Operating System

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What is an Operating System?

An operating system is a software that manages the computer hardware. It acts
as an intermediary between the user of a computer and computer hardware. The
purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in which a user can
execute programs in a convenient and efficient manner. It records that the
hardware must provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation
of the computer system and to prevent user programs from interfering with the
proper operation of the system.

Various relevant definitions of Operating System:

• An operating system is a program that controls the execution of
application programs and acts as an interface between the user of a
computer and the computer hardware.
• A more common definition is that the operating system is the one
program running at all times on the computer (usually called the kernel),
with all else being application programs.
• An operating system is concerned with the allocation of resources and
services, such as memory, processors, devices, and information. The
operating system correspondingly includes programs to manage these
resources, such as a traffic controller, a scheduler, memory management
module, I/O programs, and a file system.

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Key functions of the Operating System: -
• Convenience: An OS makes a computer more convenient to use.
• Efficiency: An OS allows the computer system resources to be used in an
efficient manner.
• Ability to Evolve: An OS should be constructed in such a way as to permit
the effective development, testing and introduction of new system
functions at the same time without interfering with service.

Types of Operating System: -

• Single Tasking Operating System - This type of Operating System can run
only one program at a particular time.
• Multiprogramming Operating System - A computer running more than
one program at a time (like running Excel and Firefox simultaneously).
• Multitasking Operating System – Tasks sharing a common resource (like 1
CPU).
• Multiprocessing Operating System– A computer using more than one CPU
at a time.
• Multithreading Operating System - This is an extension of multitasking.
• Multiuser Operating System - This refers to the system where multiple
users sitting on different computers can access a single OS resource.

Primary components in a Computer System with

an Operating System: -
1. User
2. System and application programs
3. Operating system
4. Hardware

Every general-purpose computer consists of the hardware, operating system,

system programs, and application programs. The hardware consists of
memory, CPU, ALU, and I/O devices, peripheral device, and storage device.
System program consists of compilers, loaders, editors, OS, etc. The
application program consists of business programs, database programs.
Every computer must have an operating system to run other programs. The

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 operating system is a set of special programs that coordinate the use of the
hardware among the various system programs and application programs for
various users. It simply provides an environment within which other
programs can do useful work. It performs basic tasks such as recognizing
input from the keyboard, keeping track of files and directories on the disk,
sending output to the display screen and controlling peripheral devices. OS is
designed to serve two basic purposes:

1. It controls the allocation and use of the computing System’s resources

among the various user and tasks.
2. It provides an interface between the computer hardware and the
programmer that simplifies and makes feasible for coding, creation,
debugging of application programs.

The Operating system must support the following

tasks.
The task is:-
• Provides the facilities to create, modification of programs and data files
using an editor.
• Access to the compiler for translating the user program from high-level
language to machine language.
• Provide a loader program to move the compiled program code to the
computer’s memory for execution.
• Provide routines that handle the details of I/O programming.

Let's look at the I/O system and few drivers related to the hardware components
that the OS needs to maintain its task:
I/O System Management - The module that keeps track of the status of devices
is called the I/O traffic controller. Each I/O device has a device handler that
resides in a separate process associated with that device.
The I/O subsystem consists of

• A memory Management component that includes buffering caching and

spooling.
• A general device driver interface.

Assembler - The input to an assembler is an assembly language program. The

output is an object program plus information that enables the loader to prepare

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the object program for execution. At one time, the computer programmer had at
his disposal a basic machine that interpreted, through hardware, certain
fundamental instructions. He would program this computer by writing a series
of ones and Zeros (Machine language), place them into the memory of the
machine.

Compiler - The High-level languages- examples are FORTRAN, COBOL, ALGOL

and PL/I are processed by compilers and interpreters. A compiler is a program
that accepts a source program in a “high-level language “and produces a
corresponding object program. An interpreter is a program that appears to
execute a source program as if it was machine language. The same name
(FORTRAN, COBOL, etc.) is often used to designate both a compiler and its
associated language.

Loader - A Loader is a routine that loads an object program and prepares it for
execution. There are various loading schemes: absolute, relocating and direct-
linking. In general, the loader must load, relocate and link the object program.
The loader is a program that places programs into memory and prepares them
for execution. In a simple loading scheme, the assembler outputs the machine
language translation of a program on a secondary device and a loader places it
in the core. The loader places into memory the machine language version of the
user’s program and transfers control to it. Since the loader program is much
smaller than the assembler, those make more core available to the user’s
program.

