:
 Provides the user an interface to interact with the system.
  Manages input devices to take inputs from the user. For example, keyboard.
 Manages output devices to show outputs to the user. For example, Monitor.
The response time of the OS needs to be short, since the user submits and waits for the result.
Real-Time Systems
Real-time systems are usually dedicated, embedded systems. An operating system does the
following activities related to real-time system activity.
 In such systems, Operating Systems typically read from and react to sensor data.
 The Operating system must guarantee response to events within fixed periods of time to
ensure correct performance.

4.2 Distributed Environment

A distributed environment refers to multiple independent CPUs or processors in a computer

system. An operating system does the following activities related to distributed
environment:
 The OS distributes computation logics among several physical processors.
 The processors do not share memory or a clock. Instead, each processor has its own local
memory.
 The OS manages the communications between the processors. They communicate with
each other through various communication lines.
Spooling
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.
An operating system does the following activities related to distributed environment:
 Handles I/O device data spooling as devices have different data access rates.
 Maintains the spooling buffer which provides a waiting station where data can rest while
the slower device catches up.
 Maintains parallel computation because of spooling process as a computer can perform I/O
in parallel fashion. It becomes possible to have the computer read data from a tape, write
data to disk and to write out to a tape printer while it is doing its computing task.
Advantages
 The spooling operation uses a disk as a very large buffer.
 Spooling is capable of overlapping I/O operation for one job with processor operations for
another job.

UNIT 5: PROCESSES OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM

5.1 Process
A process is basically a program in execution. The execution of a process must progress in a
sequential fashion.
A process is defined as an entity which represents the basic unit of work to be implemented in the
system.
To put it in simple terms, we write our computer programs in a text file and when we execute this
program, it becomes a process which performs all the tasks mentioned in the program.
When a program is loaded into the memory and it becomes a process, it can be divided into four
sections ─ stack, heap, text and data. The following image shows a simplified layout of a process
inside main memory:
5.5.1 Components of Processes and Description

Stack
The process Stack contains the temporary data such as method/function parameters, return address,
and local variables.
Heap
This is a dynamically allocated memory to a process during its runtime.
Text
This includes the current activity represented by the value of Program Counter and the contents of
the processor's registers.
Data
This section contains the global and static variables.
Program
A program is a piece of code which may be a single line or millions of lines. A computer program
is usually written by a computer programmer in a programming language.

For example, here is a simple program written in C programming language:

#include <stdio.h>

int main () {
printf ("Hello, World! \n");
return 0;
}

A computer program is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when executed by
a computer. When we compare a program with a process, we can conclude that a process is a
dynamic instance of a computer program.
A part of a computer program that performs a well-defined task is known as an algorithm.
A collection of computer programs, libraries and related data are referred to as a software.

5.2 Process Life Cycle

When a process executes, it passes through different states. These stages may differ in different
operating systems, and the names of these states are also not standardized.
In general, a process can have one of the following five states at a time.

5.2.1 Process States & Description

Start
This is the initial state when a process is first started/created.

Ready
The process is waiting to be assigned to a processor. Ready processes are waiting to have the
processor allocated to them by the operating system so that they canrun. Process may come into
this state after Start state or while running it by but interrupted by the scheduler to assign CPU to
some other process.

Running
Once the process has been assigned to a processor by the OS scheduler, the process state is set to
running and the processor executes its instructions
Waiting
Process moves into the waiting state if it needs to wait for a resource, such as waiting for user
input, or waiting for a file to become available.

Terminated or Exit
Once the process finishes its execution, or it is terminated by the operating system, it is moved to
the terminated state where it waits to be removed from main memory.

5.2.2 Process Control Block (PCB)

A Process Control Block is a data structure maintained by the Operating System for every process.
The PCB is identified by an integer process ID (PID). A PCB keeps all the information needed to
keep track of a process as listed below
Process State
The current state of the process i.e., whether it is ready, running, waiting, or whatever.

Process privileges
This is required to allow/disallow access to system resources.

Process ID
Unique identification for each of the process in the operating system.

Pointer
A pointer to parent process.

Program Counter
Program Counter is a pointer to the address of the next instruction to be executed for this process.

CPU registers
Various CPU registers where process need to be stored for execution for
running state.

CPU Scheduling Information

Process priority and other scheduling information which is required to schedule the process.

Memory management information

This includes the information of page table, memory limits, Segment table depending on memory
used by the operating system.

Accounting information
This includes the amount of CPU used for process execution, time limits, execution ID etc.

IO status information
This includes a list of I/O devices allocated to the process.

The architecture of a PCB is completely dependent on Operating System and may contain different
information in different operating systems. Here is a simplified diagram of a PCB:
The PCB
The PCB is maintained for a process throughout its lifetime, and is deleted once the process
terminates.

UNIT 6
PROCESS SCHEDULING
Definition
The process scheduling is the activity of the process manager that handles the removal of the
running process from the CPU and the selection of another process on the basis of a particular
strategy.
Process scheduling is an essential part of a Multiprogramming operating systems. Such operating
systems allow more than one process to be loaded into the executable memory at a time and the
loaded process shares the CPU using time multiplexing.
6.1 Process Scheduling Queues
The OS maintains all PCBs in Process Scheduling Queues. The OS maintains a separate queue for
each of the process states and PCBs of all processes in the same execution state are placed in the
same queue. When the state of a process is changed, its PCB is unlinked from its current queue
and moved to its new state queue.

The Operating System maintains the following important process scheduling queues:

 Job queue - This queue keeps all the processes in the system.
 Ready queue - This queue keeps a set of all processes residing in main memory, ready and
waiting to execute. A new process is always put in this queue.
 Device queues - The processes which are blocked due to unavailability of an I/O device
constitute this queue.

The OS can use different policies to manage each queue (FIFO, Round Robin, Priority, etc.). The
OS scheduler determines how to move processes between the ready and run queues which can
only have one entry per processor core on the system; in the above diagram, it has been merged
with the CPU.

6.1.1 Two-State Process Model

Two-state process model refers to running and non-running states which are described below.
Running
When a new process is created, it enters into the system as in the running state.

