Operating System Definition

An operating system (OS) facilitates the interaction between a user and the computer hardware components while offering an environment to manage and control the execution of software applications.

What is a server operating system?

A server operating system (server OS) runs on a server in a client-server architecture and provides multiple services to client machines within the network. It forms the software backbone to run various programs and applications. A server OS offers advanced capabilities to run, manage, monitor, and control applications, processes, and client devices such as different servers, including a web server, file server, application server, mail server, database server, and more.

Key operating system concepts

An operating system helps in managing and executing applications and processes by streamlining various software and hardware functions. It ensures the proper allocation of memory space to implement processes, manages primary and secondary storage, and schedules disk usage requests among the primary operating system functions.

In addition to managing the allocation and usage of system resources, an OS facilitates an environment to build and run programs by providing an interface between the computer hardware and the programmers. It simplifies the application development process by streamlining coding, production, and debugging. It simplifies the creation and modification of data files and programs via the editor and handles I/O programming.  The operating system also enables the translation of the user program from high-level language to machine language through a compiler. It then employs a loader program to push the compiled program code to the system memory for execution.

Types of operating systems

There are various types of operating systems addressing different needs under specific scenarios. Common operating systems include:

• Single-User and Multi-User OS: When an OS doesn't distinguish among users while allowing multiple programs to execute simultaneously, it's known as single-user operating systems. On the other hand, a multi-user operating system allows multiple user interactions with the system concurrently while facilitating multitasking and explicitly identifying resources belonging to multiple users.
• Single-Tasking and Multitasking OS: A single-tasking OS runs one program at a given point in time, while a multitasking OS allows concurrent execution of more than one program. A multitasking OS works on the time-sharing concept, which divides available processor time between multiple processes and leverages the operating system's scheduling subsystem to complete tasks.
• Time-Sharing and Real-Time OS: A time-sharing OS facilitates multi-user and multi-process systems, where multiple users run various processes simultaneously. Alternatively, a real-time OS can either be a single-tasking or multitasking system that processes data or operations at a specific point in time. While multitasking, real-time OS applies scheduling algorithms to execute tasks based on priorities or any event, whereas time-sharing OS performs tasks based on time-slices.

Common operating system examples

Several operating systems are available for seamless process execution, security maintenance, resource handling, access control, and much more. The most common ones from the server operating system list are:

• Windows Operating System: The operating system from Microsoft is a leading operating system worldwide and is widely used for personal computers, office computers, as well as some web and number-crunching server computers. It’s a series of enterprise-class server OS offering comprehensive capabilities to manage, monitor, and control data, applications, and networks along with productivity tools to assist daily work operations. Read more about Windows OS monitoring solutions.
• Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS): Mac OS is developed by Apple Inc. and runs on Apple laptops and desktops. It has multiple versions and offers various services and applications to support cross-platform file sharing, email services, authentication, security, scheduling, networking, distributed computing, and more. It’s partly based on the Unix operating system and has some basic command-line features and programming interfaces similar to other Unix-based operating systems such as Linux.
• Linux Operating System: Unlike the Windows operating system, Linux is an open-source system. Therefore, it's easy to customize and use and is available for free. Since it's not a proprietary operating system, anyone can modify it to meet their requirements. Programmers worldwide collaborate to optimize the source code and introduce new features and update the existing capabilities. Read more about Linux OS monitoring solutions.
• Apple iOS: This is one of the most popular mobile operating systems and runs on Apple devices, including iPhones, iPad tablets, and other media devices. It offers a simple, intuitive interface to enhance user experience with minimal hardware hassles. Apple iOS provides strong encryption to help ensure robust security and user data protection on mobile devices. It also provides an application and media store known as the App Store to enable the seamless purchase of apps as well as downloading free apps.
• Android OS: Developed by Google, Android OS is another popular mobile OS in the world. It's primarily used across smartphones and tablets made by several different manufacturers. Most manufacturers tweak some features and capabilities to match their offering's requirements. Like Apple iOS, Android iOS also comes with an application and media store called Play Store to enable software and media installation.

How to monitor operating system software

Although operating system software offers some in-built monitoring capabilities, organizations may need more robust monitoring software to more effectively manage and monitor operating systems. A server monitoring solution is designed to aid administrators in tracking operating system errors and can help mitigate issues proactively.

Implementing an OS monitoring software can allow organizations to take care of the following:

• Perform agentless performance and availability monitoring without hassle.
• Optimize system resource utilization and more easily predict requirements for probable future capacity.
• Get better visibility across the system and application with advanced insights to identify anomalies and system failures in real time.
• Set advanced alerts and customize notifications to ensure timely critical escalations and quick response management.

To help ensure a more effective server operating system, some of the most important metrics to track include:

• Reliability: Proactive alerts for any scheduled restarts, email server failures, or database service downtime can help you conduct better analysis and plan for the future.
• Availability: Ensuring high availability can help avoid service disruptions and downtime across business-critical processes and applications. High availability can also help you demonstrate compliance with critical service level agreements (SLAs).
• Serviceability: Timely detection of operating system errors can help ensure faster fault recovery.