Definition
Monolithic Kernel
A monolithic kernel is an OS architecture where the entire kernel executes as a single process in kernel mode. All OS services (file system, device drivers, memory management) share the same address space. Any procedure can call any other, resulting in high performance but increased complexity.
Properties
Efficiency
Fast communication between components via simple function calls rather than message passing.
Complexity
Lack of internal boundaries makes the code harder to maintain as the system grows.
Vulnerability
A bug in any component (e.g., device driver) can crash the entire OS, as everything runs at the same privilege level.