4.

1 Input - output management is explained

4.2 Disk operations are explained
4.3 Computer clock system is explained
4.4 Virtual Input Output is explained
4.5 Disk selection criteria are outlined
4.6 Verification of disk properties is demonstrated
4.7 Disk storage management operations are demonstrated
Device management operations are demonstrated

Device Management in Operating System

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The process of implementation, operation, and maintenance of a device by an

operating system is called device management. When we use computers we will
have various devices connected to our system like mouse, keyboard, scanner,
printer, and pen drives. So all these are the devices and the operating system acts as
an interface that allows the users to communicate with these devices. An operating
system is responsible for successfully establishing the connection between these
devices and the system. The operating system uses the concept of drivers to
establish a connection between these devices with the system.
What is Device Management?
Device Administration within An operating system controls every piece of
hardware and virtual device on a PC or computer. Input/output devices are
assigned to processes by the device management system based on their importance.
Depending on the situation, these devices may also be temporarily or permanently
reallocated.
Usually, systems are hardware or physical devices like computers, laptops, servers,
cell phones, etc. Additionally, they might be virtual, like virtual switches or
machines. A program may require a variety of computer resources (devices) to go
through to the end. It is the operating system’s responsibility to allocate resources
wisely. The operating system is alone in charge of determining if the resource is
available. It deals not only with device allocation but also with deallocation, which
means that a device or resource must be removed from a process once its use is
over.
Functions of Device Management
 Keeps track of all devices and the program that is responsible for performing
this is called the I/O controller.
 Monitoring the status of each device such as storage drivers, printers, and other
peripheral devices.
 Enforcing preset policies and making a decision on which process gets the
device when and for how long.
 Allocates and deallocates the device efficiently.
Types of Device Management
There are three main types of devices:
 Boot Device: It stores information in a fixed-size block, each one with its own
address. Example, disks.
 Character Device: It delivers or accepts a stream of characters. the individual
characters are not addressable. For example, printers, keyboards etc.
 Network Device: It is for transmitting data packets.
Features of Device Management in Operating System
 The operating system is responsible in managing device communication
through their respective drivers.
 The operating system keeps track of all devices by using a program known as
an input-output controller.
 It decides which process to assign to CPU and for how long.
 O.S. is responsible in fulfilling the request of devices to access the process.
 It connects the devices to various programs in an efficient way without error.
 Deallocate devices when they are not in use.
Types of Devices
1. Dedicated Device
Certain devices are assigned to only one task at a time in device management until
that task releases them. Plotters, printers, tape drives, and other similar devices
require this kind of allocation method because sharing them with numerous users
at the same time will be inconvenient. The drawback of these devices is the
inefficiency that results from assigning the device to a single user throughout the
entirety of the task execution process, even in cases when the device is not utilized
exclusively.
2. Shared Device
There are numerous processes that these devices could be assigned to. Disk-
DASD could be shared concurrently by many processes by interleaving their
requests. All issues must be resolved by pre-established policies, and the Device
Manager closely monitors the interleaving.
3. Virtual Device
Virtual devices are dedicated devices that have been converted into shared devices,
making them a hybrid of the two types of devices. For instance, a spooling
programme that routes all print requests to a disc can turn a printer into a sharing
device. A print job is routed to the disc and not delivered straight to the printer
until it is ready with all the necessary formatting and sequencing, at which time it
is sent to the printers. The method can increase usability and performance by
turning a single printer into a number of virtual printers.
What are the Various Techniques for Accessing a Device?
 Polling: In this instance, a CPU keeps an eye on the status of the device to
share data. Busy-waiting is a drawback, but simplicity is a plus. In this scenario,
when an input/output operation is needed, the computer simply keeps track of
the I/O device’s status until it’s ready, at which time it is accessed. Stated
differently, the computer waits for the device to be ready.
 Interrupt-Driven I/O: Notifying the associated driver of the device’s
availability is the device controller’s job. One interrupt for each keyboard input
results in slower data copying and movement for character devices, but the
advantages include more effective use of CPU cycles. A block of bytes is
created from a serial bit stream by a device controller. It also does error
correction if needed. It consists of two primary parts: a data buffer that an
operating system can read or write to, and device registers for communication
with the CPU.
 DMA(Direct Memory Access) : Data motions are carried out by using a
