What is an Operating Ssytem - Holistic Healing · Web viewWindows 9x versus Windows NT-Based Operating Systems: Windows 9x and Windows NT support peer-to-peer and domain-based networks

OS Notes by Harsh Baheti

What is an Operating System? Which create an interaction of Users with the Hardware, is called Operating System. History of the Windows Operating System Family

Microsoft has been in the OS market since the early 1980s. It is amazing how far they (and computers in general) have come in such a short time. Microsoft has two OS family lines, MS-DOS and Windows NT. Each line is made up of multiple families such as Windows 3.x,Windows 9x,Windows NT 3.x,Windows NT 4.0,Windows 2000,Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.This book is about Windows Server 2003, which is a descendant of the NT family.This section will give you an overview of both family lines starting with MS-DOS and transitioning into Windows NT.

Figure : Following the MS-DOS Family Line

For training Purpose 1

MS DOS

Windows 1.0

Windows 2.0

Windows 3.x

Windows for Workgroups 3.1

Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Windows 3.1 Windows 3.11

Windows 98 SE Windows MEWindows 95 Windows 98

Windows 9x

OS Notes by Harsh BahetiMS-DOS was a character-based operating system; it used keyboards and text commands to control the OS.This worked fine for “nerds”; however, it became apparent that if Microsoft wanted more people to buy their OSs, they needed to make them easier to use.The next logical step was to give their OSs a graphical user interface, or GUI (pronounced GOOEE), and a pointing device (for example, a mouse).A GUI makes the OS more user friendly (as illustrated by the saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words”).With a GUI, you don’t have to remember a long list of text commands; instead, you can just use your mouse to point and click on menu items and icons to accomplish the same thing.

Windows 95

Windows 95 was released on August 24, 1995 and it changed the face of Windows forever.

FEATURES:

Plug-and-Play Easier hardware installation Dialup networking for Internet. It was the first OS which supports Long file Names. Support Universal Serial Bus (USB) FAT32 file system which allowed large partitions,better disk usages and better

performance.

Windows 98

Windows 98 was released on June 25, 1998. It was the retail upgrade to Windows 95

FEATURES::

provided support for reading DVDs and using USB devices. Applications in Windows 98 opened and closed more quickly. Included a FAT32 converter, like win95 which allowed you to use hard drives

over the 2GB limit imposed by DOS. The backup program, which support more backup devices (including SCSI

devices) Microsoft added the Disk Cleanup utility to help find and delete old unused files. Windows 98 also included Internet Explorer 4.0 and the Active Desktop.

Windows 98 Second Edition


OS Notes by Harsh Baheti Windows 98 Second Edition (SE) was released on June 25, 1998 as an

incremental updateto Windows 98.

Windows 98 SE improved the home multimedia experience, home networking and Internet browsing.

Windows 98 SE introduced Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), which allowed a Windows 98 SE machine to function as a Network Address

Translation (NAT) server for other machines on the home network. In other words, you could have multiple machines connected to the Internet at the same time using only a single ISP account and a single public IP address, and all Internet traffic would go through the Windows 98 SE machine running ICS.Windows 98 SE also included NetMeeting conferencing software and Internet Explorer 5.0.Windows 98 SE was the first consumer OS capable of using the same drivers as Windows NT 4.0.

Windows ME

Windows Millennium Edition (ME) was the last OS built on the MS-DOS kernel.

FEATURES:

Added improved support for digital media through applications such as Image Acquisition, Movie Maker, and Windows Media Player.

Image Acquisition was added to simplify downloading images from digital cameras.

Movie Maker was included to ease editing and recording digital video media files.

Media Player was used to organize and play music and video files. To enhance reliability,Windows ME added the system restore feature, which

could be used to restore any deleted system files to fix problems. Another important feature was system file protection, which prevented

important OS files from being changed by applications.

ME also included a new home networking wizard to ease adding peripherals and computers to a home network.

Windows 9 x versus Windows NT-Based Operating Systems:

Windows 9x and Windows NT support peer-to-peer and domain-based networks.


OS Notes by Harsh Baheti Windows 9x supports logging on to a domain, but does not support being

“joined to adomain.”This means that Windows 9x machines cannot have a machine account

on thedomain and cannot be managed with domain tools such as Active Directory

Users andComputers.Windows 9x can function as a client and/or server in a workgroup

environment,

Windows NT comes in two distinct versions:

_ A workstation version designed to be used primarily as a client operating system_ A server version that can operate as a standalone file/print server or as a centralizedauthentication server (called a domain controller in Microsoft networking terminology)

Unlike 9x, NT is multithreaded and can support symmetric multiprocessing (SMP),which allows you to increase the performance of an application by adding more processors(if the application was written to support multiple processors).

Windows 9x is based on the MS-DOS kernel and is meant to be backward compatible with older DOS and Windows 3.x applications.

This is great for consumers who need to run older applications, but compatibility does come at a cost. Older 16-bit apps all run in the same memory address space, which means that if one 16-bit app fails, it can bring down the entire OS.

