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Operating System
and
Network
With reference to
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The Zics Series: A handbook of Operating System and Network 2
By: Nasir Ali Shah nasir_ali_shah2003@yahoo.com
COMPUTER NETWORK...........................................................................................................9
SERVER...............................................................................................................................................9
CLIENT................................................................................................................................................9
NETWORK CLASSIFICATION..............................................................................................10
CONNECTION METHOD........................................................................................................................10
WIRED TECHNOLOGIES.......................................................................................................................10
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES...................................................................................................................10
SCALE.........................................................................................................................................11
TYPES OF NETWORKS..........................................................................................................................11
LOCAL AREA NETWORK.........................................................................................................................11
METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK.............................................................................................................11
WIDE AREA NETWORK..........................................................................................................................11
GLOBAL AREA NETWORK.......................................................................................................................11
INTERNETWORK....................................................................................................................11
INTERNET..........................................................................................................................................11
INTRANETS AND EXTRANETS.................................................................................................................12
NETWORK TOPOLOGY.........................................................................................................14
NETWORK TOPOLOGIES......................................................................................................................14
PROTOCOL...............................................................................................................................15
TCP/IP.........................................................................................................................................16
IP ADDRESS...............................................................................................................................16
DHCP...........................................................................................................................................17
FTP..............................................................................................................................................17
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HTTP...........................................................................................................................................17
IMAP...........................................................................................................................................17
POP..............................................................................................................................................17
SMTP...........................................................................................................................................17
UDP..............................................................................................................................................17
WAP.............................................................................................................................................17
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4
Scheduling refers to the way processes are assigned to run on the available CPUs, since there are typically
many more processes running than there are available CPUs. This assignment is carried out by software known as
a scheduler or dispatcher.
5
A context switch is the computing process of storing and restoring the state (context) of a CPU such that
multiple processes can share a single CPU resource. The context switch is an essential feature of a multitasking
operating system.
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interact concurrently with a single computer, time-sharing dramatically lowered the cost of
providing computing capability, made it possible for individuals and organizations to use a
computer without owning one, and promoted the interactive use of computers and the
development of new interactive applications.
7. Processor Management: -The heart of managing the processor comes down to
two related issues:
a. Ensuring that each process6 and application receives enough of the processor's
time to function properly
b. Using as many processor cycles as possible for real work
The basic unit of software that the operating system deals with in scheduling the work
done by the processor is either a process or a thread, depending on the operating
system. It's tempting to think of a process as an application, but that gives an incomplete
picture of how processes relate to the operating system and hardware. The application
you see (word processor, spreadsheet or game) is, indeed, a process, but that
application may cause several other processes to begin, for tasks like communications
with other devices or other computers. There are also numerous processes that run
without giving you direct evidence that they ever exist. For example, Windows XP and
UNIX can have dozens of background processes running to handle the network, memory
management, disk management, virus checks and so on.
A process, then, is software that performs some action and can be controlled -- by a user,
by other applications or by the operating system.
In order to give the appearance of lots of things happening at the same time, the
operating system has to switch between different processes thousands of times a
second. Here's how it happens:
A process occupies a certain amount of RAM. It also makes use of registers, stacks and
queues within the CPU and operating-system memory space.
• When two processes are multi-tasking, the operating system allots a certain
number of CPU execution cycles to one program.
• After that number of cycles, the operating system makes copies of all the
registers, stacks and queues used by the processes, and notes the point at
which the process paused in its execution.
• It then loads all the registers, stacks and queues used by the second process
and allows it a certain number of CPU cycles.
• When those are complete, it makes copies of all the registers, stacks and queues
used by the second program, and loads the first program.
8. Process Control Block: - All of the information needed to keep track of a process
when switching is kept in a data package called a process control block. The process
control block typically contains:
• An ID number that identifies the process
• Pointers to the locations in the program and its data where processing last
occurred
• Register contents
• States of various flags and switches
• Pointers to the upper and lower bounds of the memory required for the process
• A list of files opened by the process
• The priority of the process
• The status of all I/O devices needed by the process
Each process has a status associated with it. Many processes consume no CPU time
until they get some sort of input. For example, a process might be waiting for a keystroke
from the user. While it is waiting for the keystroke, it uses no CPU time. While it's waiting,
it is "suspended". When the keystroke arrives, the OS changes its status. When the
status of the process changes, from pending to active, for example, or from suspended to
6
A process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code and
its current activity. Depending on the operating system (OS), a process may be made up of multiple threads
of execution that execute instructionsconcurrently. where thread of execution results from a fork of
a computer program into two or moreconcurrently running tasks. The implementation of threads
and processes differs from one operating systemto another, but in most cases, a thread is contained inside a
process. Multiple threads can exist within the same process and share resources such as memory, while
different processes do not share these resources.