Not Running
Processes that are not running are kept in queue, waiting for their turn to execute. Each entry in
the queue is a pointer to a particular process. Queue is implemented by using linked list. Use of
dispatcher is as follows. When a process is interrupted, that process is transferred in the waiting
queue. If the process has completed or aborted, the process is discarded. In either case, the
dispatcher then selects a process from the queue to execute.
Schedulers
Schedulers are special system software which handle process scheduling in various ways.
Their main task is to select the jobs to be submitted into the system and to decide which process
to run. Schedulers are of three types:
 Long-Term Scheduler
 Short-Term Scheduler
 Medium-Term Scheduler

6.1.2 Long-Term Scheduler

It is also called a job scheduler. A long-term scheduler determines which programs are admitted
to the system for processing. It selects processes from the queue and loads them into memory for
execution. Process loads into the memory for CPU scheduling.

The primary objective of the job scheduler is to provide a balanced mix of jobs, such as
I/O bound and processor bound. It also controls the degree of multiprogramming. If the degree of
multiprogramming is stable, then the average rate of process creation must be equal to the average
departure rate of processes leaving the system.

On some systems, the long-term scheduler may not be available or minimal. Time-sharing
operating systems have no long term scheduler. When a process changes the state from new to
ready, then there is use of long-term scheduler.
6.1.3 Short-Term Scheduler
It is also called as CPU scheduler. Its main objective is to increase system performance in
accordance with the chosen set of criteria. It is the change of ready state to running state of the
process. CPU scheduler selects a process among the processes that are ready to execute and
allocates CPU to one of them.
Short-term schedulers, also known as dispatchers, make the decision of which process to execute
next. Short-term schedulers are faster than long-term schedulers.

6.1.3 Medium-Term Scheduler

Medium-term scheduling is a part of swapping. It removes the processes from the memory. It
reduces the degree of multiprogramming. The medium-term scheduler is in charge of handling the
swapped out-processes.
A running process may become suspended if it makes an I/O request. A suspended process cannot
make any progress towards completion. In this condition, to remove the process from memory and
make space for other processes, the suspended process is moved to the secondary storage. This
process is called swapping, and the process is said to be swapped out or rolled out. Swapping may
be necessary to improve the process mix.

6.1.4 Comparison among Schedulers

Long Term Scheduler Short Term Scheduler Medium Term Scheduler

It is a job scheduler It is a CPU scheduler It is a process swapping
scheduler.
Speed is lesser than Speed is fastest among Speed is in between both
short term scheduler other two short and long term
scheduler.
It controls the degree of It provides lesser control It reduces the degree of
multiprogramming over degree of multiprogramming.
multiprogramming
It is almost absent or It is also minimal in time It is a part of Time sharing
minimal in time sharing sharing system systems.
 system
It selects processes It selects those It can re-introduce the
from pool and loads processes which are process into memory and
them into memory for ready to execute execution can be
execution continued.

6.1.5 Context Switch

A context switch is the mechanism to store and restore the state or context of a CPU in
Process Control block so that a process execution can be resumed from the same point at a later
time. Using this technique, a context switcher enables multiple processes to share a single CPU.
Context switching is an essential part of a multitasking operating system features.

When the scheduler switches the CPU from executing one process to execute another, the state
from the current running process is stored into the process control block. After this, the state for
the process to run next is loaded from its own PCB and used to set the PC, registers, etc. At that
point, the second process can start executing.
Context switches are computationally intensive since register and memory state must be saved and
restored. To avoid the amount of context switching time, some hardware systems employ two or
more sets of processor registers. When the process is switched, the following information is stored
for later use.

 Program Counter
 Scheduling information
 Base and limit register value
 Currently used register
 Changed State
 I/O State information
 Accounting information

UNIT 7
SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS
7.1 SCHEDULING ALGORITHMS
A Process Scheduler schedules different processes to be assigned to the CPU based on particular
scheduling algorithms.
There are six popular process scheduling algorithms which we are going to discuss in this chapter:
 First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Scheduling
 Shortest-Job-Next (SJN) Scheduling
 Priority Scheduling
 Shortest Remaining Time
 Round Robin(RR) Scheduling
 Multiple-Level Queues Scheduling

These algorithms are either non-preemptive or preemptive. Non-preemptive algorithms are

designed so that once a process enters the running state, it cannot be preempted until it completes
its allotted time, whereas the preemptive scheduling is based on priority where a scheduler may
preempt a low priority running process anytime when a high priority process enters into a ready
state.

First Come, First Served (FCFS)

 Jobs are executed on first come, first served basis.
 It is a non-preemptive scheduling algorithm.
 Easy to understand and implement.
 Its implementation is based on FIFO queue.
 Poor in performance, as average wait time is high.

Wait time of each process is as follows:

Process Wait Time : Service Time - Arrival Time

P0 0-0=0
P1 5-1=4
P2 8-2=6
P3 16 - 3 = 13
Average Wait Time: (0+4+6+13) / 4 = 5.75

Shortest Job Next (SJN)

 This is also known as shortest job first, or SJF.
 This is a non-preemptive scheduling algorithm.
 Best approach to minimize waiting time.
 Easy to implement in Batch systems where required CPU time is known in advance.
 Impossible to implement in interactive systems where the required CPU time is not
known.
 The processer should know in advance how much time a process will take.

Wait time of each process is as follows:

Process Wait Time : Service Time - Arrival Time

P0 3-0=3
P1 0-0=0
P2 16 - 2 = 14
P3 8-3=5
Average Wait Time: (3+0+14+5) / 4 = 5.50

Priority Based Scheduling

 Priority scheduling is a non-preemptive algorithm and one of the most common scheduling
algorithms in batch systems.
 Each process is assigned a priority. Process with highest priority is to be executed first and
so on.
 Processes with same priority are executed on first come first served basis.
 Priority can be decided based on memory requirements, time requirements or any
other resource requirement.

Wait time of each process is as follows:

Process Wait Time : Service Time - Arrival Time

P0 9-0=9
P1 6-1=5
P2 14 - 2 = 12
P3 0-0=0

Average Wait Time: (9+5+12+0) / 4 = 6.5

Shortest Remaining Time
 Shortest remaining time (SRT) is the preemptive version of the SJN algorithm.
 The processor is allocated to the job closest to completion but it can be preempted by a
newer ready job with shorter time to completion.
 Impossible to implement in interactive systems where required CPU time is not known.
 It is often used in batch environments where short jobs need to be given preference.
Round Robin Scheduling
 Round Robin is a preemptive process scheduling algorithm.
 Each process is provided a fix time to execute; it is called a quantum.
 Once a process is executed for a given time period, it is preempted and other process
executes for a given time period.
 Context switching is used to save states of preempted processes.

