Com Sci 501
System Administration in Linux
Department of Computer Science
The University of Chicago
System Components
Levels in a System
The designers and implementors of computer systems usually organize
them in levels. Lower levels are more closely tied to
hardware, and higher levels are more closely tied to the
functions people use. Each level uses services from the level
immediately below, and provides services to the level
immediately above.
Levels in Linux Systems
Applications |
Debian Packages and Red Hat Packages and Other UNIX Software |
|
Character Interface (Shell) |
Sh and Csh and Tcsh and Ash and Bash and cetera |
|
Window Manager |
Twm and Ctwm and Fvwm and cetera |
|
Graphical Interface (GUI) |
X Windows |
|
|
OS Kernel |
Linux Kernel or MkLinux Kernel |
|
|
Resident System |
BIOS and Auto SCSI and PNP |
|
Hardware |
Pentium or Power PC or cetera |
|
Outline of System Components
The following outline organizes the hardware and software
components that you are most likely to encounter in Com Sci
501. Many variations are possible, though.
- Hardware
- Mother Board
- Video Board
- Random Access Memory (RAM)
- SCSI Bus
- IDE Bus
- Disk
- Sound Board
- Diskette Drive
- CDROM Drive
- Tape Drive
- Serial Port
- Parallel Port
- PS Port
- Keyboard
- Resident System
- Boot Loader
- LILO
- ???? (from DOS/Windows/Mac OS)
- OS Kernel
- Installation Kernel
- Rescue Kernel
- Packaged Kernel
- Custom Kernel
- Shell
- GUI
- Applications
- Hardware Configuration
- Kernel Configuration
- System Configuration and Maintenance
- Package Management
- Backups
- Communication
- Editing
- Programming
- Personal Management and Organization
Michael J. O'Donnell
Last modified: Tue Sep 23 18:36:56 CDT 1997