Sri Vidya College of Engineering & Technology Question Bank

UNIT I OPERATING SYSTEM OVERVIEW

PART – A
1.Define operating system? Listout the functions of operating system
An operating system is a program that manages the computer hardware. It act as an
intermediate between a users of a computer and the computer hardware. It controls and
coordinates the use of the hardware among the various application programs for the various
users.
Functions of OS:

Program execution

I/O operations

File-system manipulation

Communications

Resource allocation

Protection

2. What is the kernel?

A more common definition is that the OS is the one program running at all times on the
computer ,usually called the kernel, with all else being application programs.

3. What are batch systems?

Batch systems are quite appropriate for executing large jobs that need little interaction. The
user can submit jobs and return later for the results. It is not necessary to wait while the job is
processed.

4. Mention the advantages in using multiprogramming systems.


Multiprogramming makes efficient use of the CPU by overlapping the demands for the
CPU and its I/O devices from various users.

It attempts to increase CPU utilization by always having something for the CPU to
execute.

Increased throughput.

Lower response time.

5. What is graceful degradation?

In multiprocessor systems, failure of one processor will not halt the system, but only slow it
down by sharing the work of failure system by other systems. This ability to continue
providing service is proportional to the surviving hardware is called graceful degradation.

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6) Differentiate tightly coupled systems and loosely coupled systems?

Loosely coupled systems Tightly coupled systems

Each processor has its own local memory Common memory is shared by many processors
No need of any special communication lines
Each processor can communicate with other
all

7. What is real time system?

A real time system has well defined, fixed time constraints. Processing must be done within the
defined constraints, or the system will fail. It is often used as a control device in a dedicated
application.

8. What are privileged instructions?

Some of the machine instructions that may cause harm to a system are designated as privileged
instructions. The hardware allows the privileged instructions to be executed only in monitor
mode.

9. What do you mean by system calls and categories of system calls?

A system call is how a program requests a service from an operating system's kernel. This may
include hardware related services (e.g. accessing the hard disk), creating and executing new
processes, and communicating with integral kernel services (like scheduling).
System calls provide the interface between a process and the operating system. When a system
call is executed, it is treated as by the hardware as software interrupt.These calls are generally
available as assembly-language instructions.

10. What are various objectives and functions of the Operating System? (OR) What is the
main purpose of an OS?
a) It acts as an intermediately between a user of a computer and the computer hardware
b) It controls and coordinates the use of the hardware among the various application
programs for the various users.
c) It provides the means for the proper use of hardware, software and the data in the
operation of a computer system.
Functions of OS:

Program execution

I/O operations

File-system manipulation

Communications

Resource allocation

Protection

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11. What is the function of system program? Write the name of the categories in which
the system programs can be divided.
System programs provide a convenient environment for program development and execution.
System programs provide basic functioning to users so that they do not need to write their own
environment for program development (editors, compilers) and program execution (shells)
Functions:- Loading, linking, compiling etc.

Categories:-

File management

Status information

File modification

Programming-language support

Program loading and execution

Communications
12. Define schedulers.
A process migrates between the various scheduling queues through out its life time. The OS must
select processes from these queues in some fashion. This selection process is carried out by a
scheduler.

13. What are the use of job queues, ready queues and device queues?
As a process enters a system they are put in to a job queue. These queues consist of all jobs in
the system. The processes that are residing in main memory and are ready and waiting to
execute are kept on a list called ready queue. The list of processes waiting for particular I/O
devices kept in the device queue.

14. What is meant by context switch?

Switching the CPU to another process requires saving the state of the old process and loading
the saved state for the new process. This task is known as context switch.

15. How can a user program disturb the normal operation of the system?

Issuing illegal I/O operation.

By accessing memory locations with in the OS itself.

Refusing to relinquish the CPU.

16. State the advantage of multiprocessor system.


Increased throughput.

Economy of scale.

Increased reliability.

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17. What does the CPU do when there are no user programs to run?
The CPU will always do processing. Even though there are no application programs running, the
operating system is still running and the CPU will still have to process.

18. Describe the actions taken by a kernel to context-switch between processes.

In general, the operating system must save the state of the currently running process and restore
the state of the process scheduled to be run next. Saving the state of a process typically includes
the values of all the CPU registers in addition to memory allocation. Context switches must also
perform many architecture-specific operations, including flushing data and instruction caches.

19. What are CPU interrupt request lines?

Two interrupt request lines.
Non-maskable interrupt: which is reserved for events such as unrecoverable memory errors.
maskable:it can be turned off by the CPU before the execution of critical instruction sequences
that must not be interrupted. The maskable interrupt is used by device controllers to request
service.

20.What is interrupt chaining?

It is used to solve the problem of interrupt vector. Each element in the interrupt vector points to
the head of a list of interrupt handlers. When an interrupt is raised, the handlers on the
corresponding list are called one by one, until one is found that can service the request. This
structure is a compromise between the overhead of a huge interrupt table and the inefficiency of
dispatching to a single interrupt handler.

21.What is the use of cache memory?