Wait time of each process is as follows:

Process Wait Time : Service Time - Arrival Time

P0 (0-0) + (12-3) = 9
P1 (3-1) = 2
P2 (6-2) + (14-9) + (20-17) = 12
P3 9-3) + (17-12) = 11

Average Wait Time: (9+2+12+11) / 4 = 8.5

Multiple-Level Queues Scheduling

Multiple-level queues are not an independent scheduling algorithm. They make use of other
existing algorithms to group and schedule jobs with common characteristics.
 Multiple queues are maintained for processes with common characteristics.
 Each queue can have its own scheduling algorithms.
 Priorities are assigned to each queue.
For example, CPU-bound jobs can be scheduled in one queue and all I/O-bound jobs in another
queue. The Process Scheduler then alternately selects jobs from each queue and assigns them to
the CPU based on the algorithm assigned to the queue.

UNIT 8

MULTITHREADING
What is a Thread?
A thread is a flow of execution through the process code, with its own program counter that keeps
track of which instruction to execute next, system registers which hold its current working
variables, and a stack which contains the execution history.
A thread shares with its peer threads little information like code segment, data segment and open
files. When one thread alters a code segment memory item, all other threads see that.
A thread is also called a lightweight process. Threads provide a way to improve application
performance through parallelism. Threads represent a software approach to improving
performance of operating system by reducing the overhead thread is equivalent to a classical
process.
Each thread belongs to exactly one process and no thread can exist outside a process.
Each thread represents a separate flow of control. Threads have been successfully used in
implementing network servers and web server. They also provide a suitable foundation for parallel
execution of applications on shared memory multiprocessors. The following figure shows the
working of a single-threaded and a multithreaded process.
Difference between Process and Thread

Process Thread
Process is heavy weight or resource Thread is lightweight, taking lesser
intensive. resources than a process.
Process switching needs interaction Thread switching does not need to
with operating system. interact with operating system.
In multiple processing All threads can share same set of open
environments, each process files, child processes.
executes the same code but has its
own memory and file resources.
If one process is blocked, then no While one thread is blocked and
other process can execute until the waiting, a second thread in the same
first process is unblocked. task can run.
 Multiple processes without using Multiple threaded processes use fewer
threads use more resources. resources.
In multiple processes each process One thread can read, write or change
operates independently of the another thread's data.
others.

Advantages of Thread
 Threads minimize the context switching time.
 Use of threads provides concurrency within a process.
 Efficient communication.
 It is more economical to create and context switch threads.
 Threads allow utilization of multiprocessor architectures to a greater scale and efficiency.
Types of Thread
Threads are implemented in following two ways:
 User Level Threads -- User managed threads
 Kernel Level Threads -- Operating System managed threads acting on kernel, an
operating system core.
User Level Threads
In this case, the thread management kernel is not aware of the existence of threads. The thread
library contains code for creating and destroying threads, for passing message and data between
threads, for scheduling thread execution and for saving and restoring thread contexts. The
application starts with a single thread.
Advantages
 Thread switching does not require Kernel mode privileges.
 User level thread can run on any operating system.
 Scheduling can be application specific in the user level thread.
 User level threads are fast to create and manage.
Disadvantages
 In a typical operating system, most system calls are blocking.
 Multithreaded application cannot take advantage of multiprocessing.
Kernel Level Threads
In this case, thread management is done by the Kernel. There is no thread management code in the
application area. Kernel threads are supported directly by the operating system. Any application
can be programmed to be multithreaded. All of the threads within an application are supported
within a single process.
The Kernel maintains context information for the process as a whole and for individuals threads
within the process. Scheduling by the Kernel is done on a thread basis. The Kernel performs thread
creation, scheduling and management in Kernel space. Kernel threads are generally slower to
create and manage than the user threads.
Advantages
 Kernel can simultaneously schedule multiple threads from the same process on multiple
processes.
 If one thread in a process is blocked, the Kernel can schedule another thread of the same
process.
 Kernel routines themselves can be multithreaded.
Disadvantages
 Kernel threads are generally slower to create and manage than the user threads.
 Transfer of control from one thread to another within the same process requires a mode
switch to the Kernel.
Multithreading Models
Some operating systems provide a combined user level thread and Kernel level thread facility.
Solaris is a good example of this combined approach. In a combined system, multiple threads
within the same application can run in parallel on multiple processors and a blocking system call
need not block the entire process. Multithreading models are three types
 Many-to-many relationship
 Many-to-one relationship
 One-to-one relationship
Many-to-Many Model
The many-to-many model multiplexes any number of user threads onto an equal or smaller number
of kernel threads.
The following diagram shows the many-to-many threading model where 6 user level threads are
multiplexing with 6 kernel level threads. In this model, developers can create as many user threads
as necessary and the corresponding Kernel threads can run in parallel on a multiprocessor machine.
This model provides the best accuracy on concurrency and when a thread performs a blocking
system call, the kernel can schedule another thread for execution.
Many-to-One Model
Many-to-one model maps many user level threads to one Kernel-level thread. Thread management
is done in user space by the thread library. When thread makes a blocking system call, the entire
process will be blocked. Only one thread can access the Kernel at a time, so multiple threads are
unable to run in parallel on multiprocessors.
If the user-level thread libraries are implemented in the operating system in such a way that the
system does not support them, then the Kernel threads use the many-to-one relationship modes.
One-to-One Model
There is one-to-one relationship of user-level thread to the kernel-level thread. This model
provides more concurrency than the many-to-one model. It also allows another thread to run when
a thread makes a blocking system call. It supports multiple threads to execute in parallel on
microprocessors.
Disadvantage of this model is that creating user thread requires the corresponding Kernel thread.
OS/2, windows NT and windows 2000 use one to one relationship model.
Difference between User-Level & Kernel-Level Thread

User-Level Threads Kernel-Level Thread

User-level threads are faster to Kernel-level threads are slower to create
create and manage. and manage.
Implementation is by a thread Operating system supports creation of
library at the user level. Kernel threads.
User-level thread is generic and can Kernel-level thread is specific to the
run on any operating system. operating system.
Multi-threaded applications cannot Kernel routines themselves can be
take advantage of multiprocessing. multithreaded.

