Barrelfish (operating system)

Last updated
Barrelfish
Barrelfish logo.png
Developer ETH Zurich with assistance of Microsoft Research
Working stateDiscontinued
Source model Open source
Initial releaseSeptember 15, 2009;15 years ago (2009-09-15)
Latest release 2020.03.23 / March 23, 2020;4 years ago (2020-03-23)
Repository
Kernel type Multikernel, Microkernel
License MIT License
Official website www.barrelfish.org

Barrelfish is an experimental computer operating system built by ETH Zurich with the assistance of Microsoft Research in Cambridge. [1] [2] [3] It is an experimental operating system designed from the ground up for scalability for computers built with multi-core processors with the goal of reducing the compounding decrease in benefit as more CPUs are used in a computer by putting low-level hardware information in a database, thus removing the need for driver software. [4] [5]

Contents

The partners released the first snapshot of the OS on September 15, 2009 [6] with a second being released in March, 2011. Excluding some third-party libraries, which are covered by various BSD-like open source licenses, Barrelfish is released under the MIT license. [1] Snapshots are regularly released, the last one dating to March 23, 2020. [7] [8] [9]

While originally being developed in collaboration with Microsoft Research, it was also partly supported by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Labs, Huawei, Cisco, Oracle, and VMware before it was discontinued. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OS/2</span> Operating system from IBM

OS/2 is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 relative to Microsoft's new Windows 3.1 operating environment, the two companies severed the relationship in 1992 and OS/2 development fell to IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2", because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 (PS/2)" line of second-generation personal computers. The first version of OS/2 was initially released in December 1987, and newer versions were released until December 2001.

In computing, a core dump, memory dump, crash dump, storage dump, system dump, or ABEND dump consists of the recorded state of the working memory of a computer program at a specific time, generally when the program has crashed or otherwise terminated abnormally. In practice, other key pieces of program state are usually dumped at the same time, including the processor registers, which may include the program counter and stack pointer, memory management information, and other processor and operating system flags and information. A snapshot dump is a memory dump requested by the computer operator or by the running program, after which the program is able to continue. Core dumps are often used to assist in diagnosing and debugging errors in computer programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QNX</span> Real-time operating system (RTOS) software

QNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Research</span> Defunct American software company

Digital Research, Inc. was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser DOS, DOS Plus, DR DOS and GEM. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world. Digital Research was originally based in Pacific Grove, California, later in Monterey, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">64-bit computing</span> Computer architecture bit width

In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A computer that uses such a processor is a 64-bit computer.

Enea AB is an information technology company with its headquarters in Kista, Sweden that provides real-time operating systems and consulting services. Enea, which is an abbreviation of Engmans Elektronik Aktiebolag, also produces the OSE operating system.

Workspace is a term used in various branches of engineering and economic development.

THEOS, which translates from Greek as "God", is an operating system which started out as OASIS, a microcomputer operating system for small computers that use the Z80 processor. When the operating system was launched for the IBM Personal Computer/AT in 1982, the decision was taken to change the name from OASIS to THEOS, short for THE Operating System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Rashid</span> American computer scientist, Microsoft vice president

Richard Farris Rashid is the founder of Microsoft Research, which he created in 1991. Between 1991 and 2013, as its chief research officer and director, he oversaw the worldwide operations for Microsoft Research which grew to encompass more than 850 researchers and a dozen labs around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nexenta OS</span> Discontinued computer operating system

Nexenta OS, officially known as the Nexenta Core Platform, is a discontinued computer operating system based on OpenSolaris and Ubuntu that runs on IA-32- and x86-64-based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems started the OpenSolaris project in June of that year. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsored its development. Nexenta OS version 1.0 was released in February 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multi-core processor</span> Microprocessor with more than one processing unit

A multi-core processor (MCP) is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit (IC) with two or more separate central processing units (CPUs), called cores to emphasize their multiplicity. Each core reads and executes program instructions, specifically ordinary CPU instructions. However, the MCP can run instructions on separate cores at the same time, increasing overall speed for programs that support multithreading or other parallel computing techniques. Manufacturers typically integrate the cores onto a single IC die, known as a chip multiprocessor (CMP), or onto multiple dies in a single chip package. As of 2024, the microprocessors used in almost all new personal computers are multi-core.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ATTRIB</span>

