NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM (NOS)

- A software that controls a network and its message, traffic, and queues.Network
operating system features may include:

• basic support for hardware ports

• security features such as authentication, authorization, login restrictions, and
access control
• name services and directory services
• file, print, data storage, backup and replication services
• remote access
• system management
• network administration and auditing tools with graphic interfaces
• clustering capabilities
• fault tolerance and high availability

Client Server

Medium

TERMINOLOGY

a) Cooperative Multitasking: A form of multitasking where it is the responsibility of the

currently running task to give up the processor to allow other tasks to run.
b) Pre-emptive multitasking: A type of multitasking where the scheduler can interrupt
and suspend ("swap out") the currently running task in order to start or continue running
("swap in") another task. The tasks under pre-emptive multitasking can be written as
though they were the only task and the scheduler decides when to swap them. The
scheduler must ensure that when swapping tasks, sufficient state is saved and restored
that tasks do not interfere.
c) Multithreading: Sharing a single CPU between multiple tasks (or "threads") in a way
designed to minimise the time required to switch threads. This is accomplished by
sharing as much as possible of the program execution environment between the different
threads so that very little state needs to be saved and restored when changing thread.
Multithreading differs from multitasking in that threads share more of their environment
with each other than do tasks under multitasking. Threads may be distinguished only by
the value of their program counters and stack pointers while sharing a single address
space and set of global variables. There is thus very little protection of one thread from
another, in contrast to multitasking.