Operating Systems
Operating systems are the backbone of computer systems. Operating systems manage hardware, software, processes, memory storage, and all aspects of a computer system. This post will explore various aspects of the vital role operating systems play in a computer system. These aspects include process control, Memory management, file system management, security, protection, and I/O management.
How operating systems enable processes to share and exchange information
In its role of process management, operating systems must be efficient in executing programs. The operating system must load the program into memory and allocate resources. The operating system serves as an environment to guide program use. The operating system ensures jobs are organized in a multiprogramming environment so that the CPU is always executing instead of sitting idle on one process at a time. The resources in these processes may be shared in memory and use effective synchronization to prevent race conditions.
How main memory and virtual memory can solve memory management issues
Memory management is a crucial process of the operating system and ensures efficient allocation, access, and protection. Both main and virtual memory serve roles to protect from fragmentation and allow multiple programs to run efficiently. Main memory uses allocation and de-allocation to assign processes memory as needed. Main memory also uses techniques such as segmentation, scheduling, and cache management.
Virtual memory is like an extension of physical memory that uses portions of the hard drive. This lets the OS handle larger processes and multitasking. Virtual memory brings the benefits of increased available memory, Paging, Swapping, and Isolation to help better the memory management of the computer system.
How files, mass storage, and I/O are handled in a modern computer system
Modern operating systems manage files, mass storage, and input/output operations. A file system organizes and stores data while providing structure for fast access. Mass storage utilizes non-volatile storage, such as hard disk drives, to store a mass amount of data.
Mass storage utilizes techniques such as disk scheduling, RAID, caching, and buffering for this management. Disk scheduling allows for read/write efficiency by using a scheduling algorithm. Some common algorithms include First Come First Served, Shortest Seek Time First, and SCAN. RAID combines multiple drives to increase performance and fault tolerance. Caching and buffering serve to temporarily store frequently accessed data to improve speed, as clicks are faster than reading from storage.
Input/Output (I/O) involves data transfer between the CPU, memory, and peripheral devices. These devices commonly include keyboards, mice, monitors, and printers. I/O management includes drivers, scheduling, and direct memory access techniques. Drivers are software that allows the operating system to communicate with hardware. I/O scheduling prioritizes device access to increase responsiveness. Direct Memory Access (DMA) enables devices to transfer data directly to memory to improve performance.
Mechanisms necessary to control the access of programs or users to the resources defined by a computer system
Operating systems implement various mechanisms to protect resources from unauthorized access. These mechanisms ensure that users and programs have only access to files and objects as needed. This is a protection concept known as isolation. Some more techniques are authentication, access control, and encryption. Authentication would include strategies such as passwords and multifactor authentication. As you may be familiar, passwords are an initial step to securing data from unauthorized users, and multifactor authentication strengthens password security. A computer system implements access control to verify what resources a user or program may use. In access control, we may derive access control lists and compatibility lists. Both of these lists serve to organize and check for user and process access permissions. Some users may only have read access to a file, while others may have both read and write. Encryption is implemented by converting data into unreadable formats so those without the key cannot decipher the content.
How I will use these concepts about operating systems theory in future courses and/or future jobs
I will use these concepts to illustrate my understanding of fundamental operating systems and computer system structures. I am currently seeking to work in networking or cybersecurity after I obtain my degree in Information Technology. By understanding the concepts learned in this class, I can demonstrate my competencies in computer systems. The information learned in this class also serves me as I may be able to draw threads from these concepts to those learned in future classes related to computer systems.
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