As your Final Project for this course, you will build a concept map to resolve this focus question: What are the fundamental concepts that underlie operating systems? Throughout the course, each week’s assignments will include an interactive assignment to build upon your existing concept map, adding nodes to represent the topics that were covered that week. You will link the related concepts to represent and explain their relationships.
Purpose:
The primary goal of the OS Theory Concept Map is to visually outline and make connections between the concepts of operating systems theory. You will build your concept maps incrementally each week as topics are introduced and discussed. In the final week, you will submit your completed concept maps to Waypoint and write a summary blog post to share what you have learned about operating systems theory during this course.
Focus:
You will develop an OS Theory Concept Map to answer this focus question: What are the fundamental concepts that underlie operating systems? You will more specifically address the following topics represented in the Course Learning Outcomes (CLO):
Features and structure of contemporary operating systems
Threads and process synchronization
Memory management
File systems
Mass storage
I/O
Security and protection
Assignment Prompt:
You will use your concept map to resolve this focus question: What are the fundamental concepts that underlie operating systems? Throughout the course, each week will include an assignment to build upon your existing concept map, adding nodes to represent the topics that were covered that week. You will link the related concepts to represent and explain their relationships.
To begin your concept map, you will
Label the central node to rename it and start building your concept map from it.
Logically arrange the essential concepts about operating systems theory into a hierarchy of nodes that branch from the main idea. Include cross-links where necessary to show relationships in different sections of the concept map.
Use connecting nodes to accurately describe each relationship between topics that connect. Every neighboring pair of concepts should be linked by a word or phrase to form a short sentence. For example, to represent the idea that “Topic A causes Topic B, Topic C, and Topic D,” you will use a connecting node for the word “causes” in between Topic A and Topics B, C, and D, as shown in this screenshot.
Concept Maps
A concept map is a diagram used to graphically organize and represent knowledge. Concepts are categorized and linked together with connecting lines to indicate their relationships to each other. Concept maps can be organized from the top down or by radiating out from a central node.
To learn more about concept maps and to see examples, you may wish to reference What is a Concept Map? (Links to an external site.) and Mind Maps: A Powerful Approach to Note-Taking (Links to an external site.).
Tools:
You will use draw.io (Links to an external site.) to create and share your concept map. This free online tool works in any browser, and there is no software to download. View the draw.io gallery (Links to an external site.) to see examples of diagrams created in draw.io (Links to an external site.).
Review the Quick Start Guide before beginning your diagram in draw.io (Links to an external site.). To begin your concept map, you will
Click the central node to rename it and start building your concept map from it.
Logically arrange the essential concepts about computer organization and design into a hierarchy of nodes that branch from the main idea. Include cross-links where necessary to show relationships in different sections of the concept map.
Use connecting nodes to accurately describe each relationship between topics that connect. Every neighboring pair of concepts should be linked by a word or phrase to form a short sentence. For example, to represent the idea that “Topic A causes Topic B, Topic C, and Topic D,” you will use a connecting node for the word “causes” in between Topic A and Topics B, C, and D, as shown in this screenshot below.
Section 1:
You initially completed this section in your Week 1 interactive assignment. Review the instructions here and incorporate your peer and instructor feedback from the Week 1 interactive assignment in your final version of the concept map.
In this section, you will begin your concept map by addressing each of the following topics concerning operating system features and structures:
Categorize, describe, and give examples of the major functions of operating systems.
Illustrate the hierarchy of subsystems, components, or subcomponents of operating systems and explain how they interact with one another.
Section 1 about features and structures must have at least two nodes and at least seven connecting nodes.
Section 2:
You initially completed this section in your Week 2 interactive assignment. Review the instructions here and incorporate your peer and instructor feedback from the Week 2 interactive assignment in your final version of the concept map.
In this section, continue building the concept map by addressing the following topics concerning how operating systems enable processes to share and exchange information:
Describe process, process state, and process control block.
Compare single- and multi-threaded motivations and models.
Describe the critical-section problem and explain a software solution that resolves this problem.
Section 2 about processes must have at least three nodes and four connecting nodes.
Section 3:
You initially completed this section in your Week 3 interactive assignment. Review the instructions here and incorporate your peer and instructor feedback from the Week 3 interactive assignment in your final version of the concept map.
In this section, continue building the concept map by addressing the following topics concerning controlling and coordinating computer memory:
Outline the objectives and functions of memory management in operating systems. (Resource: Leverage Figures 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4 from the textbook.)
Compare and contrast the physical address space with the virtual address space as they relate to different memory mapping techniques in operating systems.
Section 3 about memory management must have at least two nodes and at least four connecting nodes.
Section 4:
You initially completed this section in your Week 4 interactive assignment. Review the instructions here and incorporate your peer and instructor feedback from the Week 4 interactive assignment in your final version of the concept map.
In this section, continue building the concept map by addressing the following topics concerning files, mass storage, and I/O:
Outline the objectives and functions of file systems management and the supported operations, including their reliability and performance.
Contrast different directory structures and create unique diagrams to illustrate an example of each directory structure (similar to Figures 10.9, 10.10, 10.11, 10.12, and 10.13 in your textbook). Insert these images as nodes of your concept map. To create your diagrams, you can choose to use a graphics editing software (PowerPoint, Paint, PhotoShop, etc.), an online mapping software tool (draw.io), or even upload a photo of a hand-drawn sketch.
Describe different types of input/output devices, distinguishing between the hardware and software layers and summarizing the integration across I/O and memory components.
Section 4 about files, mass storage, and I/O must have at least three nodes and at least four connecting nodes.
Section 5:
You initially completed this section in your Week 5 interactive assignment. Review the instructions here and incorporate your peer and instructor feedback from the Week 5 interactive assignment in your final version of the concept map.
In this section, continue building the concept map by addressing the following topics concerning mechanisms necessary to control the access of programs, processes, or users:
Outline the goals and principles of domain- and language-based protection in a modern computer system, and describe how an access matrix is used to protect specific resources a process can access. (Consider using a matrix representation to illustrate concepts.)
Describe how security is used to protect programs, systems, and networks from threats.
Section 5 about protection and security must have at least two nodes and three connecting nodes.
Summary Blog Post:
This section will build on the work you completed in the Section 5 interactive assignment in Week 5. You must incorporate the peer and instructor feedback you received from your previous submission in Week 5 of your final version of the concept map.
For the final section of your project, you will provide a summary blog post to share any new insights you have gained about operating systems theory throughout the course and to resolve this focus question: What are the fundamental concepts that underlie operating systems?
Describe features of contemporary operating systems and their structures.
Discuss how operating systems enable processes to share and exchange information.
Explain how main memory and virtual memory can solve memory management issues.
Explain how files, mass storage, and I/O are handled in a modern computer system.
Outline the mechanisms necessary to control the access of programs or users to the resources defined by a computer system.
Recommend how you will use these concepts about operating systems theory in future courses and/or future jobs.
The Summary Blog Post
Must be 600 to 900 words in length, (not including title and diagrams) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
Must use at least five screenshot images to zoom in on sections of the concept map and illustrate your statements.
Submit both the URL of your blog post and the URL of your completed concept map in Waypoint.
Finally, post the URL of your blog post to Folio.
Must be 600 to 900 words in length, (not including title and diagrams) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
Must use at least five screenshot images to zoom in on sections of the concept map and illustrate your statements.
Submit both the URL of your blog post and the URL of your completed concept map in Waypoint.
Finally, post the URL of your blog post to Folio.
