The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System

This book describes the design and implementation of the BSD operating system--previously known as the Berkeley version of UNIX. Today, BSD is found in nearly every variant of UNIX, and is widely used for Internet services and firewalls, timesharing, and multiprocessing systems. Readers involved in technical and sales support can learn the capabilities and limitations of the system; applications developers can learn effectively and efficiently how to interface to the system; systems programmers can learn how to maintain, tune, and extend the system. Written from the unique perspective of the system's architects, this book delivers the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and authoritative technical information on the internal structure of the latest BSD system. As in the previous book on 4.3BSD (with Samuel Leffler), the authors first update the history and goals of the BSD system. Next they provide a coherent overview of its design and implementation. Then, while explaining key design decisions, they detail the concepts, data structures, and algorithms used in implementing the system's facilities. As an in-depth study of a contemporary, portable operating system, or as a practical reference, readers will appreciate the wealth of insight and guidance contained in this book. Highlights of the book: Details major changes in process and memory management Describes the new extensible and stackable filesystem interface Includes an invaluable chapter on the new network filesystem Updates information on networking and interprocess communication