Disk Management in Operating System

Disk management is a critical function of the operating system (OS) that

deals with organizing, optimizing, and securing data on secondary storage
devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs).

It ensures:

●​ Efficient use of storage space

●​ Safe and reliable read/write operations

●​ Faster access times

OS Management Functions
Modern operating systems implement four major management functions, and
disk management is one of them:

1.​ Process Management: handles process execution.

2.​ Memory Management: manages main memory allocation.

3.​ File & Disk Management: organizes data on secondary storage.

4.​ I/O System Management: manages device communication.

Why Disk Management is Important
Most computer systems use secondary storage devices (like hard disks,
SSDs, tapes, optical media, and flash drives) to store programs and data at
low cost and with non-volatile storage. Data is stored in the form of files.

The operating system (OS) manages file storage by allocating disk space as
needed. Files are not always stored in one continuous block, large files may
be fragmented into parts stored in different disk locations, especially when
space is limited.

The OS keeps track of where each file (and its fragments) is located, often
handling thousands of such entries. It ensures:

●​ Files can be quickly located for read/write operations

●​ Safe and reliable access to stored data

●​ Efficient management of access times

Key Operations in Disk Management

Disk Formatting

●​ Low-level (physical) formatting: Divides the disk into sectors with

headers, data, and error correction codes (ECC).

●​ Logical formatting: Creates a file system, defining free space and

allocated space.

●​ Blocks are grouped into clusters for efficient I/O.

●​ Some systems allow raw I/O (direct access to disk blocks without a

file system).

2. Booting from Disk

●​ The bootstrap program loads the OS kernel into memory when the

computer is powered on.

●​ A small bootstrap loader resides in ROM.

●​ The full bootstrap code is stored in the boot block of the disk.

●​ A disk with a boot partition is called a boot disk (system disk).

3. Bad Block Management

Disks often have bad sectors due to manufacturing defects or usage.​

Handled using:

●​ Sector sparing (replacement): faulty sectors are replaced with

spare ones.

●​ Error recovery: for soft errors.

 ●​ Manual intervention: required for hard errors.

Severe disk failures may require replacing the disk and restoring from
backup.

Some common disk management techniques used in operating

systems include:

●​ Partitioning: Divides a physical disk into multiple logical partitions,

each acting as a separate storage device for better organization.

●​ Formatting: Prepares a disk by creating a file system; erases all

existing data.

●​ File System Management: Manages file systems (e.g., FAT, NTFS,

ext4) to store and access data efficiently.

●​ Disk Space Allocation: Allocates space for files using methods like

contiguous, linked, or indexed allocation.

●​ Disk Defragmentation: Rearranges scattered data blocks to

improve performance.

Disk Scheduling Algorithms

Disk scheduling algorithms manage how data is read from and written to a

computer's hard disk. These algorithms help determine the order in which

disk read and write requests are processed.

●​ Disk scheduling is also known as I/O Scheduling.

 ●​ The main goals of disk scheduling are to optimize the performance

of disk operations, reduce the time it takes to access data and

improve overall system efficiency.

●​ Common disk scheduling methods include First-Come, First-Served

(FCFS), Shortest Seek Time First (SSTF), SCAN, C-SCAN, LOOK, and

C-LOOK.

Importance of Disk Scheduling in Operating System

●​ Multiple I/O requests may arrive by different processes and only one

I/O request can be served at a time by the disk controller. Thus other

I/O requests need to wait in the waiting queue and need to be

scheduled.

●​ Two or more requests may be far from each other so this can result

in greater disk arm movement.

●​ Hard drives are one of the slowest parts of the computer system

and thus need to be accessed in an efficient manner.

Key Terms Associated with Disk Scheduling

●​ Seek Time: Time taken to move the disk arm to the track where data

is located.
 ●​ Rotational Latency: Time taken for the desired sector to rotate

under the read/write head.

●​ Transfer Time: Time taken to actually read or write the data,

depending on disk speed and data size.

Disk Access Time = Seek Time + Rotational Latency + Transfer Time​

Total Seek Time = Total head Movement * Seek Time

Disk Access Time and Disk Response Time

Disk Response Time

●​ Response Time: The time a request waits before its I/O operation

starts.

●​ Average Response Time: The mean waiting time of all requests.

●​ Variance in Response Time: How much individual waiting times

differ from the average.

Goals of Disk Scheduling Algorithms

●​ Minimize Seek Time

 ●​ Maximize Throughput

●​ Minimize Latency

●​ Ensuring Fairness

●​ Efficiency in Resource Utilization

Disk Scheduling Algorithms

There are several Disk Algorithms. We will discuss in detail each one of

them.

●​ FCFS (First Come First Serve)

●​ SSTF (Shortest Seek Time First)

●​ SCAN

●​ C-SCAN

●​ LOOK

●​ C-LOOK

●​ RSS (Random Scheduling)

●​ LIFO (Last-In First-Out)

●​ N-STEP SCAN

●​ F-SCAN

1. FCFS (First Come First Serve)

FCFS is the simplest of all Disk Scheduling Algorithms. In FCFS, the requests

are addressed in the order they arrive in the disk queue. Let us understand

this with the help of an example.

First Come First Serve

Suppose the order of request is- (82,170,43,140,24,16,190) and current

position of Read/Write head is: 50

So, total overhead movement (total distance covered by the disk arm) =​
(82-50)+(170-82)+(170-43)+(140-43)+(140-24)+(24-16)+(190-16) =642

Advantages of FCFS

Here are some of the advantages of First Come First Serve.

