Module Code and Title:       CSC204          Operating Systems

Programme:                          BCA

Credit Value:                         12

Module Tutor:                       Libni Thomas

General Objective: The purpose of this module is to introduce operating systems, their basic designs and functions, and the different types. It also aims to impart deeper knowledge on certain topics such as how operating systems allocate and manage system resources. Different operating systems are compared and contrasted. The understanding of operating systems gained through this module will allow for more conscientious development of software that is optimally compatible with an OS.

Learning Outcomes – On completion of the module, learners will be able to:

1. Identify different components of an operating system and explain their roles in the system.
2. Distinguish between different management levels of an operating system.
3. Explain process management in operating systems.
4. Explain the purpose and implementation of inter process synchronization.
5. Describe different memory management techniques used in operating systems.
6. Identify the memory management model used by a particular operating system.
7. Explain how different types of resources are managed by a typical operating system.
8. Select a suitable operating system for a specific purpose.
9. Modify basic components of an operating system to meet a particular requirement.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Assessment Approach:

A. Individual Assignment: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

Students should submit two assignments of 1000 words, related to process management and memory management unit to obtain this 15%. The first one will be before the midterm and it constitutes 50% of the total 15% allocated. They will be writing about one of the topics from process management. The next assignment that is for the other 50% will be done after the midterm it will be on topic from memory management unit.

Activity: Students will be writing about a particular process management /memory management mechanism adopted by one of the popular Operating systems. Turned in assignments will be evaluated on:

30% - Description of techniques

30% - Identification of how techniques are applied

30% - Completeness

10% - Depth of writing

B. Class test: Portion of Final Mark: 15%

This is a written test conducted within the class for duration of 30-40 minutes. There will two such tests, one before midterm comprising of topics from the beginning to the quarter point of the subject matter and the other after the midterm comprising of topics from after the midterm to quarter pointer after midterm. Each of these tests require the students to answer/solve 4 questions/problems.

C. Lab Practical Exam: Portion of Final Marks: 10%

These are practical exams conducted in computer labs for duration of 1 hour. There will be two such tests, first one will be a week or two before midterm and the next will be a week or two before the semester end exam. Each will carry 50% of the total 10% allocated. The first lab test will be based on the first half of the subject matter and the next test will be based on the second half.

Activity: Students will be given 2 tasks, in each they have to issue 5-10 commands to an operating system to accomplish the task. Each will be evaluated on the following aspects:

35% - Login applied

35% - Aptness of commands issued

30% - Output

D. Class Participation: Portion of Final Marks: 5%

This component assesses the student’s overall performance in class throughout the semester. This portion is awarded for the active participation in class activities like discussion and question-answer sessions.

Activity: Questions based on previous class are asked to the whole class at the beginning of every lecture session. Students who give answers are marked (similarly discussion participation is also marked), and these are counted at the end of the semester to assign class participation marks for every student.

E. Midterm Exam: Portion of Final Marks: 15%

This a college wide examination conducted at the half-way into the semester. This examination is conducted for 1 hour and 30 Minutes and it includes all topics till the half-way point in the subject matter.

Prerequisites: CAP101, CSC101

Subject Matter:

1. Introduction to Operating System
   • Definition
   • Need and role of an operating system
   • Evolution
   • Different types of operating system
2. Processes and processor management
   • Process concept
   • Systems programmer’s view of processes
   • Operating systems view of processes
   • Process scheduling
   • Schedulers
   • Inter-process communication and synchronization
     • Race condition
     • Mutual exclusion
     • Semaphores
     • Monitors
     • Messages
   • Deadlocks
     • Prevention
     • Avoidance
     • Detection and Recovery

3. Memory Management
   • Contiguous allocation
     • Partitioned memory allocation
     • Fixed and variable partitioning
     • Memory management with bit maps
     • Swapping
     • Relocation
     • Protection and sharing
   • Non-Contiguous allocation
     • Paging principles
     • Page allocation
     • Segmentation
     • Virtual memory concepts
     • Address translation
     • Management of virtual memory
     • Page replacement policies
     • Protection and sharing
   • Working set model
   • Hardware support
4. File management
   • Command language user’s view of file system
   • File system design
   • Disk space management
   • Directory structure
   • Shared files
   • File system performance
   • File servers
   • Security
   • Protection mechanism
5. Input/output Management
   • Device types
     • Serial and parallel
   • Interrupts and its handling techniques/algorithms
   • Buffering of data
   • Device drivers
   • Disk scheduling
6. Operating system installations
   • Introduction to installation process of various operating systems
     • Proprietary operating systems
     • Open-source operating systems
       • Fedora linux
       • Debian linux

7. Practical components
   • Managing files and directories
   • Managing input and output devices
   • Identify and track different components of memory management system
   • Getting process information in different ways
   • Process manipulation methods
   • Installation of proprietary operating systems
   • Installation of open source operating systems

Reading List

1. Essential Reading:
   • Milenkovic, M. (1992).Operations systems: Concepts and Design (Second ed.): McGraw-Hill Education.
   • McCarty, B. (1999). Learning Debian GNU/Linux: O'Reilly.
   • Cowart, R., & Knittel, B. (2010).Microsoft Windows 7 in depth: Que.
   • Gill, P. (2008). Operating Systems Concepts (1st ed.). Laxmi Publications.
2. Additional Reading:
   • Silberschatz, A., & Galvin, P. B. (2002).Operating system concepts essentials (10th Edition.): Addison Wesley Publishing Company.
   • Beck, M. (1998).Linux kernel internals (2nd ed.): Addison-Wesley.
   • Harris, J. (2001). Schaum's Outline of Operating Systems. Schaum's Outlines
   • Carpenter, T. (2012). Microsoft Windows Operating System Essentials. John Wiley & Sons.

Date: May 30, 2015