Operating Systems Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Professor John Kattowitz (Professor Kuby)
• Background:
  • Hardware design at MIT, parallel processors (ALWIFE machine)
  • Project Athena at MIT: distributed systems
  • Device driver development and early network file systems
  • Work on high availability and quantum computing

Goals for Today

• Understand what an operating system (OS) is
• Discuss OS design examples
• Explore the benefits of studying operating systems
• Overview of class operation and interactivity

Why Study Operating Systems?

• Moore's Law: Doubling of transistors on a chip every 18 months
• Connection between hardware advancements and system design
• The world functions as a large parallel computer
  • Example: modern cars having 50-100 processors
  • Example: smartphones leveraging multiple cores

Historical Context

• Performance Improvements: Decline in performance due to the power wall
  • Shift from increasing clock speed to adding more cores
• Parallelism: Need to effectively manage numerous cores
  • Challenges in utilizing parallelism at application level

Operating System Complexity

• OS must manage:
  • CPU Scheduling
  • Memory Management
  • I/O Management
• Increasing software complexity leads to potential faults
  • Example: Space Shuttle vs. modern operating systems

Case Study: Mars Rover

• Pathfinder rover's OS handled multiple independent processes successfully
• Importance of fault containment to avoid crashes
• Real-time processing critical for autonomous operations

Virtualization

• Virtual Machines (VMs): Software emulation of hardware
  • Provides a stable, secure interface for applications
  • Important for resource management and fault isolation
• Examples: Java Virtual Machine, VMware

Course Structure

• Office hours and TAs introduced
• Course website for announcements, lecture materials, and readings
• Emphasis on participation (10% of grade)
• Section attendance required for group projects

Grading Breakdown

• Midterms and final exams
• Four projects (25% each)
• Class participation (5-10%)

Topics Covered in Class

1. Fundamentals: Processes and Threads
2. Synchronization and Scheduling
3. Protection and Security
4. File Systems and Networking
5. Advanced topics based on student interest

Key Takeaways

• Operating systems are essential for managing complex systems
• Provide abstractions that simplify application development
• Protect users and processes from errors and resource conflicts
• Study of operating systems brings together various computer science concepts

Conclusion

• OS provide the necessary infrastructure for complex applications
• Understanding how OS works is crucial for future engineers
• Engage in discussions and ask questions for better understanding.