Almost everywhere you look, you see people using mobile devices. You cannot drive down the street, sit in a restaurant, play in a park, or shop without seeing someone talking on the phone, checking messages, or sending texts. These mobile devices range from watches to phones, tablets, and small handheld computers, and each must have an operating system to manage the hardware, software, and user interface.
ABC Inc. is growing and wants to enter the business in distributed operating systems and mobile app development. The chief information officer (CIO) of the company knows that you are the expert in these areas and wants you to provide a report where you should do the following:
Analyze 5 major characteristics of time-sharing systems and 5 major characteristics of distributed operating systems by comparing them with each other
Analyze 10 constraints that are put on the operating systems for these carry-along computers (e.g., watches, phones, tablets, and so on) by comparing them with the operating systems for regular computers (e.g., desktops, workstations, and so on).
Write the report(3-5pages) in Microsoft Word using APA style. Cite references in APA format. Submit the Word document.
Sample Answer
Analysis of Time-Sharing vs. Distributed Operating Systems
Time-sharing and distributed operating systems are two distinct models for managing computational resources. While both aim to maximize resource utilization and user access, they do so with fundamentally different architectural philosophies.
Time-Sharing Systems
Time-sharing systems allow multiple users to share a single computer system simultaneously. The system's CPU is allocated to each user in a round-robin fashion for short bursts of time, creating the illusion that each user has exclusive access.
Centralized Control: A single, central computer controls all resources, including the CPU, memory, and I/O devices.
Single Point of Failure: The entire system depends on the central processor. If the main computer fails, all users lose access.
Resource Contention: Since all users are sharing the same physical resources, there can be significant performance degradation during peak usage periods.
Limited Scalability: Adding more users to the system without upgrading the hardware is difficult and often leads to slower performance for everyone.
Simpler Management: Management is simpler because all resources are located on one machine, making maintenance and updates more straightforward.
Distributed Operating Systems
Distributed operating systems (DOS) manage a group of independent computers and make them appear to users as a single, coherent system. They are designed to coordinate resources across multiple machines.
Decentralized Control: Control is distributed among multiple processors. Each machine has its own resources, and the OS coordinates their use.
High Reliability: The system is more fault-tolerant. If one node fails, the rest of the system can continue to operate, often with minimal interruption.