In computing, ATTRIB is a command in Intel ISIS-II, DOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS that allows the user to change various characteristics, or "attributes" of a computer file or directory. The command is also available in the EFI shell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac OS X Snow Leopard</span> Seventh major version of macOS, released in 2009

Mac OS X Snow Leopard is the seventh major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MS-DOS</span> Discontinued Microsoft operating system

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few operating systems attempting to be compatible with MS-DOS, are sometimes referred to as "DOS". MS-DOS was the main operating system for IBM PC compatibles during the 1980s, from which point it was gradually superseded by operating systems offering a graphical user interface (GUI), in various generations of the graphical Microsoft Windows operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kernel (operating system)</span> Core of a computer operating system

The kernel is a computer program at the core of a computer's operating system and generally has complete control over everything in the system. The kernel is also responsible for preventing and mitigating conflicts between different processes. It is the portion of the operating system code that is always resident in memory and facilitates interactions between hardware and software components. A full kernel controls all hardware resources via device drivers, arbitrates conflicts between processes concerning such resources, and optimizes the utilization of common resources e.g. CPU & cache usage, file systems, and network sockets. On most systems, the kernel is one of the first programs loaded on startup. It handles the rest of the startup as well as memory, peripherals, and input/output (I/O) requests from software, translating them into data-processing instructions for the central processing unit.

A multikernel operating system treats a multi-core machine as a network of independent cores, as if it were a distributed system. It does not assume shared memory but rather implements inter-process communications as message-passing. Barrelfish was the first operating system to be described as a multikernel.

A distributed operating system is system software over a collection of independent software, networked, communicating, and physically separate computational nodes. They handle jobs which are serviced by multiple CPUs. Each individual node holds a specific software subset of the global aggregate operating system. Each subset is a composite of two distinct service provisioners. The first is a ubiquitous minimal kernel, or microkernel, that directly controls that node's hardware. Second is a higher-level collection of system management components that coordinate the node's individual and collaborative activities. These components abstract microkernel functions and support user applications.

NetVault is a set of data protection software developed and supported by Quest Software. NetVault Backup is a backup and recovery software product. It can be used to protect data and software applications in physical and virtual environments from one central management interface. It supports many servers, application platforms, and protocols such as UNIX, Linux, Microsoft Windows, VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, NDMP, Oracle ACSLS, IBM DAS/ACI, Microsoft Exchange Server, DB2, and Teradata.

In digital communications networks, packet processing refers to the wide variety of algorithms that are applied to a packet of data or information as it moves through the various network elements of a communications network. With the increased performance of network interfaces, there is a corresponding need for faster packet processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zorin OS</span> Linux distribution based on Ubuntu LTS

Zorin OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu with both free and paid versions. It uses a GNOME 3 and XFCE 4 desktop environment by default, although the desktop is heavily customized for users more familiar with Windows and macOS.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Barrelfish Operating System".
  2. Joseph L. Flatley (2009-09-29). "Microsoft unveils Barrelfish multi-core optimized OS". Engadget .
  3. Jeremy Kirk (2009-09-30). "Microsoft 'Barrelfish' OS will speed multicore systems". InfoWorld .
  4. Jason Mick (2009-09-28). "Microsoft Unveils "Barrelfish", a New Multi-core OS". DailyTech . Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  5. Mary Jo Foley (2009-09-25). "Microsoft and European researchers deliver a snapshot of multikernel 'Barrelfish' OS". ZDNet .
  6. Julie Bort (2009-09-24). "Microsoft, researchers release new operating system project: Barrelfish". Network World .
  7. Roni Häcki (2018-02-23). "New Barrelfish Release". Barrelfish-users (Mailing list).
  8. Lukas Humbel (2018-10-04). "New Barrelfish Release". Barrelfish-users (Mailing list).
  9. Lukas Humbel (2020-03-23). "New Barrelfish Release". Barrelfish-users (Mailing list).

Further reading