Examples of Operating System are -

• Windows (GUI based, PC)

• GNU/Linux (Personal, Workstations, ISP, File and print server, Three-tier
client/Server)
• macOS (Macintosh), used for Apple's personal computers and work
stations (MacBook, iMac).
• Android (Google's Operating System for
smartphones/tablets/smartwatches)
• iOS (Apple's OS for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch)

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Advantages of Operating System:
1. GUI feature makes it easy to use.
2. Links the applications to the hardware, acting as an intermediary between
the two.
3. Provides a user-friendly environment for the execution of programs and
software.
4. Using abstraction, OS saves the details and complexity of the underlying
hardware.

TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEM

An Operating System performs all the basic tasks like managing files, processes, and
memory. Thus operating system acts as the manager of all the resources, i.e. resource
manager. Thus, the operating system becomes an interface between user and machine.

Types of Operating Systems:

Some widely used operating systems are as follows-
1. Batch Operating System
2. Time-Sharing Operating Systems
3. Distributed Operating System
4. Network Operating System
5. Real-Time Operating System

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1. Batch Operating System -
This type of operating system does not interact with the computer directly.
There is an operator which takes similar jobs having the same requirement and
group them into batches. It is the responsibility of the operator to sort jobs with
similar needs.

Advantages of Batch Operating System:

• It is very difficult to guess or know the time required for any job to
complete. Processors of the batch systems know how long the job would
be when it is in queue.
• Multiple users can share the batch systems
• The idle time for the batch system is very less
• It is easy to manage large work repeatedly in batch systems

Disadvantages of Batch Operating System:

• The computer operators should be well known with batch systems

• Batch systems are hard to debug
• It is sometimes costly
• The other jobs will have to wait for an unknown time if any job fails

Examples of Batch based Operating System: Payroll System, Bank

Statements, etc.

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 2. Time-Sharing Operating Systems -
Each task is given some time to execute so that all the tasks work
smoothly. Each user gets the time of CPU as they use a single system.
These systems are also known as Multitasking Systems. The task can be
from a single user or different users also. The time that each task gets to
execute is called quantum. After this time interval is over OS switches
over to the next task.

Advantages of Time-Sharing OS:

• Each task gets an equal opportunity

• Fewer chances of duplication of software
• CPU idle time can be reduced

Disadvantages of Time-Sharing OS:

• Reliability problem
• One must have to take care of the security and integrity of user programs
and data
• Data communication problem.

Examples of Time-Sharing OSs are: Multics, Unix, etc.

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3. Distributed Operating System -
These types of the operating system is a recent advancement in the world of
computer technology and are being widely accepted all over the world and, that
too, with a great pace. Various autonomous interconnected computers
communicate with each other using a shared communication network.
Independent systems possess their own memory unit and CPU. These are
referred to as loosely coupled systems or distributed systems. These system's
processors differ in size and function. The major benefit of working with these
types of the operating system is that it is always possible that one user can
access the files or software which are not actually present on his system, but
some other system connected within this network i.e., remote access is enabled
within the devices connected in that network.

Advantages of Distributed Operating System:

• Failure of one will not affect the other network communication, as all
systems are independent from each other
• Electronic mail increases the data exchange speed
• Since resources are being shared, computation is highly fast and durable
• Load on host computer reduces
• These systems are easily scalable as many systems can be easily added to
the network
• Delay in data processing reduces

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Disadvantages of Distributed Operating System:
• Failure of the main network will stop the entire communication
• To establish distributed systems the language which is used are not well
defined yet
• These types of systems are not readily available as they are very
expensive. Not only that the underlying software is highly complex and
not understood well yet

Examples of Distributed Operating System are- LOCUS, etc.

4. Network Operating System -

These systems run on a server and provide the capability to manage data, users,
groups, security, applications, and other networking functions. These types of
operating systems allow shared access of files, printers, security, applications,
and other networking functions over a small private network. One more
important aspect of Network Operating Systems is that all the users are well
aware of the underlying configuration, of all other users within the network,
their individual connections, etc. and that’s why these computers are popularly
known as tightly coupled systems.

