Microkernels of Operating Systems

This thesis discusses the area of microkernel based operating systems. The first part is focused on the familiarization with the issue of the operating system kernel. This part contains the basic characteristics and mechanisms of the second generation microkernels represented by the microkernel L4, on which there is major focus in other parts of the thesis. Subsequently, there are described two different ports of the operating system Linux on top of L4 microkernel and those are L4Linux and Wombat. In the second part of the thesis, the method of the installation of the given ports is depicted and the main problems the author had to face. The third and forth part are focused on the issue of testing the performance of the installed systems. The methodology of chosen experiments is described and the meaning of the individual tests explained. The results, as well as their evaluation are stated in the forth part. If suitable, the gained results are compared with each other, or with the results gained from the Internet. In the last part, a short discussion is conducted based on the gained knowledge on the issue of the possibilities of microkernel application