UNIT 9
 MEMORY MANAGEMENT
Memory management is the functionality of an operating system which handles or manages
primary memory and moves processes back and forth between main memory and disk during
execution. Memory management keeps track of each and every memory location, regardless of
either it is allocated to some process or it is free. It checks how much memory is to be allocated to
processes. It decides which process will get memory at what time. It tracks whenever some
memory gets freed or unallocated and correspondingly it updates the status.
This tutorial will teach you basic concepts related to Memory Management.
Process Address Space
The process address space is the set of logical addresses that a process references in its code. For
example, when 32-bit addressing is in use, addresses can range from 0 to
0x7fffffff; that is, 2^31 possible numbers, for a total theoretical size of 2 gigabytes.
The operating system takes care of mapping the logical addresses to physical addresses at the time
of memory allocation to the program. There are three types of addresses used in a program before
and after memory is allocated:

Symbolic addresses
The addresses used in a source code. The variable names, constants, and instruction labels are the
basic elements of the symbolic address space.

Relative addresses
At the time of compilation, a compiler converts symbolic addresses into relative addresses.

Physical addresses
The loader generates these addresses at the time when a program is loaded into main memory.
Virtual and physical addresses are the same in compile-time and load-time address binding
schemes. Virtual and physical addresses differ in execution-time address-binding scheme.
The set of all logical addresses generated by a program is referred to as a logical address space.
The set of all physical addresses corresponding to these logical addresses is referred to as a
physical address space.
The runtime mapping from virtual to physical address is done by the memory management unit
(MMU) which is a hardware device. MMU uses the following mechanism to convert virtual
address to physical address.
 The value in the base register is added to every address generated by a user process, which
is treated as offset at the time it is sent to memory. For example, if the base register value
is 10000, then an attempt by the user to use address location 100 will be dynamically
reallocated to location 10100.
 The user program deals with virtual addresses; it never sees the real physical addresses.

Static vs Dynamic Loading

The choice between Static or Dynamic Loading is to be made at the time of computer program
being developed. If you have to load your program statically, then at the time of compilation, the
complete programs will be compiled and linked without leaving any external program or module
dependency. The linker combines the object program with other necessary object modules into an
absolute program, which also includes logical addresses.
If you are writing a dynamically loaded program, then your compiler will compile the program
and for all the modules which you want to include dynamically, only references will be provided
and rest of the work will be done at the time of execution.
At the time of loading, with static loading, the absolute program (and data) is loaded into memory
in order for execution to start.
If you are using dynamic loading, dynamic routines of the library are stored on a disk in
re- locatable form and are loaded into memory only when they are needed by the program.
Static vs Dynamic Linking
As explained above, when static linking is used, the linker combines all other modules needed by
a program into a single executable program to avoid any runtime dependency.
When dynamic linking is used, it is not required to link the actual module or library with the
program, rather a reference to the dynamic module is provided at the time of compilation and
linking. Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) in Windows and Shared Objects in Unix are good
examples of dynamic libraries.
Swapping
Swapping is a mechanism in which a process can be swapped temporarily out of main memory (or
move) to secondary storage (disk) and make that memory available to other processes. At some
later time, the system swaps back the process from the secondary storage to main memory.
Though performance is usually affected by swapping process but it helps in running multiple and
big processes in parallel and that's the reason Swapping is also known as a technique for
memory compaction.

The total time taken by swapping process includes the time it takes to move the entire process to
a secondary disk and then to copy the process back to memory, as well as the time the process
takes to regain main memory.
Let us assume that the user process is of size 2048KB and on a standard hard disk where swapping
will take place has a data transfer rate around 1 MB per second. The actual transfer of the 1000K
process to or from memory will take
2048KB / 1024KB per second
= 2 seconds
= 200 milliseconds
Now considering in and out time, it will take complete 400 milliseconds plus other overhead where
the process competes to regain main memory.

Memory Allocation
Main memory usually has two partitions:
 Low Memory -- Operating system resides in this memory.
 High Memory -- User processes are held in high memory.
Operating system uses the following memory allocation mechanism.

Single-partition allocation
In this type of allocation, relocation-register scheme is used to protect user processes from each
other, and from changing operating-system code and data.
Relocation register contains value of smallest physical address whereas limit register contains
range of logical addresses. Each logical address must be less than the limit register.

Multiple-partition allocation
In this type of allocation, main memory is divided into a number of fixed-sized partitions where
each partition should contain only one process. When a partition is free, a process is selected from
the input queue and is loaded into the free partition. When the process terminates, the partition
becomes available for another process.

Fragmentation
As processes are loaded and removed from memory, the free memory space is broken into little
pieces. It happens after sometimes that processes cannot be allocated to memory blocks
considering their small size and memory blocks remains unused. This problem is known as
Fragmentation.

Fragmentation is of two types:

External fragmentation
Total memory space is enough to satisfy a request or to reside a process in it, but it is not
contiguous, so it cannot be used.

Internal fragmentation
Memory block assigned to process is bigger. Some portion of memory is left unused, as it cannot
be used by another process.
The following diagram shows how fragmentation can cause waste of memory and a compaction
technique can be used to create more free memory out of fragmented memory:External

External fragmentation can be reduced by compaction or shuffle memory contents to place all free
memory together in one large block. To make compaction feasible, relocation should be dynamic.
The internal fragmentation can be reduced by effectively assigning the smallest partition but large
enough for the process.
Paging
A computer can address more memory than the amount physically installed on the system.
This extra memory is actually called virtual memory and it is a section of a hard that's set up to
emulate the computer's RAM. Paging technique plays an important role in implementing virtual
memory.
Paging is a memory management technique in which process address space is broken into blocks
of the same size called pages (size is power of 2, between 512 bytes and 8192 bytes). The size of
the process is measured in the number of pages.
Similarly, main memory is divided into small fixed-sized blocks of (physical) memory called
frames and the size of a frame is kept the same as that of a page to have optimum utilization of
the main memory and to avoid external fragmentation.
Address Translation
Page address is called logical address and represented by page number and the offset.
Logical Address = Page number + page offset
Frame address is called physical address and represented by a frame number and the offset.
Physical Address = Frame number + page offset
A data structure called page map table is used to keep track of the relation between a page of a
process to a frame in physical memory.
When the system allocates a frame to any page, it translates this logical address into a physical
address and create entry into the page table to be used throughout execution of the program.
When a process is to be executed, its corresponding pages are loaded into any available memory
frames. Suppose you have a program of 8Kb but your memory can accommodate only 5Kb at a
given point in time, then the paging concept will come into picture. When a computer runs out of
RAM, the operating system (OS) will move idle or unwanted pages of memory to secondary
memory to free up RAM for other processes and brings them back when needed by the program.
This process continues during the whole execution of the program where the OS keeps removing
idle pages from the main memory and write them onto the secondary memory and bring them back
when required by the program.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Paging
Here is a list of advantages and disadvantages of paging:
 Paging reduces external fragmentation, but still suffer from internal fragmentation.
 Paging is simple to implement and assumed as an efficient memory management technique.
 Due to equal size of the pages and frames, swapping becomes very easy.
 Page table requires extra memory space, so may not be good for a system having small
RAM.
Segmentation
Segmentation is a memory management technique in which each job is divided into several
segments of different sizes, one for each module that contains pieces that perform related functions.
Each segment is actually a different logical address space of the program.
When a process is to be executed, its corresponding segmentation are loaded into noncontiguous
memory though every segment is loaded into a contiguous block of available memory.
Segmentation memory management works very similar to paging but here segments are of
variable-length where as in paging pages are of fixed size.

