Course detail

Operating Systems

FEKT-COSYAcad. year: 2011/2012

The concept of an operating system (OS) as a part of software of a computer system. Architectures of operating systems, a classification of operating systems. An overview of the contemporary operating systems. UNIX: The kernel of the OS, its structure, calling services of the kernel. The user interface of the UNIX OS, graphical and text-based interfaces, command languages. Context switching, multitasking. Basic principles of the implementation of the UNIX OS. File systems. Management of processes, virtual memory. Basic principles of computer networks, Internet, TCP/IP. Administration and security of operating systems.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

prof. Ing. Tomáš Vojnar, Ph.D.

Department

Faculty of Information Technology (FIT)

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Students are acquainted with the basic principles of operating systems (with emphasis on the UNIX operating system) and they understand the influence of operating systems upon the operation of complex computing systems. Students are able to exploit scripts for solving various tasks in a UNIX-based environment.

Prerequisites

The subject knowledge on the secondary school level is required.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Teaching methods depend on the type of course unit as specified in the article 7 of BUT Rules for Studies and Examinations.

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Requirements for completion of a course are specified by a regulation issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every.

Course curriculum

1. Introduction. Evolution of computers and operating systems (OS). Requirements on OS, classification of OS, standards. The basic terminology and the general structure of OS.
2. The UNIX operating system. The history and the most important development branches. The basic principles and structure of UNIX. The structure of the UNIX kernel, its interface and the different forms of communication with the kernel.
3. UNIX shell. Basic commands, programs, scripts. Special symbols. Input/output redirection, pipes, background processes, sub-shell. Variables, control structures.
4. A basic introduction to programming in UNIX. Languages, compilers, principles of linking programs, dynamically linked libraries. Principles of the X-Window graphical user interface.
5. Standard utilities of UNIX.
6. File systems. The physical and logical structure of disks. Types of files, i-nodes, storing files on a disk.
7. Access rights to files in UNIX, users and groups, the suid and sgid attributes, the typical structure of directories in a UNIX system.
8. Input and output. The corresponding kernel services. Data structures and algorithms used by the input/output subsystem of the kernel.
9. Management of processes. Loading the system, the init process. Fork, exec, exit, and wait calls. States of processes, scheduling.
10. Memory management. Address spaces, address translation, memory pages.
11. Virtual memory.
12. Mutual exclusion, semaphores and other synchronization means.
13. Typical synchronization tasks, deadlocks, starvation.

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The goal is to acquaint students with the principles of operating systems in general and with the basic concepts of the UNIX operating system.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

The content and forms of instruction in the evaluated course are specified by a regulation issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every academic year.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Bach, M.J.: Principy operačního systému UNIX, 1. vydání. Softwarové Aplikace a Systémy, Praha 1993.
Glass, G., Ables, R.K.: Unix For Programmers And Users, Second Edition. Prentice Hall, 1999.
Kerninghan, B.W., Pike, R.: Programové prostředí operačního systému UNIX, Science, Veletiny 1996.
Milenkovic, M.: Operating Systems: Concepts and Design, Second Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1992.
Skočovský, L.: Principy a problémy operačního systému UNIX, 1. vydání. Science, Veletiny 1993.

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme EECC Bc. Bachelor's

    branch BC-AMT , 3 year of study, summer semester, elective specialised

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

39 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

prof. Ing. Tomáš Vojnar, Ph.D.

Syllabus

Introduction. Evolution of computers and operating systems (OS). Requirements laid on OS, classification of OS, standards. The basic terminology and the general structure of OS.
The UNIX operating system. The history and the most important development branches. The basic principles and structure of UNIX. The structure of the UNIX kernel, its interface and the different forms of communicating with the kernel.
UNIX shell. Basic commands, programs, scripts. Special symbols. Input/output redirection, pipes, background processes, sub-shell. Variables, control structures.
A basic introduction to programming in UNIX. Languages, compilers, principles of linking programs, dynamically linked libraries. Principles of the X-Window graphical user interface.
UNIX file systems. The physical and logical structure of disks. Types of files, i-nodes, storing files on a disk.
Access rights to files in UNIX, users and groups, the suid and sgid attributes, the typical structure of directories in a UNIX system.
Input and output. The corresponding kernel services. Data structures and algorithms used by the input/output subsystem of the kernel.
Management of processes. Loading the system, the init process. Fork, exec, exit, and wait calls. States of processes, the scheduler.
Memory management. Address spaces, address translation, memory pages.
Basic theoretical background. Mutual exclusion, deadlocks, synchronization and communication of processes.
Computer networks, Internet, basic protocols and services.
An overview and comparison of various operating systems. New trends in the development of operating systems, microkernels, multimedia, etc.
Security issues and operating systems. An overview of problems arising in the given area, the fundamental principles of OS security. Security classes.