second controller. This approach has the benefit of not requiring the CPU to
duplicate data, but it also has the drawback of preventing a process from
accessing data that is in transit.
 Double Buffering: This mode of access has two buffers. One fills up while the
other is utilised, and vice versa. In order to hide the line-by-line scanning from
the viewer, this technique is frequently employed in animation and graphics.
Device Drivers
Operating system is responsible for managing device communication through their
respective drivers. As we know that the operating system will have many devices
like the mouse, printer, and scanner and operating system is responsible for
managing these devices and establishing the communication between these devices
with the computer through their respective drivers. So operating system uses its
respective drivers each and every device will have its own driver. Without the use
of their respective driver, that device cannot make communication with other
systems.
Device Tracking
Operating system keeps track of all devices by using a program known as input
output controller. Apart from allowing the system to make the communication
between these drivers operating system is also responsible in keeping track all
these devices which are connected with the system. If any device request any
process which is under execution by the CPU then the operating system has to send
a signal to the CPU to immediately release that process and moves to the next
process from the main memory so that the process which is asked by the device
fulfills the request of this device. That’s why operating system has to continuously
keep on checking the status of all the devices and for doing that operating system
uses a specialized program which is known as Input/Output controller.
Process Assignment
Operating system decides which process to assign to CPU and for how long. So
operating system is responsible in assigning the processes to the CPU and it is also
responsible in selecting appropriate process from the main memory and setting up
the time for that process like how long that process needs to get executed inside the
CPU. Operating system is responsible in fulfilling the request of devices to access
the process. If the printer requests for the process which is now getting executed by
the CPU then it is the responsibility of the operating system to fulfill that request.
So what operating system will do is it will tell the CPU that you need to
immediately release that process which the device printer is asking for and assign it
to the printer.
Connection
Operating system connects the devices to various programs in efficient way
without error. So we use software to access these drivers because we cannot
directly access to keyboard, mouse, printers, scanners, etc. We have to access these
devices with the help of software. Operating system helps us in establishing an
efficient connection with these devices with the help of various software
applications without any error.
Device Allocation
Device allocation refers to the process of assigning specific devices to processes or
users. It ensures that each process or user has exclusive access to the required
devices or shares them efficiently without interference.
Device Deallocation
Operating system deallocates devices when they are no longer in use. When these
drivers or devices are in use, they will be using certain space in the memory so it is
the responsibility of the operating system to continuously keep checking which
device is in use and which device is not in use so that it can release that device if
we are no longer using that device.
Conclusion
 The operating system’s device management feature controls every piece of
hardware and virtual device on a PC or computer.
 Based on priority, the device management system assigns input/output devices
to the process. Depending on the situation, these devices may also be
deallocated temporarily or permanently.
 The driver acts as an intermediary between the operating system’s high-level
programming language and the electrical impulses coming from the hardware.
 Fundamental input/output devices **come in three varieties: Boot, Character,
and Network Devices.
 The operating system divides device management into three categories: virtual,
shared, and dedicated devices.
What activities are involved in device management?
Device management services offer methods for data transfer, synchronization,
deallocation, allocation, control, and setup that are depending on the device.
What are some of the common tasks of device management?
 Keeping track of all devices and their status
 Allocating devices to processes or users as requested
 Deallocating devices when they are no longer needed or requested
 Handling device errors and failures
 Providing a uniform interface for different types of devices
 Implementing device drivers and interrupt handlers

List some of the common challenges of device management?

 Managing concurrent access to shared devices
 Balancing performance and fairness among different users or processes
 Supporting a wide range of devices with different characteristics and
capabilities
 Handling device dependencies and conflicts
 Providing security and protection for devices and data

Name some of the common techniques used by device management?

 Using device controllers or I/O controllers to communicate with devices
 Using device queues or spooling to buffer requests for devices
 Using device scheduling algorithms to determine the order of servicing
requests
 Using device drivers or modules to provide a standard interface for devices
 Using interrupts or polling to detect device events or status changes.