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running, the information in the process control block must be used like the data in any
other program to direct execution of the task-switching portion of the operating system.
This process swapping happens without direct user interference, and each process gets
enough CPU cycles to accomplish its task in a reasonable amount of time. Trouble can
begin if the user tries to have too many processes functioning at the same time.
So far, all the scheduling we've discussed has concerned a single CPU. In a system with
two or more CPUs, the operating system must divide the workload among the CPUs,
trying to balance the demands of the required processes with the available cycles on the
different CPUs. Asymmetric operating systems use one CPU for their own needs and
divide application processes among the remaining CPUs. Symmetric operating
systems divide themselves among the various CPUs, balancing demand versus CPU
availability even when the operating system itself is all that's running.
9. Device Management: - The path between the operating system and virtually all
hardware not on the computer's motherboard goes through a special program called a
driver. Much of a driver's function is to be the translator between the electrical signals of
the hardware subsystems and the high-level programming languages of the operating
system and application programs. Drivers take data that the operating system has
defined as a file and translate them into streams of bits placed in specific locations on
storage devices, or a series of laser pulses in a printer.
Because there are such wide differences in the hardware, there are differences in the
way that the driver programs function. Most run when the device is required, and function
much the same as any other process. The operating system will frequently assign high-
priority blocks to drivers so that the hardware resource can be released and readied for
further use as quickly as possible.
One reason that drivers are separate from the operating system is so that new functions
can be added to the driver -- and thus to the hardware subsystems -- without requiring
the operating system itself to be modified, recompiled and redistributed. Through the
development of new hardware device drivers, development often performed or paid for by
the manufacturer of the subsystems rather than the publisher of the operating system,
input/output capabilities of the overall system can be greatly enhanced.
10. Plug and Play: - Plug and Play (PnP) means that you can connect a device or insert
a card into your computer and it is automatically recognized and configured to work in
your system. PnP is a simple concept, but it took a concerted effort on the part of the
computer industry to make it happen. Intel created the PnP standard and incorporated it
into the design for PCI. But it wasn't until several years later that a mainstream operating
system, Windows 95, provided system-level support for PnP.
Computer Network
A Computer Network or simply Network is a collection
of computers and devices connected by communications
channels that facilitates communications among users and
allows users to share resources with other users.
Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of
characteristics.
A computer network allows sharing of resources and
information among devices connected to the network. The
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) funded the
design of the Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network (ARPANET) for the United States Department of Defense. It was the first operational
computer network in the world.[1] Development of the network began in 1969, based on designs
developed during the 1960s. For a history see ARPANET, the first network.
In computer networks, one computer is called server and all other computers that are connected
in the network are known as clients.
Server
A computer connected to a network that other computers may or may not access. Unlike other
computers on a network, a server is a dedicated computer set up for one or more purposes. For
example, a user may setup a server to authenticate and allow or prohibit users from accessing a
network, send/receive e-mail, manage print jobs, and/or host a website. To the right is an
example of cluster of rack mountable computers at the NCSA/University of Illinois.
Because servers commonly serve a need that's required 24/7 they're often never turned off and
when fail cause the network users or company a great deal of problems. Some server failures
can cause a company and its employees to come to a complete halt in their work until they return.
Client
A computer that retrieves information from and/or uses resources provided by server or main
computer is called client. Many corporate networks are comprised of a client computer at each of
the employees' desks. Each of these computers connects to a central server
or mainframe allowing the employees to work.
A client is also another name for a software program used to connect to a server.
A client can also be another term used to describe a businesses user.
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Network classification
The following list presents categories used for classifying networks.
Connection method
Computer networks can be classified according to the hardware and software technology that is
used to interconnect the individual devices in the network, such as optical
fiber, Ethernet, Wireless LAN, Home PAN, Power line communication.