A program segment contains the program's main function, utility functions, data structures, and so
on. The operating system maintains a segment map table for every process and a list of free
memory blocks along with segment numbers, their size and corresponding memory locations in
main memory. For each segment, the table stores the starting address of the segment and the length
of the segment. A reference to a memory location includes a value that identifies a segment and
an offset.
 UNIT 10

VIRTUAL MEMORY
A computer can address more memory than the amount physically installed on the system.
This extra memory is actually called virtual memory and it is a section of a hard disk that's set up
to emulate the computer's RAM.
The main visible advantage of this scheme is that programs can be larger than physical memory.
Virtual memory serves two purposes. First, it allows us to extend the use of physical memory by
using disk. Second, it allows us to have memory protection, because each virtual address is
translated to a physical address.
Following are the situations, when entire program is not required to be loaded fully in main
memory.
 User written error handling routines are used only when an error occurred in the data or
computation.
 Certain options and features of a program may be used rarely.
 Many tables are assigned a fixed amount of address space even though only a small amount
of the table is actually used.
 The ability to execute a program that is only partially in memory would counter many
benefits.
 Less number of I/O would be needed to load or swap each user program into memory.
 A program would no longer be constrained by the amount of physical memory that is
available.
 Each user program could take less physical memory, more programs could be run the same
time, with a corresponding increase in CPU utilization and throughput.

 Modern microprocessors intended for general-purpose use, a memory management unit, or

MMU, is built into the hardware. The MMU's job is to translate virtual addresses into
physical addresses. A basic example is given below:
Virtual memory is commonly implemented by demand paging. It can also be implemented in a
segmentation system. Demand segmentation can also be used to provide virtual memory.
Demand Paging
A demand paging system is quite similar to a paging system with swapping where processes reside
in secondary memory and pages are loaded only on demand, not in advance. When a context switch
occurs, the operating system does not copy any of the old program’s pages out to the disk or any
of the new program’s pages into the main memory Instead, it just begins executing the new
program after loading the first page and fetches that program’s pages as they are referenced.
While executing a program, if the program references a page which is not available in the main
memory because it was swapped out a little ago, the processor treats this invalid memory reference
as a page fault and transfers control from the program to the operating system to demand the page
back into the memory.
Advantages
Following are the advantages of Demand Paging:
 Large virtual memory.
 More efficient use of memory.
 There is no limit on degree of multiprogramming.
Disadvantage
 Number of tables and the amount of processor overhead for handling page interrupts are
greater than in the case of the simple paged management techniques.

Page Replacement Algorithm

Page replacement algorithms are the techniques using which an Operating System decides which
memory pages to swap out, write to disk when a page of memory needs to be allocated. Paging
happens whenever a page fault occurs and a free page cannot be used for allocation purpose
accounting to reason that pages are not available or the number of free pages is lower than required
pages.
When the page that was selected for replacement and was paged out, is referenced again, it has to
read in from disk, and this requires for I/O completion. This process determines the quality of the
page replacement algorithm: the lesser the time waiting for page-ins, the better is the algorithm.
A page replacement algorithm looks at the limited information about accessing the pages provided
by hardware, and tries to select which pages should be replaced to minimize the total number of
page misses, while balancing it with the costs of primary storage and processor time of the
algorithm itself. There are many different page replacement algorithms. We evaluate an algorithm
by running it on a particular string of memory reference and computing the number of page faults.
Reference String
The string of memory references is called reference string. Reference strings are generated
artificially or by tracing a given system and recording the address of each memory
reference. The latter choice produces a large number of data, where we note two things.
 For a given page size, we need to consider only the page number, not the entire address.
 If we have a reference to a page p, then any immediately following references to page p
will never cause a page fault. Page p will be in memory after the first reference; the
immediately following references will not fault.
 For example, consider the following sequence of addresses - 123,215,600,1234,76,96
 If page size is 100, then the reference string is 1,2,6,12,0,0

First In First Out (FIFO) Algorithm

 Oldest page in main memory is the one which will be selected for replacement.
  Easy to implement, k eep a list, replace pages from the tail and add new pages at the head.

Optimal Page Algorithm

 An optimal page-replacement algorithm has the lowest page-fault rate of all algorithms.
An optimal page-replacement algorithm exists, and has been called OPT or MIN.
 Replace the page that will not be used for the longest period of time. Use the time when a
page is to be used.
Least Recently Used (LRU) Algorithm
 Page which has not been used for the longest time in main memory is the one which will
be selected for replacement.
 Easy to implement, keep a list, replace pages by looking back into time.

Page Buffering Algorithm

 To get a process start quickly, keep a pool of free frames.
 On page fault, select a page to be replaced.
 Write the new page in the frame of free pool, mark the page table and restart the process.
 Now write the dirty page out of disk and place the frame holding replaced page in free
pool.
Least Frequently Used (LFU) Algorithm
 The page with the smallest count is the one which will be selected for replacement.
 This algorithm suffers from the situation in which a page is used heavily during the initial
phase of a process, but then is never used again.
Most Frequently Used (MFU) Algorithm
 This algorithm is based on the argument that the page with the smallest count was probably
just brought in and has yet to be used.

UNIT 11

I/O HARDWARE
One of the important jobs of an Operating System is to manage various I/O devices including
mouse, keyboards, touch pad, disk drives, display adapters, USB devices, Bitmapped screen, LED,
Analog-to-digital converter, On/off switch, network connections, audio I/O, printers etc.
An I/O system is required to take an application I/O request and send it to the physical device, then
take whatever response comes back from the device and send it to the application. I/O devices can
be divided into two categories:

 Block devices: A block device is one with which the driver communicates by sending
entire blocks of data. For example, Hard disks, USB cameras, Disk-On-Key etc.
 Character devices: A character device is one with which the driver communicates by
sending and receiving single characters (bytes, octets). For example, serial ports, parallel
ports, sounds cards etc.

