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Operating Systems
This module explores the fundamental concepts of distributed systems, including their architectures, coordination challenges, and the principles behind distributed file systems and cloud computing. Key models discussed include client-server, peer-to-peer, and cloud computing, emphasizing their roles and characteristics. The chapter also covers the complexities of coordination in distributed environments, including event ordering, mutual exclusion, and deadlock handling, culminating with an introduction to modern distributed infrastructure through virtualization and containerization technologies.
Course Chapters
Introduction to Operating Systems
The module provides a comprehensive overview of operating systems, detailing their definitions, historical evolution, core services, architectural designs, operations, and critical hardware support mechanisms. It emphasizes the pivotal role of OS in managing hardware resources, facilitating user interaction, and ensuring system stability and security. Students also explore the evolution of OS architectures from simple batch systems to complex distributed and real-time systems.
Process Management
The module delves into process management as a key aspect of operating systems, highlighting the concepts of processes, their lifecycle, CPU scheduling, and algorithms that optimize system performance. It also introduces threads as lightweight units of execution, analyzing their advantages and the various levels at which they can be implemented.
Inter-process Communication (IPC) and Synchronization
The chapter explores inter-process communication (IPC) and synchronization, detailing race conditions and the critical section problem, synchronization tools such as mutexes, semaphores, monitors, and various IPC mechanisms. It emphasizes the importance of proper synchronization in concurrent programming to avoid issues such as race conditions, deadlocks, and starvation by utilizing designed algorithms and structures.
Deadlocks
Deadlocks in computing systems represent a significant challenge where processes are unable to proceed because each is waiting for a resource held by another. The chapter outlines the four fundamental conditions that lead to deadlocks, delves into strategies for deadlock prevention and avoidance, and describes methods for deadlock detection and recovery. A prominent focus is on the Banker's Algorithm, which ensures resource requests do not lead to an unsafe state, and recovery strategies for handling detected deadlocks effectively.
Memory Management Strategies I - Comprehensive Foundations
The chapter provides an in-depth exploration of memory management strategies utilized by operating systems, emphasizing address translation mechanisms, dynamic memory allocation techniques such as contiguous and non-contiguous memory allocation, including paging and segmentation. It highlights how these strategies optimize resource utilization, address fragmentation challenges, and improve the overall execution efficiency of processes in a computing environment.
Memory Management Strategies II - Virtual Memory
Virtual memory is a sophisticated technique that enhances memory management by allowing processes to operate in an extended address space, regardless of the physical RAM available. Demand paging efficiently loads necessary pages on-demand, while page replacement algorithms optimally manage memory when faults occur. Strategies like Copy-on-Write and the Working-Set Model further reduce overhead and improve process performance while addressing issues such as thrashing and kernel memory allocation.
File System Interface
The chapter provides a thorough exploration of the file system interface, essential for managing persistent data storage in operating systems. Key topics include the fundamental concept of files, their attributes, operations, directory structures, and access control mechanisms for file sharing and protection. It also discusses file system mounting and allocation methods, laying the groundwork for understanding file systems in subsequent topics.
File System Implementation - Deep Dive into Persistent Storage Management
The chapter provides an in-depth exploration of file system implementation in operating systems, focusing on the architecture, metadata structures, directory management, various file allocation methods, and free-space management. It emphasizes the layered structure of file systems, the essential metadata necessary for file operations, and different strategies to efficiently manage disk resources.
I/O Systems
Input/Output (I/O) systems facilitate communication between a computer and peripheral devices, with the operating system managing these processes. Efficient I/O management is essential for system performance. Key components include hardware interfaces, device drivers, and software strategies for data transfer, all of which affect overall system responsiveness and concurrency.
Protection and Security
The chapter provides a comprehensive exploration of protection and security mechanisms within operating systems, emphasizing the importance of principles such as the principle of least privilege and the access matrix model. It details the various security threats, including malware and denial-of-service attacks, while also discussing countermeasures such as authentication methods and cryptography. A thorough understanding of these principles is essential for ensuring secure and resilient computing systems.
Distributed Systems - Principles and Challenges
This module explores the fundamental concepts of distributed systems, including their architectures, coordination challenges, and the principles behind distributed file systems and cloud computing. Key models discussed include client-server, peer-to-peer, and cloud computing, emphasizing their roles and characteristics. The chapter also covers the complexities of coordination in distributed environments, including event ordering, mutual exclusion, and deadlock handling, culminating with an introduction to modern distributed infrastructure through virtualization and containerization technologies.