Ateneo - UPO

The course focuses on three main topics, namely I/O management, design and implementation of file systems, and virtualization techniques.

Andrew S. Tanenbaum & Herbert Bos, "Modern Operating Systems: Global Edition, 5/E", Pearson, 2023. ISBN-13: 9781292459660.
Also available in Italian: Andrew S. Tanenbaum & Herbert Bos, "I moderni sistemi operativi, 5/Ed," Pearson, 2023. ISBN: 9788891931955.

State the general principles concerning the functioning, the design and the creation of the operating system components responsible for managing secondary memories, I/O devices and virtual machines, with particular reference to the file system, the I/O subsystem and the virtual machine hypervisor. Analyze the requirements of an operating system to be designed to identify design solutions and implementations best suited to it. Knowing how to concretely apply the methodologies and techniques for the design and implementation of mechanisms and policies for managing secondary storage, I/O devices, file systems and virtual machines. Knowing how to describe the fundamental principles of the operation, design and implementation of device, file system drivers and virtual machine hypervisors.

Computer Architecture, Operating Systems 1

Classroom lessons in which the fundamental notions are exposed, accompanied by examples. For each of the three macro-topics of the course (i.e. management of input/output devices, file system and virtualization) different design and implementation solutions are compared. During the lessons in the classroom, various questions typical of the exams are also asked for the various topics covered. The suggested textbooks are indicated on the DIR platform, and material is available, which follows the topics treated in class, being of help even for those who were not present. Some exercises and exam examples are also provided.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can requestspecific se rvices and tools via the "Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento
Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti", consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities.
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

Mandatory written exam and, subsequently, an optional oral exam aimed at those who intend to improve their written exam grade.
The mandatory written exam includes one or more questions (typically, four to six questions) posed in the form of theoretical questions or exercises to evaluate the student’s knowledge about (1) the concepts underlying the operation of I/O devices, (2) the mechanisms employed by the operating system to manage the above devices, (3) the design and implementation methodologies of file systems, and (4) the techniques for the virtualization of hardware resources. Each question is associated with a score whose value (ranging from zero to a specific maximum value) is determined based on the quality of the response provided by the student. The grade of the written exam is the sum of the scores obtained in each question, expressed in thirtieths (from zero to thirty with honors).
The optional oral exam can be taken only if the written exam grade is equal to or higher than 27/30. The student who intends to take the oral exam must communicate this to the teacher via email within two days of the publication of the written exam grades. The oral exam includes one or more questions (typically 3) posed in the form of theoretical questions or exercises related to the topics covered in the course. The grade of the oral exam starts from the grade obtained in the written exam and can increase, decrease or remain unchanged depending on the level of preparation of the student.
The topics of the exam (both written and oral) include those presented during the lectures and detailed in the course program.

The course program consists of three main topics:
1) I/O Management: the architecture of the I/O subsystem; I/O interface; kernel I/O subsystems; storage devices; disk structure, management, and scheduling; RAID systems. power management.
2) File systems: file system organizations; file system structures; file system design and implementation techniques; mechanisms for file sharing and protection; disk free space management; disk space allocation; performance and efficiency of file systems; consistenza; backup and restore.
3) Virtualization: virtual machines and hypervisors; CPU virtualization, issues and solution for the virtualization of the x86 architecture; Memory virtualization; I/O virtualization; the Cloud.

Achievement of the learning targets, as measured by the examination grade.

* Knowledge and understanding: learning the general principles underneath the behavior, the design and the development of the components of modern operating systems in charge of (1) managing I/O devices (e.g., I/O subsystems), (2) managing mass storage (e.g., file systems), and (3) virtualizing hardware resources (e.g., hypervisors).

* Applying knowledge and understanding: applying the general principles in a real system.

* Making judgements: autonomously evaluating, in terms of efficiency of management and performance, the best techniques to manage I/O devices and mass storage, as well as for the virtualization of hardware resources.

* Communication skills: communicating and justifying the fundamentals principles of operating systems related to the management of I/O devices and of mass storage as well as to the techniques for the virtualization of hardware resources.

* Learning skills: autonomously learning the methodological skills needed to evaluate and use techniques for the management of I/O devices and mass storage, as well as for the virtualization of hardware resources, not studied during the course.