MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT JANUARY 2013 SEMESTER

SUBJECT CODE SUBJECT TITLE COURSE NAME / ID NUMBER : : : : IDB20203 OPERATING SYSTEM BACHELOR IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HONS) SOFTWARE ENGINEERING Hafidz bin Zanuddin / 52252211536

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

1. Answer ALL questions using your own words. You can refer to any sources (printed or online). Include (list) the sources that you have used at the end of the answers. 2. Submit your answers latest by 5 p.m. Friday, 22nd February 2013. 3. You have to submit a printed answer with your name and student identification number. 4. The font is size 11, 1 spacing.

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Chapter 1 1. What are the components of a Computer System and how does a Computer System operate? A computer system is a collection of related components that have been designed to work together which are hardware, software, operating system, application programs and users. Computer system will include the computer along with any software and peripheral devices that are necessary to make the computer function. It also need the utility software to integrate software with the hardware. Every computer system requires an operating system. (Source: http://www.void.com/definition/computer-system.html)

2. What is the purpose of interrupts and how does interrupts differ from traps? An interrupt is a signal from hardware to indicate the occurrence of an event. An interrupt handler is called to deal with the cause of the interrupt. The control is then returned to the interruoted context and instruction. A trap is a software-generated interrupt. An interrupt can be used to signal the completion of an input or output to prevent the need of device polling. The handling of interrupt is asynchronous while trap is synchronous. (Source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3149175/what-is-thedifference-between-trap-and-interrupt)

3. Why caches are useful and what problems do they solve? A cache is a place where you store something temporarily. Cache holds copies of recently accessed data such as web pages and pictures on web pages. Caches solve the problem by providing a buffer of intermediate speed between the components. If the fast device finds the data it needs in the cache, it need not wait for the slower device. (Source: http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/cache)

IDB20203 OPERATING SYSTEM

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4. Differentiate between single-processor systems and multi-processor systems. Single-processor systems Only have one actual processor Used in normal home or office Only one process can run at a time (Source: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Difference_between_single_processor_and_multi processor) Chapter 2 1. List and discuss five services provided by an operating system that are designed to make it more convenient for users to use the computer system. i. Program Execution: System capability to load a program into memory and run it ii. I/O Operation: since user programs cannot execute I/O operations directly, the operating system must provide some means to perform I/O. iii. File-system manipulation: program capability to read, write, create and delete files. iv. Communications: exchange of information between processes executing either on the same computer or on different systems tied together by a network which is implemented via shared memory or message passing. v. Error detection: ensure correct computing by detecting errors in the CPU and memory hardware, in I/O devices, or in user programs. (Source: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rmuhamma/OpSystems/Myos/sysService.h tm) Multi-processor systems More than one processor Used in high traffic servers Expensive

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2. Choose and discuss two operating system structures. i. Microkernels The basic idea behind microkernels is to remove all non-essential services from the kernel, and implemet them as system applications instead. Most mocrokernels provide basic process and memory management, and message passing between other services, and not much more. Example of microkernels is QNT. ii. Modules Object-oriented, with a relatively small core kernel and a set modules which can be linked dynamically. Modules are similar to layers in that each subsystem has clearly defined tasks and interfaces, but any module is free to contact any other module, eliminating the problems of going through multiple intermediary layers.

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IDB20203 OPERATING SYSTEM