The data most recently accessed by the process populate the cache for the processor. As a result,
successive memory accesses by the process are often satisfied in cache memory.

22. What is multicore processor?

Hardware has been to place multiple processor cores on the same physical chip, resulting in a
multicore processor. Each core maintains its architectural state and thus appears to the operating
system to be a separate physical processor.

23. What is memory stall?

Researchers have discovered that when a processor accesses memory, it spends a significant
amount of time waiting for the data to become available. This situation, known as a memory
stall, may occur for various reasons, such as a cache miss.

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PART B
1) Explain Operating System Structure and components.
2) (i) Discuss multiprocessor systems in detail.
(ii) Explain the purpose and importance of system calls in detail with examples.
3) Explain in detail the types of system calls provided by a typical operating system.
4) Explain the purpose of system calls and discuss the calls related to device management
and communications in brief.
5) Write notes on handheld system and clustered system.
6) Explain the concepts of virtual machines, their implementation and benefits in details.
7) Write short notes on operating system services and components.
8) Write in detail about the real time system and multiprocessor system.

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UNIT II - PROCESS MANAGEMENT

PART – A
1) What is a process?
A process is a program in execution. It is an active entity and it includes the process stack,
containing temporary data and the data section contains global variables.
2) What is PCB? Specify the information maintained in it.
Each process is represented in the OS by a process control block or task control block. The PCB
serves as the repository for any information that may vary from process to process.
It contains many pieces of information associated with a specific process:
 Process state
 Program counter
 CPU registers
 CPU-scheduling information
 Memory-management information
 Accounting Information
 I/O status information
3) What are process state?
 New
 Running
 Waiting
 Ready
 Terminated
4) What is independent process?
A process is independent it cannot affect Or be affected by the other processes executing in the
system. Any process does not share data with other process is a independent process.
5) What is co-operative process?
A process is co-operating if it can a f f e c t or be affected by the other processes executing
in the system. Any process that share data with other process is a co-operating process.
6) What are the benefits of co-operating process?
a. Information sharing.
b. Computations speed up.

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c. Modularity.
d. Convenience.
7) What is the use of inter process communication?
Inter process communication provides a mechanism to allow the co-operating process to
communicate with each other and synchronies their actions without sharing the same address
space. It is provided a message passing system.
8) Define thread.
A thread otherwise called a lightweight process (LWP) is a basic unit of CPU utilization, it
comprises of a thread id, a program counter, a register set and a stack. It shares with other
threads belonging to the same process its code section, data section, and operating system
resources such as open files and signals.
9) Differentiate a Thread form a Process.
a. Threads
 Will by default share memory
 Will share file descriptors
 Will share file system context
 Will share signal handling
Processes
 Will by default not share memory
 Most file descriptors not shared
 Don't share file system context
 Don't share signal handling

10) What are the benefits of multithreaded programming?

The benefits of multithreaded programming can be broken down into four major categories:
• Responsiveness
• Resource sharing
• Economy
• Utilization of multiprocessor architectures

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11) What are the difference b/w user level threads and kernel level threads?
User threads
User threads are supported above the kernel and are implemented by a thread library at the user
level. Thread creation & scheduling are done in the user space, without kernel intervention.
Therefore they are fast to create and manage blocking system call will cause the entire process to
block
Kernel threads
Kernel threads are supported directly by the operating system .Thread creation, scheduling and
management are done by the operating system. Therefore they are slower to create & manage
compared to user threads. If the thread performs a blocking system call, the kernel can schedule
another thread in the application for execution
12) What is the use of fork and exec system calls?
Fork is a system call by which a new process is created. Exec is also a system call, which is used
after a fork by one of the two processes to place the process memory space with a new program.
13) Define thread cancellation & target thread.
The thread cancellation is the task of terminating a thread before it has completed. A thread that
is to be cancelled is often referred to as the target thread. For example, if multiple threads are
concurrently searching through a database and one thread returns the result, the remaining
threads might be cancelled.
14) What are the different ways in which a thread can be cancelled?
Cancellation of a target thread may occur in two different scenarios:
Asynchronous cancellation: One thread immediately terminates the target thread is called
asynchronous cancellation.
Deferred cancellation: The target thread can periodically check if it should terminate, allowing
the target thread an opportunity to terminate itself in an orderly fashion.
15) Define PThreads
PThreads refers to the POSIX standard defining an API for thread creation and synchronization.
This is a specification for thread behavior, not an implementation.
16) What is critical section problem?
Consider a system consists of 'n' processes. Each process has segment of code called a critical
section, in which the process may be changing common variables, updating a table, writing a

