What Is a Server Operating System?

Server operating systems generally refer to operating systems installed on large computers, such as Web servers, application servers, and database servers. They are the infrastructure platform for enterprise IT systems, and they are also one of the three types of operating systems divided by application area. 2 are desktop operating system and embedded operating system). At the same time, the server operating system can also be installed on a personal computer. Compared with the personal version of the operating system, in a specific network, the server operating system has to assume additional management, configuration, stability, and security functions, and is located in the heart of each network.

Chinese name: Server operating system
Types of: operating system

Overview: Operating systems installed on mainframe computers
Genre: Windows Server, Netware, etc.

Introduction to server operating systems

The server operating system can directly control and manage the computer hardware and software. No computer runs without an operating system, and so does the server. The server operating system is mainly divided into four major schools: Windows Server, Netware, Unix, Linux. ^[1]

Server operating system classification

Windows Server Server operating system Windows Server

Important versions Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012. Windows server operating system application, combined with .NET development environment, provides a good application framework for Microsoft enterprise users.

Netware Server operating system Netware

In some specific industries and institutions, NetWare's excellent batch processing functions and safe, stable system performance also have a lot of room for survival. NetWare commonly used versions include Chinese and English versions of Novell 3.11, 3.12, 4.10, and 5.0.

Unix Server operating system Unix

The Unix server operating system was jointly launched by AT & T and SCO, and mainly supports large file system services, data services and other applications. The main circulated on the market are SCO SVR, BSD Unix, SUN Solaris, IBM-AIX, HP-U, FreeBSDX.

Linux Server operating system Linux

Although the Linux operating system is similar to the UNIX operating system, it is not a variant of the UNIX operating system. Torvald has emulated UNIX since the beginning of writing kernel code. Almost all UNIX tools and shells can run on LINUX. ^[2]

Server operating system operating system development history

1980 Server operating systems before the 1980s

The first computer did not have an operating system. But the invention of the transistor and the microprogramming method invented by Maurice Vincent Wilkes in 1947 made computers no longer mechanical but electronic. System management tools and procedures that streamlined the operation of the hardware quickly appeared and became the basis of the operating system.

By the early 1960s, commercial computer manufacturers had manufactured batch processing systems that serialized the construction, scheduling, and execution of jobs. At this time, manufacturers create different operating systems for each different model of computer, so programs written for one computer cannot be ported to other computers for execution, even for computers of the same model.

In 1964, IBM introduced a series of mainframe computers IBM System / 360 with different uses and prices, a classic of mainframe. And they all share the operating system code-named OS / 360 (rather than an operating system tailored for each product). Making a single operating system suitable for the entire series of products is the key to the success of System / 360, and in fact, IBM's large systems are the descendants of this system; applications written for System / 360 can still be executed on modern IBM machines!

OS / 360 also includes another advantage: the emergence of hard disk drives (IBM called DASD (Direct Access Storage Device)). Another key is the establishment of the concept of time-sharing: the precious time resources of large computers are appropriately allocated to all users. Time-sharing also gives users the feeling of monopolizing the entire machine; Multics' time-sharing system is the most successful practice of this concept among many new operating systems at this time.

In 1963, Multics established by PL / I in collaboration with Bell Labs and Bell Labs was a source of inspiration that inspired the establishment of many operating systems in the 1970s, especially by Dennis Rich and Ken Thompson of AT & T Bell Labs. The established Unix system was rewritten by the C language in 1969 in order to practice platform portability; another small computer operating system widely used in the market is VMS. ^[2]

2080 Server operating system 1980s

The first generation of microcomputers were not like mainframe computers or small computers. They did not have the requirements or ability to install an operating system; they only required the most basic operating system. Usually such operating systems are read from ROM. It is called a monitor.

In the 1980s, home computers began to spread. Usually the computer at this time has an 8-bit processor plus 64KB of memory, screen, keyboard, and bass-quality speakers. The most famous package computer in the early 1980s is the Commodore C64, which uses the microprocessor 6510 (6502 chip special edition). This computer does not have an operating system, but initializes the color screen, keyboard, floppy drive and printer with 8KB read-only memory BIOS. It can use 8KB read-only memory BASIC language to directly operate the BIOS, and write programs based on it, most of which are games. The interpreter of this BASIC language can barely be regarded as the operating system of this computer.

The most famous early disk-boot operating system was CP / M. It supported many early microcomputers, and its functions were copied by MS-DOS.

