Prescription:OS310 Operating Systems (internals)

Aim of Module	To provide students with the necessary practical experience in system generation, system support, system upgrades and system recovery to enable them to be employed as systems programmers. Students will also be able to carry out system tuning and will have a good understanding of several different operating systems.
Credits	7
Knowledge Assumed From	OS210 Operating Systems (Internals)
Suggested Time	70 student learning hours
Prescription Expiry Date	Nov 2002

Level and Assessment Schedule
Topics	Highest Skill Level	Suggested Assessment Percentage
1 System Generation	P	25
2 System Support	P	20
3 System Upgrades	P	15
4 System Performance	P	30
5 Alternative Operating Systems	C	10
		100

The Student Will

1  System Generation

P		Generate a typical multi-user operating system.
	1.1	System Structure
	1.2	System parameters
	1.3	Case study involving generating a multi-user operating system
	1.4	Documentation and management of the system generation function

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2  System Support

P		Use system debug facilities to identify system software problems and to develop and apply necessary patches.
	2.1	Debugging and dumps
	2.2	Dealing with software suppliers
	2.3	Applying patches
	2.4	Documentation and management of the support function

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3  System Upgrades

P		Apply upgrades supplied by the manufacturer to the Operating System.
	3.1	Applying upgrades
	3.2	Dealing with the manufacturer
	3.3	Documentation and management of the upgrade function

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4  System Performance

P		Identify the main factors that affect system performance and use or alter them to improve system performance.
	4.1	Factors affecting performance
	4.2	Performance measurements
	4.3	Performance monitoring
	4.4	Case study to solve a given problem

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5  Alternative Operating Systems

C		Identify the main features and distinguishing differences between several operating systems. Systems chosen should be of varying size (e.g. one mini based, one mainframe based).

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