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file. When one process is executing in its critical section, no other process can be allowed to
execute in its critical section.
17) What are the requirements that a solution to the critical section problem must
satisfy?
The three requirements are
 Mutual exclusion
 Progress
 Bounded waiting
18) Define mutual exclusion.
Mutual exclusion refers to the requirement of ensuring that no two process or threads are in their
critical section at the same time. i.e. If process Pi is executing in its critical section, then no other
processes can be executing in their critical sections.
19) Define entry section and exit section.
The critical section problem is to design a protocol that the processes can use to cooperate.
Each process must request permission to enter its critical section.
 Entry Section: The section of the code implementing this request is the entry section.
 Exit Section: The section of the code following the critical section is an exit section.
The general structure:
do {
entry section
critical section
exit section
remainder section
} while(1);
20) Give two hardware instructions and their definitions which can be used for
implementing mutual exclusion.
TestAndSet
boolean TestAndSet (boolean &target)
{
boolean rv = target;
target = true;

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return rv;
}
Swap
void Swap (boolean &a, boolean &b)
{
boolean temp = a;
a = b;
b = temp;
}
21) What is semaphore? Mention its importance in operating system.
A semaphore 'S' is a synchronization tool which is an integer value that, apart from initialization,
is accessed only through two standard atomic operations; wait and signal.
Semaphores can be used to deal with the n-process critical section problem. It can be also used to
solve various Synchronization problems.
22) Define busy waiting and spinlock.
When a process is in its critical section, any other process that tries to enter its critical section
must loop continuously in the entry code. This is called as busy waiting and this type of
semaphore is also called a spinlock, because the process while waiting for the lock.
23) Show the mutual exclusion may be violated if the signal and wait operations are not
executed automatically
A wait operation atomically decrements the value associated with a semaphore. If two wait
operations are executed on a semaphore when its value is1, if the two operations are not
performed atomically, then it is possible that both operations might proceed to decrement the
semaphore value, thereby violating mutual exclusion
24) Define CPU scheduling.
CPU scheduling is the process of switching the CPU among various processes. CPU scheduling
is the basis of multiprogrammed operating systems. By switching the CPU among processes, the
operating system can make the computer more productive.
25) What is preemptive and nonpreemptive scheduling?
Under nonpreemptive scheduling once the CPU has been allocated to a process, the process
keeps the CPU until it releases the CPU either by terminating or switching to the waiting state.

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Preemptive scheduling can preempt a process which is utilizing the CPU in between its
execution and give the CPU to another process.
26) What is a Dispatcher?
The dispatcher is the module that gives control of the CPU to the process selected by the short-
term scheduler. This function involves:
 Switching context.
 Switching to user mode.
 Jumping to the proper location in the user program to restart that program.
27) What is dispatch latency?
The time taken by the dispatcher to stop one process and start another running is known as
dispatch latency.
28) What are the various scheduling criteria for CPU scheduling?
The various scheduling criteria are
 CPU utilization
 Waiting time
 Throughput
 Response time
Turnaround time
29) Define throughput?
Throughput in CPU scheduling is the number of processes that are completed per unit time. For
long processes, this rate may be one process per hour; for short transactions, throughput might be
10 processes per second.
30) What is turnaround time?
Turnaround time is the interval from the time of submission to the time of completion of a
process. It is the sum of the periods spent waiting to get into memory, waiting in the ready
queue, executing on the CPU, and doing I/O.
31) Define race condition.
When several process access and manipulate same data concurrently, then the outcome of the
execution depends on particular order in which the access takes place is called race condition. To
avoid race condition, only one process at a time can manipulate the shared variable.

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32) Write the four situations under which CPU scheduling decisions take place
CPU scheduling decisions take place under one of four conditions:
 When a process switches from the running state to the waiting state, such as for an I/O
request or invocation of the wait( ) system call.
 When a process switches from the running state to the ready state, for example in
response to an interrupt.
 When a process switches from the waiting state to the ready state, say at completion of
I/O or a return from wait( ).
 When a process terminates.
33) Define deadlock.
A process requests resources; if the resources are not available at that time, the process enters a
wait state. Waiting processes may never again change state, because the resources they have
requested are held by other waiting processes. This situation is called a deadlock.

34) What is the sequence in which resources may be utilized?

Under normal mode of operation, a process may utilize a resource in the following sequence:
 Request: If the request cannot be granted immediately, then the requesting process must
wait until it can acquire the resource.
 Use: The process can operate on the resource.
 Release: The process releases the resource.
35) What are conditions under which a deadlock situation may arise?
A deadlock situation can arise if the following four conditions hold simultaneously in a system:
a. Mutual exclusion
b. No pre-emption
c. Hold and wait
d. Circular wait
36) What is a resource-allocation graph?
Resource allocation graph is directed graph which is used to describe deadlocks. This graph
consists of a set of vertices V and a set of edges E. The set of vertices V is partitioned into two
different types of nodes; P the set consisting of all active processes in the system and R the set
consisting of all resource types in the system.

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37) Define request edge and assignment edge.

