Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Resarch Topic Operating system

1.) Main Article: Operating System
An operating system (OS) is the software that manages the sharing of the resources of a
computer and provides programmers with an interface used to access those resources. An operating system processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources as a service to users and programs of the system. At the foundation of all system software, an operating system performs basic tasks such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing system requests, controlling input and output devices, facilitating networking and managing file systems. Most operating systems come with an application that provides a user interface for managing the operating system, such as a command line interpreter or graphical user interface. The operating system forms a platform for other system softwareapplication software. and for
The most commonly-used contemporary desktop OS is
Microsoft Windows, with Mac OS X also being well-known. Linux and the BSD are popular Unix-like systems.
Process management
Every program running on a computer, be it a service or an application, is a process. As long as a von Neumann architecture is used to build computers, only one process per CPU can be run at a time. Older microcomputer OSes such as MS-DOS did not attempt to bypass this limit, with the exception of interrupt processing, and only one process could be run under them (although DOS itself featured TSR as a very partial and not too easy to use solution). Mainframe operating systems have had multitasking capabilities since the early 1960s. Modern operating systems enable concurrent execution of many processes at once via multitasking even with one CPU. Process management is an operating system's way of dealing with running multiple processes

SUMMARY

“The rules for PC buyers are quite different than those governing high-end buyers. IT consumers of high-end equipment weigh features and stability along with vendor credibility, as they assume they will have to hire the expertise to manage any environment they choose. IT consumers of PC equipment tend to stick with the safe lowest-common-denominator choice and leverage their existing expertise on staff.” —Nicholas Petreley, “The new Unix alters NT’s orbit”, NC World
Supercomputing is primarily scientific computing, usually modelling real systems in nature. Render farms are collections of computers that work together to render animations and special effects. Work that previously required supercomputers can be done with the equivalent of a render farm.

Mainframes used to be the primary form of computer. Mainframes are large centralized computers. At one time they provided the bulk of business computing through time sharing. Mainframes and mainframe replacements (powerful computers or clusters of computers) are still useful for some large scale tasks, such as centralized billing systems, inventory systems, database operations, etc. When mainframes were in widespread use, there was also a class of computers known as minicomputers which were smaller, less expensive versions of mainframes for businesses that couldn’t afford true mainframes.
Servers are computers or groups of computers used for internet serving, intranet serving, print serving, file serving, and/or application serving. Servers are also sometimes used as mainframe replacements.
Desktop operating systems are used for personal computers.
Workstations are more powerful versions of personal computers. Often only one person uses a particular workstation (like desktops) and workstations often run a more powerful version of a desktop operating system, but workstations run on more powerful hardware and often have software associated with larger computer systems.

Handheld operating systems are much smaller and less capable than desktop operating systems, so that they can fit into the limited memory of handheld devices.
Real time operating systems (RTOS) are specifically designed to respond to events that happen in real time. This can include computer systems that run factory floors, computer systems for emergency room or intensive care unit equipment (or even the entire ICU), computer systems for air traffic control, or embedded systems. RTOSs are grouped according to the response time that is acceptable (seconds, milliseconds, microseconds) and according to whether or not they involve systems where failure can result in loss of life.
Embedded systems are combinations of processors and special software that are inside of another device, such as the electronic ignition system on cars.

2.)Give at least two reasons why a regional bank might decided to buy six server computers instead of one supercomputer.

· regional bank, instead of buying the supercomputer they choose to have or to use the six server computer because All the data are stored on the servers, which generally have far greater security controls than most clients. Many Server can better control access and resources, to guarantee that only those clients with the appropriate permissions may access and change data. ) it has the highest processing volumes and resource requirements and has extremely high availability...

· the second reason why they choose to buy six server computer instead of one supercomputer are, into your network – it has faster workflow and tighter security. By centralising databases and files, it's easier to manage, exchange and share information between workstations.

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