Page 44 - UNI 101 Computer Science Handout.

Faculty of Nursing
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provides communication between programs that are being executed, manages and arranges services

and resources that are provided by other modules, and provides security.

The file management system allocates and manages secondary storage space and translates file

requests from their name-based form into specific I/O requests. The actual storage and retrieval of the

files is performed by the I/O drivers that comprise the I/O component. Each I/O driver controls one or

more hardware devices of similar type. The network module control sinter actions between the

computer system and the network(s) to which it is attached. The operating system software has nearly
always been stored on a hard disk, but on some smaller systems, especially lightweight laptops and

embedded systems such as cell phones and iPods, a solid-State disk or SD card may be used instead. On

a few systems the operating system is actually provided as a network service when the system is turned
on. In either case, the bootstrap or IPL (Initial Program Load) program in the operating system is stored

within the computer using a type of memory known as ROM, or read-only memory. The bootstrap

program provides the tools to test the system and to load the remainder of the operating system from

the disk or network. Although the physical medium where the software is stored can be touched, the

software itself is considered intangible. Together, the hardware and system software provide a working
computer system environment. Application software, communication support, and user data complete

the picture.

44 Academic Year 2025/2026