Weekly Note 1 - Week 6

15 January 2019

Lecture - Tuesday, February 5th.

16-19 in U82

We will start with an introduction to the course, discus the format of the lectures and tutorials, and expectations.

We will have an introduction to operating systems (Chapter 1), discussing the grand tour of the major components, describing the journey for this semester. I expect to cover chapter 1 fairly quickly, as it is primarily an introduction to the material in the rest of the course.

We will then turn the attention to chapter 2: System Structures, that describes the services an operating system provides, ways to structure an OS and installation and booting.

Tutorial session

Thursday February 7th. 8-10 in U166 or Friday February 8th. 8-10 in U166

Preparation:

Make a list of 10-15 keywords for a 10 min. presentation with the topic: "Operating-System Structures"

Prepare at home to discuss:

  1. What is the main advantage of the layered approach to system design? What are the disadvantages of the layered approach?

  2. What is the purpose of system calls?

  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the same system-call interface for manipulating both files and devices?

  4. Describe three general methods for passing parameters to the operating system.

  5. What are the five major activities of an operating system with regard to file management?

  6. What are the two models of interprocess communication? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches?

  7. It is sometimes difficult to achieve a layered approach if two components of the operating system are dependent on each other. Identify a scenario in which it is unclear how to layer two system components that require tight coupling of their functionalities.

  8. What is the main advantage of the microkernel approach to system design? How do user programs and system services interact in a microkernel architecture? What are the disadvantages of using the microkernel approach?

In class:

Discus your list of keywords, and the excercises prepared at home.

For the remainder of the class, get started programming some C - i.e. work on the first assignment.

  • Chapter 1 and 2 in Operating System Concepts, Enhanced eText, 10th Edition

Material (Slides, etc.)