The earliest IBM PC had an architecture similar to C64. Of course, they also use the BIOS to initialize and abstract the operation of the hardware, and even a BASIC interpreter is attached! But its BASIC is superior to other companies' products because it is portable and compatible with any machine that complies with the IBM PC architecture. Such a PC can be addressed using an Intel-8088 processor (16-bit register) and can have up to 1MB of memory, but initially only 640KB. The floppy disk drive replaced the tape drive in the past, becoming a new generation of storage devices, and can read and write in his 512KB space. In order to support the further concept of file reading and writing, Disk Operating System (DOS) was born. This operating system can merge any number of sectors, so any number and size of files can be placed on a single disk. Files are distinguished by file name. IBM didn't pay much attention to the DOS on it, so it obtained the operating system by buying it from outside companies.

In 1980, Microsoft obtained a contract with IBM, and acquired an operating system produced by a company. After modifying it, it was produced under the name of MS-DOS. This operating system can directly allow programs to operate the BIOS and file system. In the era of the Intel-80286 processor, basic storage device protection measures were implemented. The architecture of MS-DOS cannot fully meet all the requirements, because it can only execute a maximum of one program at the same time (if you want to execute programs at the same time, you can only use the TSR method to skip the OS and the program handles the multitasking part by itself) Without any memory protection measures. The support for the driver is also not complete, which leads to situations such as the need for audio equipment to be set by the program itself, which often leads to incompatibilities. Many applications therefore skip MS-DOS service procedures and directly access hardware devices for better performance. Even so, MS-DOS has become the most commonly used operating system on the IBM PC (IBM also introduced DOS, called IBM-DOS or PC-DOS). The success of MS-DOS makes Microsoft one of the most profitable companies on the planet.

Another variant of the operating system that emerged in the 1980s was Mac OS, which was tightly bundled with Macintosh computers. At this time, Dominik Hagen, an employee of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, visited Steve Jobs of Apple Computer and showed him the graphical user interface developed by Xerox at this time. Apple Computer was shocked and was planning to buy this technology from Xerox, but because the Palo Otto Research Center was not a commercial unit but a research unit, Xerox rejected the sale. Since then, Apple has agreed that the future of personal computers must be a graphical user interface, so it has also begun to develop its own graphical operating system. Many of today's graphical interface technologies and rules that we consider to be basic requirements are laid down by Apple Computer (such as drop-down menus, desktop icons, drag-and-drop operations, and double-click, etc.). But rightly, the graphical user interface is indeed the origin of Xerox. ^[2]

2090 Server Operating System 1990s

Apple Computer, the first generation of Apple Computer. Continuing the 80's of competition, the 1990s saw the emergence of many profound operating systems that would affect the future personal computer market. As the graphical user interface becomes more and more complicated, and the capabilities of the operating system become more and more complex and huge, a strong and flexible operating system has become an urgent need. This era is an era when many packaged personal computer operating systems compete with each other.

Apple Computer, which has risen in the market in the last decade, was poorly designed due to the poor design of the old system, and its subsequent development was weak. Apple Computer decided to redesign the operating system. After many failed projects, Apple released a new operating system, the beta version of MacOS, in 1997, and then launched the official version with great success. Let Steve Jobs, who had previously left Apple frustrated, reappear.

In addition to commercial mainstream operating systems, BSD systems have also developed for a long time in the open-source world since the 1980s. However, in the 1990s, due to legal disputes with AT & T, other universities far from the University of Helsinki in Finland An open source operating system-the rise of Linux. The Linux kernel is a standard POSIX kernel, and its blood is a member of the Unix family. Both the Linux and BSD families match the applications developed by the GNU project, but due to the use of licenses and historical factors, Linux has achieved a considerable market share of open source operating systems, and BSD is much smaller.

Compared with MS-DOS architecture, in addition to Linux's impressive portability (compared to Linux, MS-DOS can only run on Intel CPU), it is also a time-sharing multi-process kernel, and good memory Management (ordinary processes cannot access memory in the kernel area). A process that wants to access any memory space other than its own can only be achieved through a system call. The general process is in User mode, and it will be switched to Kernel mode when system calls are executed. All special instructions can only be executed in kernel mode. This measure allows the kernel to perfectly manage the internal External device, and reject requests from unauthorized processes. Therefore, in theory, any application execution error cannot make the system crash.

On the other hand, Microsoft's response to the call for a more powerful operating system was the introduction of Windows NT in 1993.

Since 1983, Microsoft has wanted to build a graphical operating system application for MS-DOS, called Windows (some people say that it was stimulated by the introduction of Apple's Lisa computer by Bill Gates).