Device Controllers
Device drivers are software modules that can be plugged into an OS to handle a particular device.
Operating System takes help from device drivers to handle all I/O devices.
The Device Controller works like an interface between a device and a device driver. I/O units
(Keyboard, mouse, printer, etc.) typically consist of a mechanical component and an electronic
component where electronic component is called the device controller.
There is always a device controller and a device driver for each device to communicate with the
Operating Systems. A device controller may be able to handle multiple devices.
As an interface its main task is to convert serial bit stream to block of bytes, perform error
correction as necessary.
Any device connected to the computer is connected by a plug and socket, and the socket is
connected to a device controller. Following is a model for connecting the CPU, memory,
controllers, and I/O devices where CPU and device controllers all use a common bus for
communication.

Synchronous vs Asynchronous I/O

 Synchronous I/O — In this scheme CPU execution waits while I/O proceeds
 Asynchronous I/O — I/O proceeds concurrently with CPU execution

Communication to I/O Devices

The CPU must have a way to pass information to and from an I/O device. There are three
approaches available to communicate with the CPU and Device.
 Special Instruction I/O
 Memory-mapped I/O
  Direct memory access (DMA)
Special Instruction I/O
This uses CPU instructions that are specifically made for controlling I/O devices. These
instructions typically allow data to be sent to an I/O device or read from an I/O device.
Memory-mapped I/O
When using memory-mapped I/O, the same address space is shared by memory and I/O devices.
The device is connected directly to certain main memory locations so that I/O device can transfer
block of data to/from memory without going through CPU

While using memory mapped IO, OS allocates buffer in memory and informs I/O device to use
that buffer to send data to the CPU. I/O device operates asynchronously with CPU, interrupts CPU
when finished.
The advantage to this method is that every instruction which can access memory can be used to
manipulate an I/O device. Memory mapped IO is used for most high-speed I/O devices like disks,
communication interfaces.
Direct Memory Access (DMA)
Slow devices like keyboards will generate an interrupt to the main CPU after each byte is
transferred. If a fast device such as a disk generated an interrupt for each byte, the operating system
would spend most of its time handling these interrupts. So a typical computer uses direct memory
access (DMA) hardware to reduce this overhead
Direct Memory Access (DMA) means CPU grants I/O module authority to read from or write to
memory without involvement. DMA module itself controls exchange of data between main
memory and the I/O device. CPU is only involved at the beginning and end of the transfer and
interrupted only after entire block has been transferred.
Direct Memory Access needs a special hardware called DMA controller (DMAC) that manages
the data transfers and arbitrates access to the system bus. The controllers are programmed with
source and destination pointers (where to read/write the data), counters to track the number of
transferred bytes, and settings, which includes I/O and memory types, interrupts and states for the
CPU cycles.

The operating system uses the DMA hardware as follows:

Description
1 Device driver is instructed to transfer disk data to a buffer address X.
2 Device driver then instruct disk controller to transfer data to buffer.
3 Disk controller starts DMA transfer.
4 Disk controller sends each byte to DMA controller.
5 DMA controller transfers bytes to buffer, increases the memory address, decreases the counter
C until C becomes zero.
6 When C becomes zero, DMA interrupts CPU to signal transfer completion.

Polling vs Interrupts I/O

A computer must have a way of detecting the arrival of any type of input. There are two ways that
this can happen, known as polling and interrupts. Both of these techniques allow the processor
to deal with events that can happen at any time and that are not related to the process it is currently
running.
Polling I/O
Polling is the simplest way for an I/O device to communicate with the processor the processor.
The process of periodically checking status of the device to see if it is time for the next I/O
operation, is called polling. The I/O device simply puts the information in a
Status register, and the processor must come and get the information.
Most of the time, devices will not require attention and when one does it will have to wait until it
is next interrogated by the polling program. This is an inefficient method and much of the
processors time is wasted on unnecessary polls.
Compare this method to a teacher continually asking every student in a class, one after another, if
they need help. Obviously the more efficient method would be for a student to inform the teacher
whenever they require assistance.
Interrupts I/O
An alternative scheme for dealing with I/O is the interrupt-driven method. An interrupt is a signal
to the microprocessor from a device that requires attention.
A device controller puts an interrupt signal on the bus when it needs CPU’s attention when
CPU receives an interrupt, It saves its current state and invokes the appropriate interrupt handler
using the interrupt vector (addresses of OS routines to handle various events).
When the interrupting device has been dealt with, the CPU continues with its original task as if it
had never been interrupted.
 UNIT 12

I/O SOFTWARE
I/O software is often organized in the following layers:
 User Level Libraries: This provides simple interface to the user program to perform input
and output. For example, stdio is a library provided by C and C++ programming languages.
 Kernel Level Modules: This provides device driver to interact with the device controller
and device independent I/O modules used by the device drivers.
 Hardware: This layer includes actual hardware and hardware controller which interact
with the device drivers and makes hardware alive.

A key concept in the design of I/O software is that it should be device independent where it should
be possible to write programs that can access any I/O device without having to specify the device
in advance. For example, a program that reads a file as input should be able to read a file on a
floppy disk, on a hard disk, or on a CD-ROM, without having to modify the program for each
different device.
Device Drivers
Device drivers are software modules that can be plugged into an OS to handle a particular device.
Operating System takes help from device drivers to handle all I/O devices. Device drivers
encapsulate device-dependent code and implement a standard interface in such a way that code
contains device-specific register reads/writes. Device driver, is generally written by the device's
manufacturer and delivered along with the device on a CD-ROM.
A device driver performs the following jobs:
 To accept request from the device independent software above to it.
 Interact with the device controller to take and give I/O and perform required error handling
 Making sure that the request is executed successfully
How a device driver handles a request is as follows: Suppose a request comes to read a block N.
If the driver is idle at the time a request arrives, it starts carrying out the request immediately.
Otherwise, if the driver is already busy with some other request, it places the new request in the
queue of pending requests.
Interrupt handlers
An interrupt handler, also known as an interrupt service routine or ISR, is a piece of software or
more specifically a callback function in an operating system or more specifically in a device driver,
whose execution is triggered by the reception of an interrupt.
When the interrupt happens, the interrupt procedure does whatever it has to in order to handle the
interrupt, updates data structures and wakes up process that was waiting for an interrupt to happen.
The interrupt mechanism accepts an address ─ a number that selects a specific interrupt handling
routine/function from a small set. In most architectures, this address is an offset stored in a table
called the interrupt vector table. This vector contains the memory addresses of specialized interrupt
handlers.
Device-Independent I/O Software
The basic function of the device-independent software is to perform the I/O functions that are
common to all devices and to provide a uniform interface to the user-level software.
Though it is difficult to write completely device independent software but we can write some
modules which are common among all the devices. Following is a list of functions of device-
independent I/O Software:
 Uniform interfacing for device drivers
 Device naming ─ Mnemonic names mapped to Major and Minor device numbers
 Device protection
 Providing a device-independent block size
 Buffering because data coming off a device cannot be stored in final destination.
 Storage allocation on block devices
 Allocation and releasing dedicated devices
 Error Reporting