Windows NT was built with stability and security in mind. 32-bit applications run intheir own separate memory spaces, and older Windows 3.x and DOS

applications run invirtual machines. Thus, the failure of an application cannot bring down the

entire OS.The reason why 9x machines crashed more frequently and had to be rebooted

more often thanNT machines did. One of the means by which NT remains more stable is by

restricting


OS Notes by Harsh Bahetiapplications from directly accessing the hardware. Applications must interact

with the hardwarethrough the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) of the OS. As usual, there is a

catch;this extra stability sacrifices compatibility. NT does not work with as many

applications anddrivers as 9x does.

The NT OS Family Tree

The main aim of the NT platform is : It was focused on business users, IT was built new from the ground up to provide the stability, reliability, and security

features needed in the business environment. Until Microsoft comes up with a completely new kernel, all future versions of Windows

will be descendants of the NT family line. Just as with the MS-DOS family line, Microsoft started off naming Windows NT with

version numbers. Starting with Windows 2000, Windows was named after the year it was released, and

the letters NT were removed from the name (although the tag line “built on NT technology” remained on the splash screen).


Fig: Windows NT Family Line:


Windows NT 4.0 Features:


OS Notes by Harsh Baheti This was the first version of NT to be truly 32-bit. It provided higher network throughput and made for quicker file and print

services. NT 4.0 was bundled with Internet Information Server (IIS), Microsoft’s Web

server product, along with a suite of tools for managing and developing intranets.

Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition was a multiuser server OS that allowed multiple desktop machines to simultaneously run sessions on the Terminal Server via client software.

Desktops would run the Terminal Server client software, but all processing took place on the server, thus the desktop machines could be low powered, inexpensive “thin clients.”

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 was built on the same NT kernel. Windows 2000 has four versions:

Professional, Server, Advanced Server, Datacenter Server.

Professional was the replacement for NT 4.0 Workstation and was used as a desktop/client

Windows 2000 added many of the features:

Disk Defragmenter, Device manager, Plug-and-Play support.

There is no separate version of Windows 2000 for Terminal Services; instead, all three server products include the ability to install Terminal Server services as part of the OS.

Windows XP/Windows Server 2003

All are built on the same NT kernel as were 2000 series.

Variants of Windows NT…

Windows XP is available in four 32-bit editions: Windows XP Home Edition Windows XP Professional Windows XP Media Center Edition Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Why 64 bit OS released ?

64-bit version of XP, designed to run on the Itanium processor.

Uses of XP: For training Purpose 7


Home Edition and Media Center Edition are targeted toward consumers(home Users/small Users).

Professional and Tablet PC are targeted to business users,

Windows Server 2003 comes in four editions:

Web Edition Standard Edition Enterprise Edition Data center Server

Note: Windows Server 2003 comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Over View/Features of Windows XP Home Edition

It Home Edition supports the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), which protects your computer while you are connected to the Internet

Multiple users sharing a machine is easier than ever, Fast User Switching, which allows you to switch between users’ desktops

without having to log off first. Home networking and multimedia capabilities have been enhanced in Home

Edition.

Remote Assistance is a new feature that lets you ask someone for help.The helper can then remotely control your desktop and chat with you


The stylish Menu in Windows XP iscalled LUNA and is also used by Windows Server 2003.The idea behind LUNA is to clean up your desktop and access everything that you need from the Startmenu.

OS Notes by Harsh Bahetionline.

Also included such as Task Manager and System Monitor Desktop Cleanup Wizard and taskbar grouping.

Windows XP ProfessionalWindows XP Professional includes all of the features of Home Edition, and many new features include:

Remote desktop, which allows XP Pro to act as a mini Terminal Server, hosting one remote session.

Encrypting File System (EFS), which allows you to encrypt files stored on disk. EFS was included with Windows 2000 Professional, but XP Professional adds the ability to share encrypted files with other users.

Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), which allows you to encrypt data that travels across the network to protect it from “sniffers.”

Integrated smart card support, which allows you to use smart card authentication to log on to the network, including Windows Server 2003 terminal sessions.

Recovery console, which provides a command-line interface that administrators can use to perform repair tasks if the computer won’t boot.

The ability to join a Windows domain. While users who have a domain account can log onto the domain froman XP Home computer, the Home computer cannot have a computer account in the domain. XP Professional computers have computer accounts, allowing the administrator to manage them centrally.

Note: Windows XP Professional is Microsoft’s current business desktop OS in use today.

Features of Windows XP Prof 64-Bit Edition

Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition runs on the Itanium 2 processor It is designed to meet the demands of technical workstation users who require

large amounts of memory to build mechanical design and analysis, 3D


OS Notes by Harsh Bahetianimation, video editing and composition, and scientific and high-performance computing applications.

It supports up to 16GB of RAM We can also run 32-bit applications designed for Windows XP Professional (in addition to 64-bit applications)

Features Not Available:

The 64-bit edition of XP does not support many of the multimedia features found in 32-bit XP

CD recording, some of the Windows Media technologies, NetMeeting, and IEEE 1394 (FireWire) audio.