Ethernet uses physical wiring to connect devices. Frequently deployed devices include hubs,
switches, bridges and/or routers. Wireless LAN technology is designed to connect devices
without wiring. These devices use radio waves or infrared signals as a transmission medium. ITU-
TG.hn technology uses existing home wiring (coaxial cable, phone lines and power lines) to
create a high-speed (up to 1 Gigabit/s) local area network.
Wired technologies
Twisted-pair wire is the most widely used medium for
telecommunication. Twisted-pair wires are ordinary telephone wires which
consist of two insulated copper wires twisted into pairs and are used for
both voice and data transmission. The transmission speed ranges from 2
million bits per second to 100 million bits per second.
Wireless technologies
Terrestrial Microwave – Terrestrial microwaves use Earth-
based transmitter and receiver. The equipment looks similar to satellite
dishes. Terrestrial microwaves use low-gigahertz range, which limits all
communications to line-of-sight. Path between relay stations spaced approx. 30 miles apart. Microwave
antennas are usually placed on top of buildings, towers, hills, and mountain
peaks.
Scale
Networks are often classified as local area network (LAN), wide area
network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), personal area network(PAN), virtual private
network (VPN), campus area network (CAN), storage area network (SAN), and others, depending
on their scale, scope and purpose. Usage, trust level, and access right often differ between these
types of network. For example, LANs tend to be designed for internal use by an organization's
internal systems and employees in individual physical locations (such as a building), while WANs
may connect physically separate parts of an organization and may include connections to third
parties.
Types of networks
Common types of computer networks may be identified by their scale.
Internetwork
An Internetwork is the connection of two or more distinct computer networks via a common
routing technology. The result is called an internetwork (often shortened to internet). Any
interconnection among or between public, private, commercial, industrial, or governmental
networks may also be defined as an internetwork.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected governmental, academic, public, and private
computer networks. It is based on the networking technologies of the Internet Protocol Suite. It is
the successor of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed by
DARPA of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Internet is also the communications backbone
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underlying the World Wide Web (WWW). The 'Internet' is most commonly spelled with a capital 'I'
as a proper noun, for historical reasons and to distinguish it from other generic internetworks.
Participants in the Internet use a diverse array of methods of several hundred documented, and
often standardized, protocols compatible with the Internet Protocol Suite and an addressing
system (IP Addresses) administered by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and address
registries. Service providers and large enterprises exchange information about the reachability of
their address spaces through the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), forming a redundant
worldwide mesh of transmission paths.
Repeaters
A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal, cleans it from the
unnecessary noise, regenerates it and retransmits it at a higher power
level, or to the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover
longer distances without degradation. In most twisted pair Ethernet
configurations, repeaters are required for cable which runs longer than 100 meters.
Hubs
A network hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it
is copied unmodified to all ports of the hub for transmission. The
destination address in the frame is not changed to a broadcast address.
Bridges
A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link
layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges do send broadcasts to all ports
except the one on which the broadcast was received. However, bridges do
not promiscuously copy traffic to all ports, as hubs do, but learn which MAC
addresses are reachable through specific ports. Once the bridge associates a port and an
address, it will send traffic for that address to that port only.
Bridges learn the association of ports and addresses by examining the source address of frames
that it sees on various ports. Once a frame arrives through a port, its source address is stored
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and the bridge assumes that MAC address is associated with that port. The first time that a
previously unknown destination address is seen, the bridge will forward the frame to all ports
other than the one on which the frame arrived.
Bridges come in three basic types:
Wireless bridges: Can be used to join LANs or connect remote stations to LANs
Switches
A network switch is a device that forwards and filters OSI layer
2 datagrams (chunk of data communication) between ports (connected
cables) based on the MAC addresses in the packets.[8] This is distinct from a
hub in that it only forwards the frames to the ports involved in the
communication rather than all ports connected. A switch breaks the collision
domain but represents itself a broadcast domain. Switches make forwarding
decisions of frames on the basis of MAC addresses. A switch normally has
numerous ports, facilitating a star topology for devices, and cascading additional switches.
[9] Some switches are capable of routing based on Layer 3 addressing or additional logical levels;
these are called multi-layer switches. The term switch is used loosely in marketing to encompass
devices including routers and bridges, as well as devices that may distribute traffic on load or by
application content (e.g., a Web URL identifier).