User-Space I/O Software

These are the libraries which provide richer and simplified interface to access the functionality of
the kernel or ultimately interactive with the device drivers. Most of the user-level I/O software
consists of library procedures with some exception like spooling system which is a way of dealing
with dedicated I/O devices in a multiprogramming system.
I/O Libraries (e.g., stdio) are in user-space to provide an interface to the OS resident device-
independent I/O SW. For example putchar(), getchar(), printf() and scanf() are example of user
level I/O library stdio available in C programming.

Kernel I/O Subsystem

Kernel I/O Subsystem is responsible to provide many services related to I/O. Following are some
of the services provided:
 Scheduling - Kernel schedules a set of I/O requests to determine a good order in which to
execute them. When an application issues a blocking I/O system call, the request is placed
on the queue for that device. The Kernel I/O scheduler rearranges the order of the queue to
improve the overall system efficiency and the average response time experienced by the
applications.

 Buffering - Kernel I/O Subsystem maintains a memory area known as buffer that stores
data while they are transferred between two devices or between a device with an application
operation. Buffering is done to cope with a speed mismatch between the producer and
consumer of a data stream or to adapt between devices that have different data transfer
sizes.

 Caching - Kernel maintains cache memory which is region of fast memory that holds
copies of data. Access to the cached copy is more efficient than access to the original.

 Spooling and Device Reservation - A spool is a buffer that holds output for a device, such
as a printer, that cannot accept interleaved data streams. The spooling system copies the
queued spool files to the printer one at a time. In some operating systems, spooling is
managed by a system daemon process. In other operating systems, it is handled by an in
kernel thread.
 Error Handling - An operating system that uses protected memory can guard against
many kinds of hardware and application errors.
 UNIT 13

FILE SYSTEM
File
A file is a named collection of related information that is recorded on secondary storage such as
magnetic disks, magnetic tapes and optical disks. In general, a file is a sequence of bits, bytes,
lines or records whose meaning is defined by the files creator and user.
File Structure
A File Structure should be according to a required format that the operating system can understand.
 A file has a certain defined structure according to its type.
 A text file is a sequence of characters organized into lines.
 A source file is a sequence of procedures and functions.
 An object file is a sequence of bytes organized into blocks that are understandable by the
machine.
 When an operating system defines different file structures, it also contains the code to
support these file structure. Unix, MS-DOS support minimum number of file structure.

File Type
File type refers to the ability of the operating system to distinguish different types of file
such as text files source files and binary files etc. Many operating systems support many
types of files. Operating system like MS-DOS and UNIX have the following types of files:
Ordinary files
 These are the files that contain user information.
 These may have text, databases or executable program.
 The user can apply various operations on such files like add, modify, delete or even remove
the entire file.
Directory files
 These files contain list of file names and other information related to these files.
Special files
 These files are also known as device files.
 These files represent physical device like disks, terminals, printers, networks, tape drive
etc.
These files are of two types:
 Character special files - data is handled character by character as in case of terminals or
printers.
 Block special files - data is handled in blocks as in the case of disks and tapes.

File Access Mechanisms

File access mechanism refers to the manner in which the records of a file may be accessed.
There are several ways to access files:
 Sequential access
 Direct/Random access
 Indexed sequential access
Sequential access
A sequential access is that in which the records are accessed in some sequence, i.e., the information
in the file is processed in order, one record after the other. This access method is the most primitive
one. Example: Compilers usually access files in this fashion.
Direct/Random access
 Random access file organization provides, accessing the records directly.
 Each record has its own address on the file with by the help of which it can be directly
accessed for reading or writing.
 The records need not be in any sequence within the file and they need not be in adjacent
locations on the storage medium.
Indexed sequential access
 This mechanism is built up on base of sequential access.
 An index is created for each file which contains pointers to various blocks.
 Index is searched sequentially and its pointer is used to access the file directly.
Space Allocation
Files are allocated disk spaces by operating system. Operating systems deploy following three
main ways to allocate disk space to files.
 Contiguous Allocation
 Linked Allocation
 Indexed Allocation
Contiguous Allocation
 Each file occupies a contiguous address space on disk.
 Assigned disk address is in linear order.
 Easy to implement.
 External fragmentation is a major issue with this type of allocation technique.
Linked Allocation
 Each file carries a list of links to disk blocks.
 Directory contains link / pointer to first block of a file.
 No external fragmentation
 Effectively used in sequential access file.
 Inefficient in case of direct access file.
Indexed Allocation
 Provides solutions to problems of contiguous and linked allocation.
 An index block is created having all pointers to files.
 Each file has its own index block which stores the addresses of disk space occupied by the
file.
 Directory contains the addresses of index blocks of files.
 UNIT 14

SECURITY
Security refers to providing a protection system to computer system resources such as
CPU, memory, disk, software programs and most importantly data/information stored in the
computer system. If a computer program is run by an unauthorized user, then he/she may cause
severe damage to computer or data stored in it. So a computer system must be protected against
unauthorized access, malicious access to system memory, viruses, worms etc. We're going to
discuss following topics in this chapter:
 Authentication
 One Time passwords
 Program Threats
 System Threats
 Computer Security Classifications
Authentication
Authentication refers to identifying each user of the system and associating the executing programs
with those users. It is the responsibility of the Operating System to create a protection system
which ensures that a user who is running a particular program is authentic. Operating Systems
generally identifies/authenticates users using following three ways:

 Username / Password - User need to enter a registered username and password with
Operating system to login into the system.
 User card/key - User need to punch card in card slot, or enter key generated by key
generator in option provided by operating system to login into the system.
 User attribute - fingerprint/ eye retina pattern/ signature - User need to pass his/her
attribute via designated input device used by operating system to login into the system.

