Systems Performance Mgt

Question 1

Describe the architecture of computers

Answer 1

Hierarchical structure
Base - HW (incl firmware)
Then above hw is nucleus (kernel)
Then above nucleus is OS processes

Question 2

Firmware

Answer 2

• Instructs device on how to operate
• if this gets corrupted it cant be fixed
• it is type of sw etched directly on into a piece of hw
• operates without going through API’s, OS or device drivers

Question 3

Driver

Answer 3

• SW acts as a messenger between OS and HW

Question 4

Kernel

Answer 4

• Central component of OS
• Includes:
  1) Interrupt handling
  2) Process creation/destruction
  3) Process state switching
  4) Dispatching
  5) Process Synchronization
  6) Interprocess Communication
  7) Support of I/O processes
  8) Support of the allocation and reallocation/release of memory