Structures of
Operating System
Unit-1
By
UMESH PRASAD ROUT
Structures of Operating Systems
● A system as large and complex as a modern operating
system must be engineered carefully if it is to function
properly and be modified easily.
● Some of the common Operating Structures are
❖ Simple Structure
❖ Layered Structure
❖ Microkernel Structure
❖ Modular Structure
❖ Hybrid Structure 2
Simple Structure
● This type of operating systems do not have
well-defined structures.
● They started as small, simple, and limited
systems and then grew beyond their original
scope.
● Example: MS-DOS – written to provide the
most functionality in the least space.
● Although MS-DOS has some structure, its
interfaces and levels of functionality are not
well separated.
● Another example of limited structuring is the MS-DOS Structure
original UNIX operating system.
3
Layered Approach
● The operating system is divided into a
number of layers (levels), each built on top
of lower layers.
● The bottom layer (layer 0), is the
hardware; the highest (layer N) is the user
interface.
● With modularity, layers are selected such
that each uses functions (operations) and
services of only lower-level layers.
● Example : Windows NT
4
Microkernel Structure
● This structure designs the
operating system by removing
all non-essential components
from the kernel and
implementing them as system
and user programs.
● This results a smaller kernel
called the micro-kernel.
● Communication takes place
between user modules using
message passing.
● Example : Mac OS,QNX, MINIX
5
Modular Structure
● Perhaps the best current methodology for operating
system design involves using loadable kernel
modules.
● The kernel has only a set of core components and
other services are added as dynamically loadable
modules to the kernel either during runtime or boot
time.
● It uses object-oriented approach.
● Each core component is separate.
● Each module talks to the others over known
interfaces.
● Each module is loadable as needed within the kernel.
● Overall it is similar to layered approach but with more
flexibility.
● Example: Linux, Solaris 6
Hybrid Structure
● In practice, very few operating systems adopt a single, strictly defined
structure. Instead, they combine different structures, resulting in hybrid
systems that address performance, security, and usability issues.
● Examples:
● Linux and Solaris are monolithic, because having the operating system
in a single address space provides very efficient performance. However,
they are also modular, so that new functionality can be dynamically
added to the kernel.
● Windows is largely monolithic as well (again primarily for performance
reasons), but it retains some behavior typical of microkernel systems.
Windows systems also provide support for dynamically loadable kernel
modules.
7