A directed edge from process Pi to resource type Rj (denoted by Pi → Rj) is called as request
edge; it signifies that process Pi requested an instance of resource type Rj and is currently
waiting for that resource.
A directed edge from resource type Rj to process Pi (denoted by Rj → Pi) is called an
assignment edge; it signifies that an instance of resource type has been allocated to a process Pi.
38) What are the methods for handling deadlocks?
1) Use a protocol to prevent or avoid deadlocks, ensuring that the system will never enter a
deadlock state.
2) Allow the system to enter the deadlock state, detect it and then recover.
3) Ignore the problem all together, and pretend that deadlocks never occur in the system.
39) Define deadlock prevention.
Deadlock prevention is a set of methods for ensuring that at least one of the four necessary
conditions like mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption and circular wait cannot hold. By
ensuring that that at least one of these conditions cannot hold, the occurrence of a deadlock can
be prevented.
40) Define deadlock avoidance.
An alternative method for avoiding deadlocks is to require additional information about how
resources are to be requested. Each request requires the system consider the resources currently
available, the resources currently allocated to each process, and the future requests and releases
of each process, to decide whether the could be satisfied or must wait to avoid a possible future
deadlock.
41) What are a safe state and an unsafe state?
A state is safe if the system can allocate resources to each process in some order and still avoid a
deadlock. A system is in safe state only if there exists a safe sequence. A sequence of processes
<P1,P2,....Pn> is a safe sequence for the current allocation state if, for each Pi, the resource that
Pi can still request can be satisfied by the current available resource plus the resource held by all
the Pj, with j<i. if no such sequence exists, then the system state is said to be unsafe.
42) How real-time Scheduling does differs from normal scheduling?
In a normal Scheduling, we have two types of processes. User process & kernel Process. Kernel
processes have time constraints. However, user processes do not have time constraints.

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In a RTOS, all process are Kernel process & hence time constraints should be strictly followed.
All process/task (can be used interchangeably) are based on priority and time constraints are
important for the system to run correctly.
43) What do you meant by short term scheduler
The selection process is carried out by the short term scheduler or CPU scheduler. The
scheduler selects the process form the process in memory that is ready to execute and allocates
the CPU to the process
44) What is banker’s algorithm?
Banker’s algorithm is a deadlock avoidance algorithm that is applicable to a resource-allocation
system with multiple instances of each resource type. The two algorithms used for its
implementation are:
a. Safety algorithm: The algorithm for finding out whether or not a system is in a safe state.
b. Resource-request algorithm: if the resulting resource allocation is safe, the transaction is
completed and process Pi is allocated its resources. If the new state is unsafe Pi must wait and
the old resource-allocation state is restored.

PART-B

1) (i) Explain the various scheduling criteria in evaluating scheduling algorithms.

(ii) Explain the FCFS, preemptive and non-preemptive versions of Shortest-Job First and
Round Robin (time slice = 2) scheduling algorithms with Gantt charts for the four processes
given. Compare their average turnaround and waiting time.
Process Arrival Time Waiting Time
P1 0 8
P2 1 4
P3 2 9
P4 3 5

2) Discuss how scheduling algorithms are selected for a system.What are the criteria
considered? Explain the different evaluation Methods.
3) Discuss the different techniques used for evaluating CPU scheduling algorithms in detail.

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4) Write in detail about several CPU scheduling algorithms.

5) What is critical section? Specify the requirements for a solution to critical section
problem.
6) Write in detail about Semaphores.
7) Discuss the issues in multiprocessor and real-time scheduling?
8) Explain remote procedure call method.
9) Explain the algorithmic evaluation in CPU scheduling
10) How monitors help in process synchronization.
11) Explain the safe and unsafe states in deadlocks.
12) Write in detail about deadlock handling.
13) Write in detail about deadlock avoidance.
14) Write in detail about deadlock prevention.
15) Write in detail about deadlock recovery.
16) Explain the Banker algorithm for deadlock avoidance in detail.
17) Explain the RAG representation in deadlock detection.
18) Explain the various algorithms to achieve mutual exclusion.
19) Explain in detail how semaphores and monitors are used to solve producer consumer
problem.
20) Consider the following set of processes, with the length of the CPU – burst time given in
milliseconds
Process Burst Time Priority
P1 10 3
P2 1 1
P3 2 3
P4 1 4
P5 5 2
The processes are arrived in the order P1, P2,P3,P4,P5, all at time 0.
Draw 4 Gantt charts illustrating the execution of these processes using FCFS, SJF Priority and
RR (Time Slice = 1) scheduling
What is the turnaround time of each process for each of the scheduling?
Calculate the waiting time for each of the process

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21) Consider the following questions based on the banker’s algorithm:

Allocation Max Available
P0 ABCD ABCD ABCD
P1 0012 0012 1520
P2 1000 1750
P3 1354 2356
P4 0632 0652
P5 0014 0656
 Define safety algorithm.
 What is the content of the matrix Need?
 Is the system in a safe state?
 If a request fr4om process P! arrives for (0,4,2,0), can the request be granted
immediately?
22) (i) What is meant by critical section problem? Propose a solution based on bakery
algorithm.
(ii) Consider the following snapshot of a system:
P0 – P4 are 5 processes present and A, B, C, D are the resources. The maximum need of a
Process and the allocated resources details are given in the table.
Answer the following based on banker’s algorithm.
(1) What is the content of NEED matrix?
(2) Is the system in a safe state?
(3) If a request from process P0 arrives for (0, 2, 0) can the request be granted immediately.
Allocation Max Available
A B C A B C A B C
P0 0 1 0 7 5 3 3 3 2
P1 2 0 0 3 2 2
P2 3 0 2 9 0 2
P3 2 1 1 2 2 2
P4 0 0 2 4 3 3
23) Describe in detail about reader s and writers problem and dining philosopher problem.
24) Explain the thread model in Solaris 2.

