What Is the Network Operating System and What Are the Types of It

What Is a Network Operating System

What is a network operating system? The abbreviation of it is NOS. The network operating system is the only operating system designed to support workstations, database sharing, application sharing, and file and printer access sharing among multiple computers on the network.

Some independent operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows NT and Digital’s OpenVMS, have multi-purpose functions and can also act as network operating systems. There are some famous network operating systems including Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Linux, and Mac OSX.

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Functions of the Network Operating System

The network operating system mainly runs on a powerful computer that runs a server program. It improves the security and functionality of management data, users, groups, applications, and other network functions. The main purpose of it is to allow multiple users to share files and resources via the network.

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The network operating system is not transparent in nature. Workstations connected in the network know the diversity of network equipment. The network operating system can distribute its tasks and functions among the connected nodes in the network, thereby improving the overall performance of the system.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Network Operating System

Now, let’s see the advantages and disadvantages of the network operating system.

Advantages

• New technology and hardware upgrades can be easily integrated into the system.
• The server can be accessed remotely from different locations and types of systems.
• The centralized server is very stable.
• Security is managed by the server.

Disadvantages

• Most operations depend on the central location.
• The cost of buying and running servers is high.
• It needs regular maintenance and updates.

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Types of the Network Operating System

There are mainly two types of network operating system – peer-to-peer and client-server. The following is detailed information about them.

Peer-to-Peer

A peer-to-peer network operating system is an operating system in which all nodes are equal to each other in function and operation. All nodes have their own local memory and resources. They can use the network operating system to connect and communicate with each other. They can also share data and resources with each other.

A node can also communicate with remote nodes in the network by using the authentication function of the network OS and share data and resources.

Advantages

• It is fast and easy to share information and resources.
• It is easy to install and set up.
• It doesn’t need special software.

Disadvantages

• It is less secure.
• It does not have backup functionalities.
• Ther is no centralized storage system.
• There is no centralized management.
• The performance of autonomous computers may not be so good when sharing some resources.

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Client-Server

The client-server network operating system runs with a single server and multiple client computers in the network. The client operating system runs on the client computer, while the network operating system is installed on the server computer. The server computer is the central hub of all client computers.

Advantages

• It has a backup facility for lost data.
• It has better reliability and performance.
• It has centralized control and administration.
• The shared data and resources can be accessed concurrently by multiple clients.

Disadvantages

• The setup cost is very high.
• There is a need for an administrator to administer the network.
• There may be network failure, in case of central server failure.
• A huge amount of client requests may overload the server.
• There is a requirement of specialized software for client and server machines to function properly.

Final Words

Read here, you may have an overall understanding of the network operating system. Hope the above information can be helpful for you. Here comes the end of the post.