Operating System Analsys

Operating System Analysis

There are many operating system used on the internet today. In the 1950's computer could only handle one command at a time and was not very user friendly. Today we have computer OS's that can handle multiple applications at one time, faster, and user friendly. While there are many operating systems out there, there are just a few that are very popular. Some of the most used and popular operating systems used are the Windows platforms like Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008, Sun Solaris, Suse and Ubuntu Linux, Apple, and the Apache Linux Server.

DNS (Domain Name System) is what powers the internet that we browse. This server is responsible for turning name of internet sites to IP address, and locating them on the hosting system or the company like GoDaddy.com. You can always bypass DNS by entering the IP address of the site you want, but then you would have to remember the IP address of all sites, and that would take a lot of paper. "Without DNS servers, the Internet would shut down very quickly. But how does your computer know what DNS server to use? Typically, when you connect to your home network, Internet service provider (ISP) or WiFi network, the modem or router that assigns your computer's network address also sends some important network configuration information to your computer or mobile device. That configuration includes one or more DNS servers that the device should use when translating DNS names to IP address." (HowStuffWorks, 2000)

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a network protocol that will allow a server to dispense an IP address to a computer on the network from a pool of IP addresses. Using DHCP to assign an IP address to a computer minimizes any IP conflict on the network. "DHCP enables this entire process to be automated and managed centrally. The DHCP server maintains a pool of IP addresses and leases an address to any DHCP-enabled client when it starts up on the network. Because the IP addresses are dynamic (leased) rather than static (permanently assigned), addresses no longer in use are automatically returned to the pool for reallocation." (Microsoft "What is DHCP", 2003)

IIS (Internet Information Server) and Linux Apache Servers are well known for website hosting. Windows uses the IIS 6 or IIS 7 depending on the server. Windows Server 2003 uses IIS 6 and Windows Server 2008 uses IIS 7. (Microsoft 2012)

Linux uses a server called Apache which freely available to any user and the source code is freely distributed on the internet for anyone to modify. The original Apache servers core development was performed by a group of about 20 volunteer programmers, called the Apache Group. (Webopedia 2012)

Windows platform uses the IIS for hosting website for anyone wanting a website, and can house what we look at every day on