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25) Explain the sleeping barber’s problem in inter-process communication.

26) Write about the common types of thread implementation.
27) Discuss the threading issues which are considered with multithreaded programs.

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UNIT III STORAGE MANAGEMENT

PART-A
1) Define logical address and physical address.
An address generated by the CPU is referred as logical address. An address seen by the memory
unit that is the one loaded into the memory address register of the memory is commonly referred
to as physical address.

2) What is logical address space and physical address space?

The set of all logical addresses generated by a program is called a logical address space; the set
of all physical addresses corresponding to these logical addresses is a physical address space.

3) What is the main function of the memory-management unit?

The runtime mapping from virtual to physical addresses is done by a hardware device called a
memory management unit (MMU).

4) Define dynamic loading.

To obtain better memory-space utilization dynamic loading is used. With dynamic loading, a
routine is not loaded until it is called. All routines are kept on disk in a relocatable load format.
The main program is loaded into memory and executed. If the routine needs another routine, the
calling routine checks whether the routine has been loaded. If not, the relocatable linking loader
is called to load the desired program into memory.

5) Define dynamic linking.

Dynamic linking is similar to dynamic loading, rather that loading being postponed until
execution time, linking is postponed. This feature is usually used with system libraries, such as
language subroutine libraries. A stub is included in the image for each library-routine reference.
The stub is a small piece of code that indicates how to locate the appropriate memory-resident
library routine, or how to load the library if the routine is not already present.

6) What are overlays?

Compare swapping and overlays
To enable a process to be larger than the amount of memory allocated to it, overlays are used.
The idea of overlays is to keep in memory only those instructions and data that are needed at a
given time. When other instructions are needed, they are loaded into space occupied previously
by instructions that are no longer needed.

7) Define swapping.
A process needs to be in memory to be executed. However a process can be swapped temporarily
out of memory to a backing store and then brought back into memory for continued execution.
This process is called swapping.

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8) What are the common strategies to select a free hole from a set of available holes?
The most common strategies are
A. First fit B. Best fit C. Worst fit

9) What do you mean by best fit?

Best fit allocates the smallest hole that is big enough. The entire list has to be searched, unless it
is sorted by size. This strategy produces the smallest leftover hole.

10) What do you mean by first fit?

First fit allocates the first hole that is big enough. Searching can either start at the beginning of
the set of holes or where the previous first-fit search ended. Searching can be stopped as soon as
a free hole that is big enough is found.

11) What is virtual memory? Mention its advantages.

Virtual memory is a technique that allows the execution of processes that may not be completely
in memory. It is the separation of user logical memory from physical memory. This separation
provides an extremely large virtual memory, when only a smaller physical memory is available.
The main visible advantage of this scheme is that programs can be larger than physical memory.

12) Define Demand paging and write advantages.

Virtual memory is commonly implemented by demand paging. In demand paging, the pager
brings only those necessary pages into memory instead of swapping in a whole process. Thus it
avoids reading into memory pages that will not be used anyway, decreasing the swap time and
the amount of physical memory needed.

13) Define lazy swapper.

Rather than swapping the entire process into main memory, a lazy swapper is used. A lazy
swapper never swaps a page into memory unless that page will be needed.

14) What is a pure demand paging?

When starting execution of a process with no pages in memory, the operating system sets the
instruction pointer to the first instruction of the process, which is on a non-memory resident
page, the process immediately faults for the page. After this page is brought into memory, the
process continues to execute, faulting as necessary until every page that it needs is in memory.
At that point, it can execute with no more faults. This schema is pure demand paging.

15) Define effective access time.

Let p be the probability of a page fault (0£p£1). The value of p is expected to be close to 0; that
is, there will be only a few page faults. The effective access time is
Effective access time = (1-p) * ma + p* page fault time. ma : memory-access time

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16) Define secondary memory.

This memory holds those pages that are not present in main memory. The secondary memory is
usually a high speed disk. It is known as the swap device, and the section of the disk used for this
purpose is known as swap space.

17) What is the basic approach of page replacement?

If no frame is free is available, find one that is not currently being used and free it. A frame can
be freed by writing its contents to swap space, and changing the page table to indicate that the
page is no longer in memory.
Now the freed frame can be used to hold the page for which the process faulted.

18) What are the various page replacement algorithms used for page replacement?
 FIFO page replacement
 Optimal page replacement
 LRU page replacement
 LRU approximation page replacement
 Counting based page replacement
 Page buffering algorithm.
19) Differentiate between Global and Local page replacement algorithms.
Global Page Replacement Algorithm Local Page Replacement Algorithm

Allows a process to select a replacement frame Each process select form only its own set of
from the set of all frames, even if that frame is allocated frames
currently allocated to some other process

The number of frames allocated to a process can The number of frames allocated to a process
does
change since a process may happen to select only not change
frames allocated to other processes, thus
increasing the number of frames allocated to it

A process cannot control its own page-fault rate A process can control its own page-fault rate

20) Define thrashing and its causes.

