Parallel Operating System

What is a Parallel Operating System?

Parallel operating systems are designed to speed up the execution of programs by dividing them into multiple segments. It is used for dealing with multiple processors simultaneously by using computer resources which include a single computer with multiple processors and several computers connected by a network to form a cluster of parallel processing or a combination of both.

How do Parallel Operating Systems Work?

It is an evolution of serial processing wherein tasks are broken down into manageable tasks that can be executed concurrently. Further, each part is broken down into a series of instructions executed simultaneously on different CPUs. The working of the parallel operating system is such that the CPU and its components are divided into smaller parts, each having full speed and power. In a normal operating system, once an I/O device is identified, it will use the CPU to transfer the information into the memory before performing any operations on it, like processing and transmitting. By parallel operating systems, however, more data can be transferred and processed simultaneously, resulting in quicker data transfer.

Types of Parallel Operating Systems

The parallel operating system is further divided into two types: type-1 and type-2

1. Type-1: it acts as a native hypervisor and runs directly on bare metal. It can be executed on the operating system or virtual machine that shares physical hardware. This type of architecture is known as native because the host OS does not provide any emulation of the I/O system. For instance, VMware uses type-1 virtualization of operating systems to execute an instance of MAC OS.
2. Type-2: it is hosted on a hypervisor running within conventional operating systems like Linux or Windows.

Application of Parallel Operating System

• Databases and data mining
• Advanced graphics
• Argument reality
• Real-time simulation of a system
• Science and engineering

Examples of Parallel Operating Systems

A few examples of the parallel operating system can be VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Red Hat enterprise, Oracle VM, KVM/QEMU, and Sun xVM Server.

The main reason for using a parallel operating system is to execute virtual machines having different purposes. These machines have dedicated servers that users can use for running an application.

This is useful when multiple applications are to be executed along with the usage of resources and to avoid interfering with other processes and should be able to handle the system's load.

An example of this can be an email server wherein a web server, as well as rules of firewall, can be executed at the same time without any hindrance. The resources used are CPU, RAM, etc.

Functions of Parallel Operating System

The following are the important functions of a parallel operating system:

• Has a multiprocessing environment
• Security among processes
• The parallel OS can handle the load of tasks in the operating system
• Sharing of resources between other processes
• Avoiding interference of other processes or threads with each other
• Efficient utilization of all the resources

Advantages of Parallel Operating System

• It saves time and allows the execution of applications simultaneously
• Solves the large complex problem of operating system
• Multiple resources can be used simultaneously
• Has a larger memory for the allocation of resources and tasks
• Faster as compared to another operating system

Disadvantages of Parallel Operating System

• The architecture of the parallel operating system is complex
• High cost since more resources are used for synchronization, data transfer, thread, and communication. In the case of clusters, better cooling techniques are required.
• Huge power consumption.
• High maintenance.