MS-DOS and 16-bit subsystems, Protocols such as the IPX/SPX,AppleTalk, DLC, NetBEUI Services for Macintosh. System Restore is not included, laptop features such as PC Card, IrDA, hot docking, and power management Windows Messenger Service, Internet Locator Service (ILS) and SharePoint

Team Services A number of system administration and miscellaneous features that are not

supported, including Windows Installer, Remote Assistance The File and Settings Transfer Wizard, and speech recognition.

Windows XP Media Center Edition

Windows XP Media Center Edition is built on Windows XP technology It comes preinstalled on Media Center PCs. Media Center Edition combines

home entertainment and personal computing.

It puts all of your media in one place and allows you to control it via remote control. Some of the features of Windows XP Media Center Edition include:

Watching live TV Personal Video Recording (PVR) Electronic Program Guide (Guide) Playing DVDs


OS Notes by Harsh Baheti Listening to music Watching videos The Media Center Remote Control

Why Windows Server Operating System

The needs of users to share resources between machines over a network, and peer-to-peer networks were born.

As networks grew larger, peer-to-peer networks started losing their appeal because of the difficulty of administration,

So a client-server networking model introduced their with domain concept. As with the peer-to-peer networks, companies started to outgrow their domains,

and multidomain environments needed a better way for computers to interact across domains.

Consequently,a new directory service called Active Directory introduced to make it easier to locate resources within a large, complex network.

Windows Server 2003, still supports all of these concepts.You can use Windows Server 2003 in any network model, from peer-to-peer to Active Directory domain.

Client-Server Networking

Client-server networking is based on the idea of centralized sharing and centralized control.

Instead of sharing resources from each other’s machines, users attach to dedicated servers where all the network resources are stored.

This allows you to use less powerful machines for desktops and put your money where it really matters, into your servers.

Users get better performance out of the higher end servers, Administrators get the benefits of centralized authentication and control.This

makes for a more secure environment.

FEATURES OF CLIENT SERVER:

Centralized Authentication

Advantage:

A good rule of thumb when working with end users is to keep it simple. Most users want to log on to their PCs and work. They do not want to remember five


OS Notes by Harsh Bahetidifferent user account names and passwords, as is often the case when accessing resources on different workstations in a peer-to-peer network. Client-server networking makes things simple, because all shared files and printers are stored on the server. Users authenticate once to the server and they are done. They don’t have to remember one password for printing and another for accessing files. One account does it all. In fact, once authenticated to the domain, they can also access resources on other workstations in the domain (to which they have permission) without needing to have local accounts on those workstations.

Centralized Administration

For an administrator, client-server networking is the only way to go. Because everything is centralized.

It is easier to manage shared files and printers, create and manage accounts, back up and restore data, and secure the network.

In case if we have more than 5 to 10 machines, client-server networking is much more efficient than peer-to-peer networking.

Difference between Client-Server and Peer-to-Peer Networking Peer-to-peer networking is networking in its simplest form.When you link two or more computers together without a centralized authentication server, you have a peer-to-peer network (also called a workgroup). Peer-to-peer networks allow file and printer sharing, In peer-to-peer authentication is not centralized. In a peer-to-peer network,every machine has its own local user accounts that can access files. If you want to access data on four machines, then you must have an account on each of the fourmachines.This is fine if there are only a few machines on the network, but when there are, 50 machines, you have to use 50 different accounts.This means that you have toremember the passwords for all 50 and keep them synchronized (if possible).

In client-server system since the Authentication is centralized thus enabling to manage the user’s account easily and without creating the local account in individual machines. It means there is no need to remember all the Passwords as well. Thus with a single Authentication we can Use/access all the systems.


OS Notes by Harsh BahetiFig: Using Peer-to-Peer Networking

The Domain Concept (definition)

The dictionary definition of domain is “a territory over which rule or control is exercised.” A domain is a control boundary.You can control objects within a domaintogether, as if they were one. We can also define “a domain is a logical group of computers with a common database of accounts. All of these accounts are managed and secured together in a central location (on the domain controller). Domains provide centralized authentication and centralized account management.



NT DomainsPrior to windows NT,machines were configured in a peer-to-peer network. This is aninefficient way of doing things once the network grows beyond a few computers.

An NT domain consists of one or more domain controllers, member servers, workstations, users, and groups.

All domain controllers share a common database called the Security Account Manager (SAM) database.

Each domain controller holds its own copy of the SAM database, but there is only one writeable copy of the SAM database that is stored on the Primary Domain Controller (PDC), which is the first domian controller created in the domain.

All other domain controllers are considered backup domain controllers (BDCs) and hold a read-only copy of the SAM. Whenever changes to the SAM database are made, they are made to the PDC and then replicated to the BDCs.This design is called a single master replication model. Member servers and workstations can be “joined to the domain,” which means they have accounts in the SAM database and can be centrally managed. User and group accounts are also created within the domain, which allows centralized account management and the ability for users to use one user account to access everything they need.


Documents

What is an Operating Ssytem - Holistic Healing · Web viewWindows 9x versus Windows NT-Based Operating Systems: Windows 9x and Windows NT support peer-to-peer and domain-based networks