Thrashing is the coincide of high page traffic and low CPU utilization.

21) What are the major problems to implement demand paging?

The two major problems to implement demand paging is developing
 Frame allocation algorithm
 Page replacement algorithm

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22) What is a reference string?

An algorithm is evaluated by running it on a particular string of memory references and
computing the number of page faults. The string of memory reference is called a reference string.

23) Differentiate a page from a segment.

In segmentation, the address space is typically divided into a preset number of segments like data
segment (read/write), code segment(read-only), stack(read/write) etc. And the programs are
divided into these segments accordingly. Logical addresses are represented as tuple
<segment, offset>. While with paging, the address space is divided into a sequence of fixed size
units called "pages". And logical addresses take the form of a tuple <page, offset>.

24) What is address binding?

The process of associating program instructions and data to physical memory addresses is called
address binding, or relocation.

25) What do mean by page fault?

A page fault is a trap to the software raised by the hardware when a program accesses a page that
is mapped in the virtual address space, but not loaded in physical memory. In the typical case the
operating system tries to handle the page fault by making the required page accessible at a
location in physical memory or terminates the program in the case of an illegal access.

26) Define TLB

Translation look-aside buffer, a table in the processors memory that contains information
about the pages in memory the processor has accessed recently
The TLB enables faster computing because it allows the address processing to take place
independent of the normal address-translation pipeline.

27) How do you limit the effects of thrashing?

To limit the effect of thrashing we can use local replacement algorithm. With Local replacement
algorithm, if the process starts thrashing, it cannot steal frames from another process and cause
the latter to thrash as well. The problem is not entirely solved.
Thus the effective access time will increase even for the process that is not thrashing.

28) Consider a logical address space of eight pages of 1024 words each, mapped onto a
physical memory of 32 frames. How many bits are there in the logical address and in the
physical address?

Logical Address: 13 bits

Physical Address: 15 bits

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29) What is the advantage of demand paging?

Decreases swap time and the amount of free physical memory, higher degree of
multiprogramming.

30) List the Benefits of paging and Segmentation.

Each of these techniques offer several benefits e.g., segmentation offers better security since the
segments are pre-defined and we can avoid spurious reads/writes at the time of address
translations etc.
On the other hand, paging helps reduce fragmentation and ensures better memory
management. So, most modern operating systems employ a combination of both these techniques
for their memory management.

31) What is internal fragmentation?

The memory that is internal to a partition but is not being used results in internal Fragmentation.

32) Difference between internal and external fragmentation(NOV/DEC 2013)

 When memory allocated to a process is slightly larger than the requested memory, space
at the end of a partition is unused and wasted. This wasted space within a partition is
called as internal fragmentation. When enough total memory space exists to satisfy a
request, but it is not contiguous; storage is fragmented into a large number of small holes.
This wasted space not allocated to any partition is called external fragmentation.
 Internal fragmentation is found in multiple fixed partition schemes where all the
partitions are of the same size. That is, physical memory is broken into fixed-sized
blocks. External fragmentation is found in multiple variable partition schemes. Instead of
dividing memory into a fixed set of partitions, an operating system can choose to allocate
to a process the exact amount of unused memory space it requires.

PART-B

1. (i) Describe the hierarchical paging technique for structuring page tables. (8)
(ii) Explain the concept of paging in detail with necessary diagrams. (8)
2. Write in detail about Segmentation
3. Write in detail about Segmentation with Paging.
4. Consider a logical-address space of eight pages of 1024 words each mapped onto a
physical memory of 32 frames.
a. How many bits are in the logical address?
b. How many bits are in the physical address?
5. Explain the use of a page table and give a brief account of how it is used.
6. Explain the segmentation with paging implemented in OS/2 32-bit IBM system. Describe
the following algorithms:

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a. First fit
b. Best Fit
c. Worst Fit
7. Explain in detail the segmentation scheme.
8. Write short notes on paging system.
9. Explain how paging supports virtual memory. With a neat diagram explain how logical
address is translated into physical address.
10. Write in detail about the contiguous memory storage
11. Explain the various address translation technique in paging
12. Explain the various address translation technique in segmentation
13. Explain the principles of segmented and paging implemented in memory with a diagram.
14. Explain the various page table structures in detail.
15. Write short notes on LRU, FIFO and clock replacement strategies?
16. Explain any four page replacement algorithms in detail?
17. Consider the following segment table:
Segment Base Length
a) 0 0219 600
b) 1 2300 14
c) 2 090 100
d) 3 1327 580
e) 4 1952 96

18. What are the physical addresses for the following logical addresses?
i. 0430
ii. 110
iii. 2500
iv. 400
v. 4112
19. Write short notes on non-contiguous memory management
20. What is thrashing? Explain the working set model in detail. (MAY/JUNE 2009)
21. Given memory partitions of 100KB, 500KB, 200KB, 300KB and 600KB(in order), how
would each of the first-fit, best-fit and worst-fit algorithms place processes of212KB,
417KB, 112KB and 426KB(in order)? Which algorithm makes the most efficient use of
memory?
22. (i) Explain in briefly and compare, fixed and dynamic memory partitioning shemes.