One Time passwords

One-time passwords provide additional security along with normal authentication. In One-
Time Password system, a unique password is required every time user tries to login into the system.
Once a one-time password is used, then it cannot be used again. One-time password are
implemented in various ways.

 Random numbers - Users are provided cards having numbers printed along with
corresponding alphabets. System asks for numbers corresponding to few alphabets
randomly chosen.
 Secret key - User are provided a hardware device which can create a secret id mapped with
user id. System asks for such secret id which is to be generated every time prior to login.
 Network password - Some commercial applications send one-time passwords to user on
registered mobile/ email which is required to be entered prior to login.

Program Threats
Operating system's processes and kernel do the designated task as instructed. If a user program
made these process do malicious tasks, then it is known as Program Threats.
One of the common example of program threat is a program installed in a computer which can
store and send user credentials via network to some hacker. Following is the list of some well-
known program threats.
 Trojan Horse - Such program traps user login credentials and stores them to send to
malicious user who can later on login to computer and can access system resources.
 Trap Door - If a program which is designed to work as required, have a security hole in
its code and perform illegal action without knowledge of user then it is called to have a
trap door.
 Logic Bomb - Logic bomb is a situation when a program misbehaves only when certain
conditions met otherwise it works as a genuine program. It is harder to detect.
 Virus - Virus as name suggest can replicate themselves on computer system. They are
highly dangerous and can modify/delete user files, crash systems. A virus is generally a
small code embedded in a program. As user accesses the program, the virus starts getting
embedded in other files/ programs and can make system unusable for user.
System Threats
System threats refer to misuse of system services and network connections to put user in trouble.
System threats can be used to launch program threats on a complete network called as program
attack. System threats creates such an environment that operating system resources/ user files are
misused. Following is the list of some well-known system threats.
 Worm -Worm is a process which can choked down a system performance by using system
resources to extreme levels. A Worm process generates its multiple copies where each copy
uses system resources, prevents all other processes to get required resources. Worms
processes can even shut down an entire network.
 Port Scanning - Port scanning is a mechanism or means by which a hacker can detects
system vulnerabilities to make an attack on the system.
 Denial of Service - Denial of service attacks normally prevents user to make legitimate
use of the system. For example, a user may not be able to use internet if denial of service
attacks browser's content settings.
Computer Security Classifications
As per the U.S. Department of Defense Trusted Computer System's Evaluation Criteria there are
four security classifications in computer systems: A, B, C, and D. This is widely used
specifications to determine and model the security of systems and of security solutions. Following
is the brief description of each classification.

Type A Highest Level. Uses formal design

specifications and
verification techniques. Grants a high degree
of assurance of
process security.
Type B Provides mandatory protection system. Have
all the properties
of a class C2 system. Attaches a sensitivity
label to each
object. It is of three types.
B1 - Maintains the security label of each
object in the
 system. Label is used for making decisions to
access
control.
B2 - Extends the sensitivity labels to each
system
resource, such as storage objects, supports
covert
channels and auditing of events.
B3 - Allows creating lists or user groups for
accesscontrol
to grant access or revoke access to a given
named object.
Type C Provides protection and user accountability
using audit
capabilities. It is of two types.
C1 - Incorporates controls so that users can
protect their
private information and keep other users from
accidentally
reading / deleting their data. UNIX versions are
mostly Cl
class.
C2 - Adds an individual-level access control to
the capabilities
of a Cl level system
Type D Lowest level. Minimum protection. MS-DOS,
Window 3.1 fall in
this category.

CHAPTER 15
 LINUX
Linux is one of popular version of UNIX operating System. It is open source as its source code is
freely available. It is free to use. Linux was designed considering UNIX compatibility. Its
functionality list is quite similar to that of UNIX.

Components of Linux System

Linux Operating System has primarily three components
 Kernel - Kernel is the core part of Linux. It is responsible for all major activities of this
operating system. It consists of various modules and it interacts directly with the underlying
hardware. Kernel provides the required abstraction to hide low level hardware details to
system or application programs.
 System Library - System libraries are special functions or programs using which
application programs or system utilities accesses Kernel's features. These libraries
implement most of the functionalities of the operating system and do not requires kernel
module's code access rights.
 System Utility - System Utility programs are responsible to do specialized, individual level
tasks.

Kernel Mode vs. User Mode

Kernel component code executes in a special privileged mode called kernel mode with full access
to all resources of the computer. This code represents a single process, executes in single address
space and do not require any context switch and hence is very efficient and fast. Kernel runs each
processes and provides system services to processes, provides protected access to hardware to
processes.
Support code which is not required to run in kernel mode is in System Library. User programs and
other system programs works in User Mode which has no access to system hardware and kernel
code. User programs/ utilities use System libraries to access Kernel functions to get system's low
level tasks.
Basic Features
Following are some of the important features of Linux Operating System.
 Portable - Portability means software can works on different types of hardware in same
way. Linux kernel and application programs supports their installation on any kind of
hardware platform.
 Open Source - Linux source code is freely available and it is community based
development project. Multiple teams work in collaboration to enhance the capability of
Linux operating system and it is continuously evolving.
 Multi-User - Linux is a multiuser system means multiple users can access system resources
like memory/ ram/ application programs at same time.
 Multiprogramming - Linux is a multiprogramming system means multiple applications
can run at same time.
 Hierarchical File System - Linux provides a standard file structure in which system files/
user files are arranged.
 Shell - Linux provides a special interpreter program which can be used to execute
commands of the operating system. It can be used to do various types of operations, call
application programs. etc.
 Security - Linux provides user security using authentication features like password
protection/ controlled access to specific files/ encryption of data.

Architecture
The following illustration shows the architecture of a Linux system:
The architecture of a Linux System consists of the following layers:
 Hardware layer - Hardware consists of all peripheral devices (RAM/ HDD/ CPU etc.).
 Kernel – It is the core component of Operating System, interacts directly with hardware,
and provides low level services to upper layer components.
 Shell - An interface to kernel, hiding complexity of kernel's functions from users.
 The shell takes commands from the user and executes kernel's functions.
 Utilities - Utility programs that provide the user most of the functionalities of an operating
systems.