Complete Operating Systems Guide
A complete guide on Operating Systems (OS)
and
related concepts
Designed for students, self-learners,
and
aspiring system programmers or engineers.
Complete Operating Systems Guide
📌 Table of Contents
1. What is an Operating System?
2. Types of Operating Systems
3. OS Architecture
4. Processes and Threads
5. CPU Scheduling
6. Process Synchronization
7. Deadlocks
8. Memory Management
9. Virtual Memory
10. File Systems
11. I/O Management
12. Security and Protection
13. Virtualization
14. Distributed Systems
15. Real-Time Operating Systems
16. Mobile OS (Android, iOS)
17. Linux Internals & Windows Architecture
18. Tools and Simulators
19. Resources and Further Reading
Complete Operating Systems Guide
1. 📘 What is an Operating System?
Interface between user and hardware
Manages resources: CPU, memory, I/O
Types: Batch, Time-Sharing, Real-Time, Distributed, Mobile
Functions:
Process management
Memory management
File system management
I/O device control
Security and protection
2. 🖥️ Types of Operating Systems
Batch OS – No user interaction (e.g., early IBM systems)
Time-Sharing OS – Multi-user, multitasking (e.g., UNIX)
Distributed OS – Multiple systems acting as one
Real-Time OS (RTOS) – Predictable response (e.g., VxWorks)
Mobile OS – Android, iOS
Embedded OS – Limited resource devices (e.g., FreeRTOS)
3. 🏛 OS Architecture
Monolithic Kernel – UNIX, Linux
Microkernel – MINIX, QNX
Layered Architecture
Modular Kernel
Hybrid Kernel – Windows NT
4. ⚙️ Processes and Threads
Process – Program in execution
Thread – Lightweight process
Process Concepts:
PCB (Process Control Block)
Complete Operating Systems Guide
States: New, Ready, Running, Waiting, Terminated
Context Switching
Threads:
User vs Kernel-level
Multithreading models
5. ️ CPU Scheduling
Decides which process runs next
Scheduling Algorithms:
FCFS (First Come First Serve)
SJF (Shortest Job First)
Round Robin
Priority Scheduling
Multilevel Queue
Metrics:
Waiting Time
Turnaround Time
Response Time
Throughput
6. 🔄 Process Synchronization
Avoid race conditions
Critical Section Problem:
Solutions: Mutex, Semaphores, Monitors
Classical Problems:
Producer-Consumer
Dining Philosophers
Readers-Writers
7. ☠️ Deadlocks
Necessary Conditions:
1. Mutual Exclusion
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2. Hold and Wait
3. No Preemption
4. Circular Wait
Handling Methods:
Deadlock Prevention
Deadlock Avoidance (Banker’s Algorithm)
Deadlock Detection & Recovery
8. ️ Memory Management
Allocation of memory to processes
Techniques:
Contiguous Allocation
Paging
Segmentation
Fragmentation:
Internal vs External
9. ️ Virtual Memory
Uses disk as extension of RAM
Techniques:
Demand Paging
Page Replacement Algorithms:
o FIFO
o LRU
o Optimal
Thrashing
10. 📂 File Systems
Organizes and stores data
Concepts:
File Attributes
File Operations
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Directory Structures
Mounting
Access Methods: Sequential, Direct, Indexed
File Allocation:
Contiguous
Linked
Indexed
11. ⌨️ I/O Management
Interaction with peripherals
I/O Techniques:
Programmed I/O
Interrupt-driven I/O
DMA (Direct Memory Access)
Device Drivers – Interface between OS and hardware
12. 🔐 Security and Protection
Protection: Control access to system resources
Security: Defend against threats
Topics:
Authentication
Access Control Matrix
Encryption
Firewalls & Antivirus
User Permissions (e.g., UNIX permissions)
13. ️ Virtualization
Run multiple OS instances on one machine
Tools:
Hypervisor (Type 1, Type 2)
VMware, VirtualBox, KVM
Complete Operating Systems Guide
14. 🖧 Distributed Systems
Systems communicating over a network
Concepts:
Transparency (location, access, replication)
Remote Procedure Calls (RPC)
Clock Synchronization
Distributed File Systems
15. ️ Real-Time Operating Systems
Deterministic behavior for time-critical systems
Types:
Hard RTOS (e.g., pacemakers)
Soft RTOS (e.g., multimedia)
Examples: FreeRTOS, VxWorks
16. 📱 Mobile OS (Android, iOS)
Android – Based on Linux kernel
iOS – Based on XNU (Darwin kernel)
Components:
HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer)
System Services
Application Frameworks
17. ️ Linux Internals & Windows Architecture
Linux Internals:
Boot Process
Init system (systemd)
File system hierarchy (/etc, /usr, etc.)
Daemons
Signals & Syscalls
Windows Architecture:
Kernel Mode vs User Mode
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NTOSKRNL, HAL
Windows Services
Registry
18. ️ Tools and Simulators
Simulators:
o LittleOSBook
o NachOS, Xv6, PintOS
Monitoring Tools:
o Linux: top, htop, ps, vmstat, iotop
o Windows: Task Manager, Process Explorer
Visualization:
o OSViz
19. 📚 Resources and Further Reading
Books:
Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz, Galvin
Modern Operating Systems by Andrew Tanenbaum
Understanding the Linux Kernel by Bovet & Cesati
Online Courses:
Neso Academy – OS Playlist
MIT 6.828 Operating Systems Engineering
Coursera – Operating Systems
Linux Learning:
Linux From Scratch
The Linux Command Line Book
