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Week 03 top 10 list of interesting OS things

1. What is disk partition
   A disk partition is the creation of smaller/seperate regions on the secondary stage, that enables it to be managed seperately. It is seperated from the rest of the hard drive and helps users do multiple things on the same device. Such as run multiple OS’s on the same device, this is possible because of disk partinion enabling seperation of a physical disk into its own specific section.

2. File System Interface
   The file system interface is how the user generally interacts with the files that are at his/her disposal. The interface consists of two main parts which are the collection of files filled with important adn relevant data, and the directory structure, which contains all the crucial information needed about all the files that can be accessed in the system.

3. File organization methods
   We need to be able to organize our files in a way that is both effective and easy to use. We do this by learning about different methods and their strengths and weaknesses, and all this information is in this article. It explains that there are 4 main methods of file organization which are equential, random, serial and indexed-sequential. Each method has their pros and cons, and its up to you to choose which one suits you best.

4. types of files in Operating Systems
   The Operating System is responsible for a lot of things, including data file managing. It does this by differentiating the details of each file so that it knows what to do with each specific file. This article explains a little further about all the different and varied types of files that the OS will have to acknowledge.

5. Evolution of File Systems
   Computers have come a long way from bulky and big to smaller and slimmer, this also means that the way an OS manages files becomes simpler and easier to use and understand. Old computers were built in a way that would enable the running of only one exclusive application, in contrast, even the smaller more simpler computers are able to run multiple applications on the same device at the same time.

6. Network File System
   Network File System is used because of its simplicity in sharing data among other users, offering a centralized and organized administration system and also being a very safe security option do to its number of servers.

7. Unified Buffer cache
   Unlike the conventional Buffer Cache which is configured and allocated at boot-time and which relies on bcopy routines to move data in and out of memory, the UBC references the same physical pages as virtual memory and can use map operations rather than bcopy routines to access data, thereby increasing system performance

8. What is a File Control Block
   A file control block is a system structure that maintains the state of an open file. The file itself is managed by the Operating system, and it’s main purpose is to allow any program the freedom to open as many files as it wants at the same time without any repurcussions.

9. File System Mounting
   Mounting a file system attaches that file system to a directory and makes it available to the system. When you mount a file system, any files or directories in the underlying mount point directory are unavailable as long as the file system is mounted. These files are not permanently affected by the mounting process, and they become available again when the file system is unmounted.

10. Consistency Semantics
    There should be consistency maintained by the file system for all users sharing the system. Consistency Semantics is concept which is used by users to check file systems which are supporting file sharing in their systems. Basically, it is specification to check that how in a single system multiple users are getting access to same file and at same time.