An operating system (OS) is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for

application software. The operating system is a vital component of the system software in a computer system. Application programs require an operating system which are usually separate programs, but can be combined in simple systems.

A deadlock is a situation wherein two or more competing actions are each waiting for the other to finish, and thus neither ever does. In an operating system, a deadlock is a situation which occurs when a process enters a waiting state because a resource requested by it is being held by another waiting process, which in turn is waiting for another resource. If a process is unable to change its state indefinitely because the resources [1] requested by it are being used by other waiting process, then the system is said to be in a deadlock.

Network File System (NFS) is a distributed file system protocol originally developed by Sun [1] Microsystems in 1984, allowing a user on a client computer to access files over a network in a manner similar to how local storage is accessed. NFS, like many other protocols, builds on the Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call (ONC RPC) system. The Network File System is an open standard defined inRFCs, allowing anyone to implement the protocol.

In computer science, scheduling is the method by which threads, processes or data flows are given access to system resources (e.g. processor time, communications bandwidth). This is usually done to load balance a system effectively or achieve a target quality of service. The need for a scheduling algorithm arises from the requirement for most modern systems to perform multitasking (execute more than one process at a time) and multiplexing (transmit multiple flows simultaneously).

In computing, preemption (more correctly pre-emption) is the act of temporarily interrupting a task being carried out by a computer system, without requiring its cooperation, and with the intention of resuming the task at a later time. Such a change is known as a context switch. It is normally carried out by a privileged task or part of the system known as a preemptivescheduler, which has the power to preempt, or interrupt, and later resume, other tasks in the system.

In computing, Inter-process communication (IPC) is a set of methods for the exchange of data among multiple threads in one or more processes. Processes may be running on one or more computers connected by a network. IPC methods are divided into methods for message passing, synchronization, shared memory, and remote procedure calls (RPC). The method of IPC used may vary based on the bandwidth and latency of communication between the threads, and the type of data being communicated.

In computer science, a semaphore is a variable or abstract data type that provides a simple but useful abstraction for controlling access by multiple processes to a common resource in a parallel programming environment.

RAID (redundant array of independent disks, originally redundant array of inexpensive disks ) is a storage technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit. Data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways called "RAID levels", depending on what level of redundancy and performance (via parallel communication) is required.

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In database systems, atomicity (or atomicness; from Greek a-tomos, undividable) is one of the ACID transaction properties. In an atomic transaction, a series of database operations either all occur, or nothing occurs. A guarantee of atomicity prevents updates to the database occurring only partially, which can cause greater problems than rejecting the whole series outright. In other words, [1] atomicity means indivisibility and irreducibility.

In computer operating systems, paging is one of the memory-management schemes by which a computer can store and retrieve data from secondary storage for use in main memory. In the paging memory-management scheme, the operating system retrieves data from secondary storage in same-size blocks called pages. The main advantage of paging over memory segmentation is that it allows the physical address space of a process to be noncontiguous. Before the time paging was used, systems had to fit whole programs into storagecontiguously, which caused [1] various storage and fragmentation problems.

A file system (or filesystem) is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device(s) which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the specific characteristics of the device. A tight coupling usually exists between the operating system and the file system. Some filesystems provide mechanisms to control access to the data and metadata. Ensuring reliability is a major responsibility of a filesystem. Some filesystems provide a means for multiple programs to update data in the same file at nearly the same time.

A subnetwork, or subnet, is a logically visible subdivision of an IP network. The practice of dividing a single network into two or more networks is called subnetting and the networks created are called subnetworks or subnets.

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Definition: Network repeaters regenerate incoming electrical, wireless or optical signals. With physical media like Ethernet or Wi-Fi, data transmissions can only span a limited distance before the quality of the signal degrades. Repeaters attempt to preserve signal integrity and extend the distance over which data can safely travel.

A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances.

Bridging is a forwarding technique used in packet-switched computer networks. Unlike routing, bridging makes no assumptions about where in a network a particular address is located. Instead, it depends on flooding and examination of source addresses in received packet headers to locate unknown devices. Once a device has been located, its location is recorded in a table where the source address is stored so as to avoid the need for further flooding. The utility of bridging is limited by its dependence on flooding, and is thus only used in local area networks.

In networking, the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) is a data link protocol commonly used in establishing a direct connection between twonetworking nodes. It can provide connection authentication, transmission encryption (using ECP, RFC 1968), and compression. PPP is used over many types of physical networks including serial cable, phone line, trunk line, cellular telephone, specialized radio links, and fiber optic links such as SONET. PPP is also used over Internet access connections (now marketed as "broadband"). Internet service providers (ISPs) have used PPP for customer dial-up access to the Internet, since IP packets cannot be transmitted over a modem line on their own, without some data link protocol. Two encapsulated forms of PPP, Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) and Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM (PPPoA), are used most commonly by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to establish a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet service connection with customers.

In telecommunications, the term protocol data unit (PDU) has the following meanings: 1. Information that is delivered as a unit among peer entities of a network and that may contain control information, such as address information, or user data. 2. In a layered system, a unit of data which is specified in a protocol of a given layer and which consists of protocol-control information and possibly user data of that layer. For example: Bridge [1] PDU or iSCSI PDU

In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data [3] [4][5] bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it (kilobits/s, megabits/s etc.).

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A Media Access Control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. MAC addresses are used for numerous network technologies and most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet. Logically, MAC addresses are used in the Media Access Control protocol sub-layer of the OSI reference model.