At first Windows was not an operating system, but an application. Its background was still pure MS-DOS. This was because the BIOS design and the architecture of MS-DOS were not very good at the time.

In the early 1990's, the cooperation between Microsoft and IBM broke down. Microsoft withdrew from the OS / 2 (early command line mode and later became a very successful but curvy graphical operating system) project. Windows NT 3.1, a graphical operating system based on OS / 2.

Windows 95 was introduced on August 15, 1995.

Until this time, the Windows system was still based on MS-DOS, so consumers could not expect Microsoft to launch Windows 2000 in 2000, because it was the first graphical operating system to depart from MS-DOS. .

The architecture of the Windows NT system is: above the hardware level, there is a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) directly contacted by the microkernel, and different drivers are mounted on the kernel in the form of modules for execution. Therefore, the microkernel can use functions such as input and output, file system, network, information security mechanism, and virtual memory. The system service layer provides all function call libraries with uniform specifications, which can unify the implementation methods of all subsystems. For example, although POSIX and OS / 2 have very different names and calling methods for the same service, they can be implemented on the system service layer without any hindrance. The sub-systems above the system service layer are all in user mode, so user programs can be prevented from performing illegal actions.

The DOS sub-system executes each DOS program as a process, and carries its running environment as an independent MS-DOS virtual machine. The other is a Windows 3.1 NT simulation system, which actually executes Win16 programs under the Win32 subsystem. As a result, the ability to securely control older programs written for MS-DOS and earlier Windows systems has been achieved. However, this architecture is only implemented on Intel 80386 processors and subsequent models. And some programs that read the hardware directly, such as most Win16 games, cannot be applied to this system, so many early games cannot be executed on Windows NT.

Windows NT has versions 3.1.3.5.3.51 and 4.0.

Windows 2000 is an improved series of Windows NT (actually Windows NT 5.0), Windows XP (Windows NT 5.1), Windows Server 2003 (Windows NT 5.2), Windows Vista (Windows NT 6.0), Windows 7 (Windows NT 6.1), Both are based on Windows NT architecture.

The embedded device market, which is growing and becoming more and more complex in this era, has also promoted the growth of embedded operating systems.

Mainframes and embedded systems use very diverse operating systems. Mainframes have many resources that are starting to support Java and Linux in order to share other platforms. Hundreds of embedded systems are arguing, from Berkeley Tiny OS for Sensor Networks to Windows CE that can operate Microsoft Office. ^[2]

21 21st Century Server Operating System

Modern operating systems usually have a graphical user interface (GUI) for the graphics device used, and additional input devices such as a mouse or touch panel that are different from keyboards. The old OS or performance-oriented server usually does not have such a friendly interface, but uses a command line interface (CLI) plus a keyboard as an input device. The above two interfaces are actually so-called shells, whose function is to accept and process user instructions (such as pressing a button or typing instructions on the command prompt).

Choosing the operating system to install usually has a lot to do with its hardware architecture. Only Linux and BSD can run on almost all hardware architectures, while Windows NT is only ported to DEC Alpha and MIPS Magnum. In the early 1990s, personal computer choices were limited to the Windows family, Unix-like family, and Linux, with Linux and Mac OS X as the main alternatives to this day.

Mainframes and embedded systems use very diverse operating systems. In terms of servers, Linux, UNIX, and Windows Server account for the majority of the market. In terms of supercomputers, Linux replaced Unix as the largest operating system. As of June 2012, Linux-based supercomputers in the world's top 500 supercomputer rankings occupied 462 seats, a rate of 92%. With the development of smart phones, Android and iOS have become the two most popular mobile phone operating systems. [1]

In 2012, the global smartphone operating system market share was relatively stable. The smart phone operating system market has been dominated by several mobile phone giants, and Android's monopoly position is mainly due to the great success of Samsung smartphones worldwide. In the third quarter of 2012, Android's market share was as high as 74.8%, compared to 57.4% in 2011. In the first quarter of 2013, its market share continued to increase, reaching 75%. Although Android takes the lead, Apple iOS users spend more time on apps than Android. Although Android's numbers were close to Apple's in this regard, Apple's numbers will grow further after the release of devices like the iPad 3. After the release of version 8.1 of Windows Phone system, the market share has steadily increased, the application ecosystem is improving, and many necessary applications are constantly updated, but the speed is still slightly slow. Microsoft acquired Nokia, developed many OEMs, and continuously released new models in an attempt to reverse the disadvantages of WP with little success. ^[2]