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The Operating System of a computer is a large program which manages the overall operation of the computer system. On a simple one-user computer the Operating System will:
Because of the disparity in speed between input/output devices (and the human entering data) and the CPU most modern operating systems will allow Multi-tasking to take place. Thus while the Computer is held up waiting for input from one program the operating system will transfer control to another program which can execute until it, in turn, is held up. Multi-tasking may take place in a stand-alone computer (for example using an operating system such as Windows 95 on a PC) and allow the user to simultaneously use several different programs simultaneously. For example a user may be running a large computational task in the background while using a word-processor package to write a report.
It is now common for computers to be linked together in networks. The network may consist of many dumb terminals, Personal Computers and workstations linked together with perhaps several larger, more powerful computers which provide a large amount of computer power and file storage facilities to the network. This allows many people access to computing facilities and access to common data-bases, electronic mail facilities etc. Networks may be local to a building or a small area (Local Area Network (LAN)) or connect individual networks across the country or world (Wide Area Network (WAN)).
A particular form of network operating system is a Timesharing operating system. Many large modern computers are set up to serve many simultaneous users by means of a time-sharing system. Each user has a direct connection to a powerful central computer, normally using a Visual Display Unit (VDU) which has a keyboard (and often a mouse) for user input and a screen for feedback from the computer to the user. There may be several hundred simultaneous users of a large computing system. Computing is Interactive in that the time from a user entering a command until a response is obtained will typically be a few seconds or less. The Operating System will cycle in turn through each connected terminal and if the terminal is awaiting computation will give it a Time-slice of dedicated CPU time. This process is continuous thus each program receives as many time-slices as it requires until it terminates and is removed from the list of programs awaiting completion.
In a system with multiple users the operating system must also carry out other tasks such as:
In a time-sharing system the processing power is contained in a central machine. Users access this central machine from a non-intelligent terminal that can do no processing itself. The advent of cheap powerful workstations has lead to the distribution of computer power around the network. A distributed computer system consists of a central processor with a large amount of disk storage and powerful input/output facilities connected to a network of machines, each with its own main memory and processor.
The central processor (or Server) provides storage for all system files and user files. Each computing node in the network downloads any files and system facilities it requires from the server and then carries out all computation internally. Any changes to files or new files generated have to be sent by the network to the server. To make it easier to find a particular file it is usual to collect all related files into a separate directory. Each user will be allocated a certain amount of space on the external memory, this space will be set up as a single directory called the user's home directory. The user can further split this space into various other directories. For example a lecturer writing a course may well set up a directory to contain all the files relevant to the course. Within this directory it is best to organise the files into groups by setting up various sub-directories, a sub-directory to hold course notes, another to hold tutorials, another to hold laboratory sheets etc. Within one of these directories, say the tutorials directory, will be held the relevant files -- tutorial1, tutorial2 etc. This hierarchical file storage structure is analogous to the storage of related files in a filing system. A filing cabinet could hold everything relevant to the course, each drawer could hold a different sub-division, such as notes, and each folder within the drawer would be a particular lecture.
Space will also be allocated on the server for system files. These also will be allocated to directories to facilitate access by the operating system.