3. Operating Systems
An understanding of the operating system and its kernel is essential for systems performance analysis. You will frequently need to develop and then test hypotheses about system behavior, such as how system calls are being performed, how CPUs are scheduling threads, how limited memory could be affecting performance, or how a file system processes I/O. These behaviors will require you to apply your knowledge of the operating system and the kernel.
This chapter provides an overview of operating systems and the kernel and is assumed knowledge for the rest of the book. If you missed operating systems class, you can treat this as a crash course. Keep an eye out for any gaps in your knowledge, as there will be an exam at the end ...
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