Advantages of Network Operating System:

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 • Highly stable centralized servers
• Security concerns are handled through servers
• New technologies and hardware up-gradation are easily integrated into
the system
• Server access is possible remotely from different locations and types of
systems

Disadvantages of Network Operating System:

• Servers are costly
• User has to depend on a central location for most operations
• Maintenance and updates are required regularly.

Examples of Network Operating System are: Microsoft Windows Server 2003,

Microsoft Windows Server 2008, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X, Novell NetWare, and
BSD, etc.

5. Real-Time Operating System –

These types of OSs serve real-time systems. The time interval required to
process and respond to inputs is very small. This time interval is called response
time.

Real-time systems are used when there are time requirements that are very
strict like missile systems, air traffic control systems, robots, etc.

Two types of Real-Time Operating System which are as follows:

• Hard Real-Time Systems:

These OSs are meant for applications where time constraints are very
strict and even the shortest possible delay is not acceptable. These
systems are built for saving life like automatic parachutes or airbags
which are required to be readily available in case of any accident. Virtual
memory is rarely found in these systems.

• Soft Real-Time Systems:

These OSs are for applications where for time-constraint is less strict.

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Advantages of RTOS:
• Maximum Consumption: Maximum utilization of devices and system, thus
more output from all the resources
• Task Shifting: The time assigned for shifting tasks in these systems are
very less. For example, in older systems, it takes about 10 microseconds in
shifting one task to another, and in the latest systems, it takes 3
microseconds.
• Focus on Application: Focus on running applications and less importance
to applications which are in the queue.
• Real-time operating system in the embedded system: Since the size of
programs are small, RTOS can also be used in embedded systems like in
transport and others.
• Error Free: These types of systems are error-free.
• Memory Allocation: Memory allocation is best managed in these types of
systems.

Disadvantages of RTOS:
• Limited Tasks: Very few tasks run at the same time and their
concentration is very less on few applications to avoid errors.
• Use heavy system resources: Sometimes the system resources are not so
good and they are expensive as well.
• Complex Algorithms: The algorithms are very complex and difficult for
the designer to write on.
• Device driver and interrupt signals: It needs specific device drivers and
interrupts signals to respond earliest to interrupts.

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 • Thread Priority: It is not good to set thread priority as these systems are
very less prone to switching tasks.

Examples of Real-Time Operating Systems are: Scientific experiments, medical

imaging systems, industrial control systems, weapon systems, robots, air traffic
control systems, etc.

MULTI-THREADING IN OPERATING SYSTEMS

A thread is a path which is followed during a program’s execution. Majority of programs
written now a days run as a single thread.

Lets say, for example a program is not capable of reading keystrokes while making
drawings. These tasks cannot be executed by the program at the same time. This
problem can be solved through multitasking so that two or more tasks can be executed
simultaneously.

Multitasking is of two types:

Processor based and thread based. Processor based multitasking is totally managed by
the OS, however multitasking through multithreading can be controlled by the
programmer to some extent.

The concept of multi-threading needs proper understanding of these two terms - a

process and a thread. A process is a program being executed. A process can be further
divided into independent units known as threads.

A thread is like a small light-weight process within a process. Or we can say a

collection of threads is what is known as a process.

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Applications - Threading is used widely in almost every field. Most widely it is
seen over the internet now days where we are using transaction processing of every
type like recharges, online transfer, banking etc. Threading is a segment which divide
the code into small parts that are of very light weight and has less burden on CPU
memory so that it can be easily worked out and can achieve goal in desired field. The
concept of threading is designed due to the problem of fast and regular changes in
technology and less the work in different areas due to less application. Then as says
“need is the generation of creation or innovation” hence by following this approach
human mind develop the concept of thread to enhance the capability of programming.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THREAD AND PROCESS

Process:
Processes are basically the programs that are dispatched from the ready state
and are scheduled in the CPU for execution. PCB(Process Control Block) holds
the concept of process. A process can create other processes which are known
as Child Processes. The process takes more time to terminate and it is isolated
means it does not share the memory with any other process.
The process can have the following states new, ready, running, waiting,
terminated, and suspended.

Thread:
Thread is the segment of a process means a process can have multiple threads
and these multiple threads are contained within a process. A thread has three
states: Running, Ready, and Blocked.

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The thread takes less time to terminate as compared to the process but unlike
the process, threads do not isolate.

Process vs Thread: -

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN USER LEVEL THREAD AND KERNAL LEVEL THREAD

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