(ii) Explain FIFO, optimal and LRU page replacement algorithms with an example
reference strings. Mention the merits and demerits of each of the above algorithms.
23. Consider the following page reference string 1,2,3,4,2,1,5,6,2,1,3,7,6,3,2,1,3,6.

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24. How many page faults would occur for the following replacement algorithms, assuming
one, two, three and four frames?
i) LRU replacement
ii) FIFO replacement
iii) Optimal replacement
25. (i) Consider the following page reference string: (4) 2, 1, 0, 3, 4, 0, 0, 0, 2, 4, 2, 1, 0, 3, 2.
 How many page faults would occur if the working set policy were used with a
window size of 4?
 Show when each page fault would occur clearly.
(ii) What is meant by thrashing? Discuss in detail. (12)
26. Explain the concept of demand paging in detail with neat diagram
27. Why are translation look-aside buffers important> Explain the details stored in a TLB
table entry?

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UNIT IV FILE SYSTEMS AND I/O SYSTEMS

Part A
1) What is a file?
A file is a named collection of related information that is recorded on secondary storage. A file
contains either programs or data. A file has certain "structure" based on its type.
2) List the various file attributes.
A file has certain other attributes, which vary from one operating system to another, but typically
consist of these:
 Name
 Identifier
 Type
 Location
 Size
 Protection
 Time
 Date
 user identification

3) What are the various file operations?

The six basic file operations are:
 Creating a file
 Writing a file
 Reading a file
 Repositioning within a file
 Deleting a file
 Truncating a file

4) What are the information associated with an open file?

Several pieces of information are associated with an open file which may be:
 File pointer
 File open count
 Disk location of the file
 Access rights

5) What are the different accessing methods of a file?

The different types of accessing a file are:
Sequential access: Information in the file is accessed sequentially
Direct access: Information in the file can be accessed without any particular order.
Other access methods: Creating index for the file, indexed sequential access method (ISAM)
etc.

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6) What is Directory?
The device directory or simply known as directory records information-such as name, location,
size, and type for all files on that particular partition. The directory can be viewed as a symbol
table that translates file names into their directory entries.

7) What are the operations that can be performed on a directory?

The operations that can be performed on a directory are
Search for a file Create a file Delete a file
Rename a file
List directory
Traverse the file system

8) What are the most common schemes for defining the logical structure of a
directory?
The most common schemes for defining the logical structure of directory
 Single-Level Directory
 Two-level Directory
 Tree-Structured Directories
 Acyclic-Graph Directories
 General Graph Directory

9) Define UFD and MFD.

In the two-level directory structure, each user has her own user file directory (UFD). Each UFD
has a similar structure, but lists only the files of a single user. When a job starts the system's
master file directory (MFD) is searched. The MFD is indexed by the user name or account
number, and each entry points to the UFD for that user.

10) What is a path name?

A pathname is the path from the root through all subdirectories to a specified file. In a two-level
directory structure a user name and a file name define a path name.

11) What are the various layers of a file system?

The file system is composed of many different levels. Each level in the design uses the feature of
the lower levels to create new features for use by higher levels.
b. Application programs
c. Logical file system
d. File-organization module
e. Basic file system
f. I/O control
g. Devices

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12) What are the structures used in file-system implementation? Define File Control
Block.
a. Several on-disk and in-memory structures are used to implement a file system
b. On-disk structure include
Boot control block
Partition block
Directory structure used to organize the files
File control block (FCB)
In-memory structure include
In-memory partition table
In-memory directory structure
System-wide open file table
Per-process open table

13) What are the functions of virtual file system (VFS)?

1. It separates file-system-generic operations from their implementation defining a clean
VFS interface. It allows transparent access to different types of file systems mounted locally.
2. VFS is based on a file representation structure, called a vnode. It contains a numerical
value for a network-wide unique file .The kernel maintains one vnode structure for each active
file or directory.

14) Define seek time and latency time.

The time taken by the head to move to the appropriate cylinder or track is called seek time. Once
the head is at right track, it must wait until the desired block rotates under the read-write head.
This delay is latency time.

15) What are the allocation methods of a disk space?

a. Methods of allocating disk space which are widely in use are
b. Contiguous allocation
c. Linked allocation
d. Indexed allocation

16) What are the advantages of Contiguous allocation?

The advantages are
• Supports direct access
• Supports sequential access
• Number of disk seeks is minimal.

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17) What are the drawbacks of contiguous allocation of disk space?

The disadvantages are
• Suffers from external fragmentation.
• Suffers from internal fragmentation.
• Difficulty in finding space for a new file.
• File cannot be extended.
• Size of the file is to be declared in advance.

