Monday, December 19, 2011

Operating System & Its Components

Describe Why OS is required & What are its critical components.Also discuss types.

Explain OS structure in detail
1.Simple structure
2.Layered Approach
3.Micro kernel approach
4.Modular Approach

Why OS is required
An Operating System (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a computer. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the system. At the foundation of all system software, an operating system performs basic tasks such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing system requests, controlling input and output devices, facilitating networking and managing file systems. Major Operating Systems include Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OS, and the UNIX/Linux Family.

The Kernel

The kernel is the central component of most computer operating systems. Its responsibilities include managing the system’s resources, and the communication between hardware and software components. As a basic component of an operating system, a kernel provides the lowest-level abstraction layer for the resources (especially memory, processors and I/O devices) that application software must control to perform its function. It typically makes these facilities available to application processes through inter-process communication mechanisms and system calls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(computer_science)

Functions and Services

The basic functions that an Operating System should provide include (but not limited to):
  • CPU and Process Management
  • Memory Management
  • I/O Management
  • Information And Storage Management
  • Network Management
Along with the fore mentioned functions, the operating system should also be able to provide the following basic services to the users:

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