Introduction to Operating Systems and Services

Lesson 1 • What an Operating System Does

Defines OS responsibilities: resource management, abstraction, and user interface. Anchors all subsequent topics by establishing why an OS exists.

Lesson 2 • History and Evolution of Operating Systems

Traces OS development from batch systems to modern multicore environments. Provides context for design decisions encountered throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Types of Operating Systems

Surveys batch, real-time, embedded, mobile, and distributed OS types. Prepares students to match OS type to deployment context.

Lesson 4 • System Calls and OS Interfaces

Explains how applications request OS services through system calls. Connects user-space programs to kernel functionality covered in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • CPU Scheduling Algorithms

Analyzes FCFS, SJF, Round Robin, and priority scheduling. Students calculate turnaround and waiting times to compare algorithm efficiency.

Lesson 2 • Process Creation and Termination

Covers fork, exec, and process hierarchy models. Students understand how OSes spawn and clean up processes in real systems.

Lesson 3 • Multiprocessor and Multicore Scheduling

Extends single-CPU scheduling to symmetric multiprocessing and multicore systems. Addresses load balancing and processor affinity concepts.

Lesson 4 • Threads and Lightweight Processes

Introduces threads as units of CPU utilization within a process. Compares user-level and kernel-level threading models relevant to modern applications.

Lesson 1 • Deadlock Characterization and Prevention

Applies the four necessary conditions for deadlock and prevention strategies. Students modify resource allocation to eliminate deadlock potential.

Lesson 2 • Monitors and Condition Variables

Introduces monitors as high-level synchronization constructs. Demonstrates how condition variables simplify complex synchronization logic.

Lesson 3 • Mutex Locks and Semaphores

Covers binary and counting semaphores and mutex lock semantics. Students implement producer-consumer and reader-writer solutions.

Lesson 4 • Deadlock Avoidance and Recovery

Covers Banker's Algorithm for safe-state detection and recovery techniques. Students evaluate trade-offs between avoidance overhead and system utilization.

Lesson 1 • Memory Hierarchy and Address Spaces

Surveys cache, RAM, and secondary storage in the memory hierarchy. Introduces logical vs. physical address spaces as the basis for virtual memory.

Lesson 2 • Paging and Page Tables

Explains paging mechanics, page table structures, and TLB operation. Students calculate effective access times with and without TLB hits.

Lesson 3 • Segmentation and Combined Schemes

Covers segmentation as a logical memory model and paged segmentation hybrids. Connects memory protection to segment descriptor attributes.

Lesson 4 • Virtual Memory and Demand Paging

Introduces demand paging, page faults, and the working-set model. Students assess how virtual memory enables larger address spaces than physical RAM.

Lesson 1 • Page Replacement Algorithms

Compares FIFO, Optimal, LRU, and Clock replacement policies. Students compute page-fault rates to evaluate algorithm suitability.

Lesson 2 • I/O Systems and Device Management

Covers I/O hardware, device drivers, and interrupt-driven I/O. Connects device management to OS kernel services introduced earlier.

Lesson 3 • Mass Storage Structure

Describes HDD geometry, SSD architecture, and RAID configurations. Provides the physical storage foundation for file system chapters.

Lesson 4 • Storage Reliability and Error Handling

Addresses bad-block management, journaling, and storage redundancy. Students apply reliability techniques to protect data integrity in production systems.

Lesson 1 • File Concepts and Attributes

Defines file types, attributes, and operations exposed by the OS. Establishes the logical file model before exploring physical storage mapping.

Lesson 2 • Free Space Management and Journaling

Covers bit vectors, linked lists, and grouping for free-space tracking. Introduces journaling to ensure file system consistency after crashes.

Lesson 3 • Directory Structures and Naming

Compares single-level, two-level, tree, and acyclic-graph directories. Students navigate and manipulate directory hierarchies using OS commands.

Lesson 4 • File System Mounting and Sharing

Explains mounting, virtual file systems, and network file sharing. Connects local file system concepts to distributed storage environments.

Lesson 1 • Authentication and User Identity

Covers password hashing, multi-factor authentication, and biometric methods. Connects identity verification to OS login and session management.

Lesson 2 • Common OS Threats and Attacks

Identifies buffer overflows, privilege escalation, rootkits, and malware vectors. Students recognize attack patterns to apply appropriate countermeasures.

Lesson 3 • Security Mechanisms and Hardening

Applies address space layout randomization, sandboxing, and mandatory access control. Students harden an OS configuration against identified threat vectors.

Lesson 4 • Protection Goals and Principles

Defines protection domains, least privilege, and separation of mechanism from policy. Frames security objectives that guide all subsequent protection topics.

Lesson 1 • Distributed File Systems

Covers distributed file system design, caching, and consistency models. Connects local file system knowledge to networked storage architectures.

Lesson 2 • Distributed System Fundamentals

Defines distributed systems, their advantages, and key challenges such as latency and partial failure. Bridges single-node OS knowledge to networked environments.

Lesson 3 • Remote Procedure Calls and Middleware

Explains RPC semantics, marshaling, and middleware layers. Students trace a remote call from client stub through network to server execution.

Lesson 4 • Virtualization and Hypervisors

Explains Type 1 and Type 2 hypervisors, VM lifecycle, and para-virtualization. Students deploy and manage virtual machines as OS service platforms.