Understanding the linux kernel-ch1-overview

Chapter 1. Introduction
	1.4Basic Operating System Concepts
		Multiuser Systems
		Users and Groups
		Processes
		Kernel Architecture			microkernel
					monolithic
					modules
	1.5. An Overview of the Unix Filesystem
		current working directory
		absolute/relative directory
		Hard and Soft Links			$ ln p1 p2	create a new hard link that has the pathname p2 for a file identified by the pathname p1.
						Hard links limitations:
						It is not possible to create hard links for directories
						Links can be created only among files included in the same filesystem
					$ ln -s p1 p2	creates a new soft link with pathname p2 that refers to pathname p1
		File Types			file -h filename
			Regular file
			Directory
			Symbolic link
			Block-oriented device file
			Character-oriented device file
			Pipe and named pipe (also called FIFO)
			Socket
		File Descriptor and Inode
			inode
				File type (see the previous section)
				Number of hard links associated with the file
				File length in bytes
				Device ID (i.e., an identifier of the device containing the file)
				Inode number that identifies the file within the filesystem
				UID of the file owner
				User group ID of the file
				Several timestamps that specify the inode status change time, the last access time, and the last modify time
				Access rights and file mode
		Access Rights and File Mode
			suid
			sgid
			sticky
		File-Handling System Calls
			fd = open(path, flag, mode)
		Accessing an opened file
			sequentially or randomly
				nread = read(fd, buf, count);
				write( )
				newoffset = lseek(fd, offset, whence);
		Closing a file
			res = close(fd);
			res = rename(oldpath, newpath);
			res = unlink(pathname);
	1.6. An Overview of Unix Kernels
		User Mode
		Kernel Mode
		kernel thread
		system call
		kernel routines can be activated in several ways:
			system call
			exception
			interrupt
			kernel thread
		Reentrant Kernels
		reentrant function
		control path
		private Process Address Space
		synchronization
		critical region
		Each semaphore may be viewed as an object composed of:
			An integer variable
			A list of waiting processes
			Two atomic methods: down( ) and up( )
		Spin locks
		fork( )
		exec( )
		exit( )
		wait4( )
		MMU
		Virtual memory
		Kernel Memory Allocator(KMA)
			It must be fast
			It should minimize the amount of wasted memory
			It should try to reduce the memory fragmentation problem
			It should be able to cooperate with the other memory management subsystems to borrow and release page frames from them
			·         Resource map allocator
			·         Power-of-two free lists
			·         McKusick-Karels allocator
			·         Buddy system
			·         Mach's Zone allocator
			·         Dynix allocator
			·         Solaris 's Slab allocator
		demand paging
		Copy On Write