Routers
A router is a networking device that forwards packets between networks
using information in protocol headers and forwarding tables to determine
the best next router for each packet.
7
Ethernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs). The name
comes from the physical concept of the ether. It defines a number of wiring and signaling standards for
the Physical Layer of the OSI networking model, through means of network access at the Media Access
Control protocol (a sub-layer of Data Link Layer), and a common addressing format.
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Registered Jack
A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized physical network interface — both jack construction and
wiring pattern — for connecting telecommunications or data equipment to a service provided by
a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier.
The physical connectors that registered jacks use are mainly of the modular connector and 50-
pin miniature ribbon connector types. For example, RJ11 uses a 6 position 4 conductor (6P4C)
modular plug and jack, while RJ21 uses a 50-pin miniature ribbon connector.
RJ45
RJ45 is one of the many registered jacks, like RJ11, a standard from
which it gets the "RJ" in its name. As a registered jack, RJ45 specifies
both the physical connector and wiring pattern. The true telephone RJ45
uses a special keyed 8P2C modular connector, with Pins 5 and 4 wired
for tip and ring of a single telephone line and Pins 7 and 8 connected to a
programming resistor. It is meant to be used with a high speed modem, and is obsolete today.
RJ45 is often incorrectly used as the name for the 8P8C modular connector used to
terminate Ethernet cable.
Telephone installers who installed true telephone RJ45 jacks in the past were familiar with the
inner workings which made it RJ45, but their clients saw only a hole in the wall of a particular
shape, and came to understand RJ45 as the name for a hole of that shape. When they found
similar-looking connectors being used in entirely non-telephone applications, usually connecting
computers, they called these "RJ45", too. This was therefore the so-called computer "RJ45".
Crimping tool
A crimping tool is a tool designed to crimp or connect a connector to the
end of a cable. For example, network cables and phone cables are
created using a crimping tool to connect the RJ-45 and RJ-11 connectors
to the end of the cable. To the right is an example of what a crimping
tool looks like. This example shows a tool capable of crimping both RJ-
11 and RJ-45 connectors.
Network topology
Computer networks may be classified according to the network topology upon which the network
is based, such as bus network, star network, ring network, mesh network, star-bus network, tree
or hierarchical topology network. Network topology is the coordination by which devices in the
network are arrange in their logical relations to one another, independent of physical
arrangement. Even if networked computers are physically placed in a linear arrangement and are
connected to a hub, the network has a star topology, rather than a bus topology. In this regard the
visual and operational characteristics of a network are distinct. Networks may be classified based
on the method of data used to convey the data, these include digital and analog networks.
Network Topologies
A network topology refers to either the physical, or logical, layout of a network installation.
Physical Topology, when in the context of networking, refers to the physical layout of the
devices connected to the network, including the location and cable installation.
The Logical Topology refers to the way it actually operates (transfers data), as opposed to its
layout.
There are four main network topologies (and mixtures of the four) in common use today.
• Bus
• Mesh
• Ring
• Star
We will take a closer look at these topologies below.
The Bus Topology
This type of network topology is generally used with
Ethernet networks.
A Bus topology can be both Physical and Logical.
The Bus topology is one of the simplest of the four
network topologies to use. In its most basic form, it is
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simply a case of running one cable (referred to as the backbone) from the first device/PC in the
network to the last device/PC, and then add any further devices/PCs to the existing cable
(backbone) between the first and last machines.
This topology is probably the cheapest network type of all to initially setup, as only one cable is
used the installation is fairly simple and economical.
The problems can come when trying to add a device to an existing Bus topology network. To add
a device requires physically linking it to the existing backbone, which can turn out to be a major
job.
Another consideration if using a bus topology for a network is fault tolerance, or the lack of it. This
type of network transfers data by passing messages through the same cable, so a break in any
part of the cable will bring the whole network down.
Each device will check to see if the message is intended for them, the device to which the data is
addressed will copy the contents to its network card's onboard RAM, and process it accordingly.
Protocol
Sometimes referred to as an access method, a protocol is a standard used to define a method of
exchanging data over a computer network such as local area network, Internet,Intranet, etc. Each
protocol has its own method of how data is formatted when sent and what to do with it once
received, how that data is compressed and/or how to check for errors in data.