 ●​ Every request gets a fair chance

●​ No indefinite postponement

Disadvantages of FCFS

Here are some of the disadvantages of First Come First Serve.

●​ Does not try to optimize seek time

●​ May not provide the best possible service

Learn more in detail: FCFS

2. SSTF (Shortest Seek Time First)

In SSTF (Shortest Seek Time First), requests having the shortest seek time

are executed first. So, the seek time of every request is calculated in advance

in the queue and then they are scheduled according to their calculated seek

time. As a result, the request near the disk arm will get executed first. SSTF

is certainly an improvement over FCFS as it decreases the average response

time and increases the throughput of the system. Let us understand this with

the help of an example.

Example:
Shortest Seek Time First

Suppose the order of request is- (82,170,43,140,24,16,190) and current

position of Read/Write head is: 50

total overhead movement (total distance covered by the disk arm) =​

(50-43)+(43-24)+(24-16)+(82-16)+(140-82)+(170-140)+(190-170) =208

Advantages of Shortest Seek Time First

Here are some of the advantages of Shortest Seek Time First.

●​ The average Response Time decreases

●​ Throughput increases

Disadvantages of Shortest Seek Time First

Here are some of the disadvantages of Shortest Seek Time First.

●​ Overhead to calculate seek time in advance

 ●​ Can cause Starvation for a request if it has a higher seek time as

compared to incoming requests

●​ The high variance of response time as SSTF favors only some

requests

Learn More in detail: shortest seek time first

3. SCAN

In the SCAN algorithm the disk arm moves in a particular direction and

services the requests coming in its path and after reaching the end of the

disk, it reverses its direction and again services the request arriving in its

path. So, this algorithm works as an elevator and is hence also known as an

elevator algorithm. As a result, the requests at the midrange are serviced

more and those arriving behind the disk arm will have to wait.

Example:
SCAN Algorithm

Suppose the requests to be addressed are-82,170,43,140,24,16,190 and the

Read/Write arm is at 50, and it is also given that the disk arm should move

"towards the larger value".

Therefore, the total overhead movement (total distance covered by the disk

arm) is calculated as

= (199-50) + (199-16) = 332

Advantages of SCAN Algorithm

Here are some of the advantages of the SCAN Algorithm.

●​ High throughput

●​ Low variance of response time

 ●​ Average response time

Disadvantages of SCAN Algorithm: Long waiting time for requests for

locations just visited by disk arm

Learn More in detail: SCAN

4. C-SCAN

In the SCAN algorithm, the disk arm again scans the path that has been

scanned, after reversing its direction. So, it may be possible that too many

requests are waiting at the other end or there may be zero or few requests

pending at the scanned area.

These situations are avoided in the CSCAN algorithm in which the disk arm

instead of reversing its direction goes to the other end of the disk and starts

servicing the requests from there. So, the disk arm moves in a circular fashion

and this algorithm is also similar to the SCAN algorithm hence it is known as

C-SCAN (Circular SCAN).

Example:
Circular SCAN

Suppose the requests to be addressed are- 82,170,43,140,24,16,190 and

the Read/Write arm is at 50, and it is also given that the disk arm should

move "towards the larger value".

So, the total overhead movement (total distance covered by the disk arm) is

calculated as:

=(199-50) + (199-0) + (43-0) = 391

Advantages of C-SCAN Algorithm: Provides more uniform wait time

compared to SCAN.

Learn more in detail: C-SCAN

5. LOOK

LOOK Algorithm is similar to the SCAN disk scheduling algorithm except for

the difference that the disk arm in spite of going to the end of the disk goes

only to the last request to be serviced in front of the head and then reverses

its direction from there only. Thus it prevents the extra delay which occurred

due to unnecessary traversal to the end of the disk.

Example:

LOOK Algorithm

Suppose the requests to be addressed are- 82,170,43,140,24,16,190 and

the Read/Write arm is at 50, and it is also given that the disk arm should

move "towards the larger value".

So, the total overhead movement (total distance covered by the disk arm) is

calculated as:

= (190-50) + (190-16) = 314

Advantages

●​ Reduced Unnecessary Movement: The disk arm only goes as far as

the last request in each direction, avoiding travel to the disk’s

physical end (unlike SCAN).

●​ Faster Response: Less head movement leads to quicker service for

requests.

Learn more in detail: LOOK

6. C-LOOK

As LOOK is similar to the SCAN algorithm, in a similar way, C-LOOK is similar

to the CSCAN disk scheduling algorithm. In CLOOK, the disk arm in spite of

going to the end goes only to the last request to be serviced in front of the

head and then from there goes to the other end’s last request. Thus, it also

prevents the extra delay which occurred due to unnecessary traversal to the

end of the disk.

Example: Suppose the requests to be addressed

are-82,170,43,140,24,16,190 and the Read/Write arm is at 50, and it is also

given that the disk arm should move "towards the larger value"

C-LOOK

So, the total overhead movement (total distance covered by the disk arm) is

calculated as

= (190-50) + (190-16) + (43-16) = 341

Advantages:

●​ Uniform Wait Time: Requests are serviced in a circular manner, so

waiting times are more predictable and fair.

 ●​ Reduced Head Movement: The arm only goes as far as the last

request in one direction, then jumps back, saving time compared to

C-SCAN.

Learn more in detail: C-LOOK