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TCP/IP
Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP/IP also commonly abbreviated
as TCP was developed in 1978 and driven by Danny Cohen, David Reed, and John Shoch.
Today TCP/IP is a language governing communications among all computers on the Internet.
TCP/IP is two separate protocols, TCP and IP, that are used together. The Internet Protocol
standard dictates how packets of information are sent out over networks. IP has a packet-
addressing method that lets any computer on the Internet forward a packet to another computer
that is a step (or more) closer to the packet's recipient. The Transmission Control Protocol
ensures the reliability of data transmission across Internet connected networks. TCP checks
packets for errors and submits requests for re-transmissions if errors are found; it also will return
the multiple packets of a message into a proper, original sequence when the message reaches its
destination.
IP Address
Short for Internet Protocol, IP is an address of a computer or other network device on a network
using IP or TCP/IP . For example, the number "166.70.10.23" is an example of such an address.
These addresses are similar to addresses used on houses and help data reach its appropriate
destination on a network.
There are five classes of available IP ranges: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E,
while only A, B and C are commonly used. Each class allows for a range of valid IP addresses.
Below is a listing of these addresses.
Class Address Range Supports
Class 1.0.0.1 to
Supports 16 million hosts on each of 127 networks.
A 126.255.255.254
Class 128.1.0.1 to
Supports 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks.
B 191.255.255.254
Class 192.0.1.1 to
Supports 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks.
C 223.255.254.254
Class 224.0.0.0 to
Reserved for multicast groups.
D 239.255.255.255
Class 240.0.0.0 to Reserved for future use, or Research and
E 254.255.255.254 Development Purposes.
Ranges 127.x.x.x are reserved for loopback tests, for example, 127.0.0.1. Ranges
255.255.255.255 are used to broadcast to all hosts on the local network.
All IP addresses are broken down into 4 sets of octets that break down into binary to represent
the actual IP address. The below chart is a basic example of the basic IP 255.255.255.255.
IP: 255. 255. 255. 255.
Binary value: 11111111. 11111111. 11111111. 11111111.
Octet value: 8 8 8 8
If we were to break down the IP "166.70.10.23", which is the IP address of Computer Hope, you
would get the below value.
DHCP
Short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, DHCP is a protocol used to assign an IP
address to a computer or device connected to a network automatically. Routers, switches,
or servers that assign addresses to other computers using DHCP on a network make the setup
and management of the network easier by not requiring the user or network admin to have to
manually define each address for each computer and network device on the network.
FTP
Short for File Transfer Protocol, FTP was first proposed in 1971 for and developed for
implementation on hosts at MIT and was later defined by RFC 959 published in 1985. FTP is a
standard way to transfer files between computers. The method has built-in error checking. FTP
often refers to a standard way of transferring many types of files over the Internet. Below is a
short listing of some of the software programs you can use to connect to an FTP server from your
computer.
HTTP
Short for HyperText Transfer Protocol, HTTP is a set of standards that let users of theWorld Wide
Web to exchange information found on web pages. When a user wishes to access a web page it
is commonly required that http:// be placed before the address, allowing the browser to know it is
going through HTTP. For example, the full address for Computer Hope
is http://www.computerhope.com. However, today many Internetbrowsers allow users the ability
to specify the domain "www.computerhope.com" and default to HTTP.
IMAP
Short for Internet Message Access Protocol, IMAP was developed at Stanford University
in1986 and is a protocol that allows users to retrieve e-mail but still uses SMTP for sending e-mail
messages. IMAP4 is the latest version of IMAP that is similar to POP3; however, supports
additional features not found in POP3.
POP
Short for Post Office Protocol, POP is one of the most commonly used protocols used to receive
e-mail on many e-mail clients.
SMTP
Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, SMTP is a communications protocol that sends e-mail
messages from one server to another. The messages can then be retrieved from a server with
generally either POP or IMAP.
UDP
Short for User Datagram Protocol and defined in RFC 768, UDP is an alternative protocol to
the TCP/IP that runs on top of IP and is sometimes referred to as UDP/IP. Unlike TCP/IP, UDP
does not divide each transmission into packets, which allows for a faster transmission. However,
UDP does not provide error checking.
WAP
Short for Wireless Application Protocol, WAP is specifications for a set of communication
protocols used to allow wireless devices to access the Internet and other network utilities such
as e-mail, chat, etc...