18) What are the disadvantages of linked allocation?

The disadvantages are
1. Used only for sequential access of files.
2. Direct access is not supported.
3. Memory space required for the pointers.
4. Reliability is compromised if the pointers are lost or damaged

19) What are the advantages of Indexed allocation?

The advantages are
a. No external-fragmentation problems.
b. Solves the size-declaration problems.
c. Supports direct access.

20) How can the index blocks be implemented in the indexed allocation scheme?
The index block can be implemented as follows
1. Linked scheme
2. Multilevel scheme
3. Combined scheme

21) What is garbage collection?

Garbage Collection (GC) is a form of automatic memory management. The garbage collector, or
just collector, attempts to reclaim garbage, or memory occupied by objects that are no longer in
use by the program.

22) Mention the objectives of File Management System.

The system that an operating system or program uses to organize and keep track of files. For
example, a hierarchical file system is one that uses directories to organize files into a tree
structure.

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23) What is the content of a typical file control block?

File Control Block (FCB) is a file system structure in which the state of an open file is
maintained.
 File permissions
 File dates (create, access, write)
 File owner, group, ACL
 File size
 File data blocks

24) What are the two types of system directories?

Device directory, describing physical properties of files.
File directory, giving logical properties of the files.

25) What is meant by polling?

Polling is the process where the computer waits for an external device to check for its readiness.
The computer does not do anything else than checking the status of the device .Polling is often
used with low-level hardware. Example: when a printer connected via a parallel port the
computer waits until the next character has been received by the printer. These processes can be
as minute as only reading 1 Byte. Polling is the continuous (or frequent) checking by a
controlling device or process of other devices, processes, queues, etc.

26) State any three disadvantages of placing functionality in a device controller , rather
than in the kernel.
Three advantages:-
a.Bugs are less likely to cause an operating system crash.
b.Performance can be improved by utilizing dedicated hardware and hard-coded algorithms.
The kernel is simplified by moving algorithms out of it.
Three disadvantages:
a.Bugs are harder to fix - a new firmware version or new hardware is needed
b.Improving algorithms likewise require a hardware update rather than just kernel or device
driver update
c.Embedded algorithms could conflict with application’s use of the device, causing decreased
performance.

27) How free-space is managed using bit vector implementation?

The free-space list is implemented as a bit map or bit vector. Each block is represented by 1 bit.
If the block is free, the bit is 1; if the block is allocated, the bit is 0.

28) List the attributes of a file

Name, Identifier, Type, Location, Size, Protection, Time ,Date and User authentication.

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29) What are the information contained in a boot control block and partition control
block?
Boot control block:
Contain information needed by the system to boot an operating from that partition. If the disk
does not contain an operating system,this block can be empty.It is typically the first block of a
partition.In UFS, this is called the boot block.
Partition Control block:
Contains partition details , such as number of blocks in the partition , size of the blocks ,free
block count and free block pointers, and free FCB count and FCB pointers.
30) Define buffering.
A buffer is a memory area that stores data while they are transferred between two devices or
between a device and an application. Buffering is done for three reasons
a. To cope with a speed mismatch between the producer and consumer of a data stream
b. To adapt between devices that have different data transfer sizes
c. To support copy semantics for application I/O

31) Define caching.

A cache is a region of fast memory that holds copies of data. Access to the cached copy is more
efficient than access to the original. Caching and buffering are distinct functions, but sometimes
a region of memory can be used for both purposes.

32) Define spooling.

A spool is a buffer that holds output for a device, such as printer, that cannot accept interleaved
data streams. When an application finishes printing, the spooling system queues the
corresponding spool file for output to the printer. The spooling system copies the queued spool
files to the printer one at a time.

33) Define rotational latency and disk bandwidth.

 Rotational latency is the additional time waiting for the disk to rotate the desired sector to
the disk head.
 Disk bandwidth is the total number of bytes transferred, divided by the time between the
first request for service and the completion of the last transfer.

34) What are the various disk-scheduling algorithms?

The various disk-scheduling algorithms are
 First Come First Served Scheduling
 Shortest Seek Time First Scheduling
 SCAN Scheduling
 C-SCAN Scheduling
 LOOK scheduling

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35) What is the need for disk scheduling?

In operating systems, seek time is very important. Since all device requests are linked in queues,
the seek time is increased causing the system to slow down.
Disk Scheduling Algorithms are used to reduce the total seek time of any request.

36) What is low-level formatting?

Before a disk can store data, it must be divided into sectors that the disk controller can read and
write. This process is called low-level formatting or physical formatting. Low-level formatting
fills the disk with a special data structure for each sector. The data structure for a sector consists
of a header, a data area, and a trailer.

37) What is the use of boot block?

For a computer to start running when powered up or rebooted it needs to have an initial program
to run. This bootstrap program tends to be simple. It finds the operating system on the disk loads
that kernel into memory and jumps to an initial address to begin the operating system execution.
The full bootstrap program is stored in a partition called the boot blocks, at fixed location on the
disk. A disk that has boot partition is called boot disk or system disk.

38) What is sector sparing?

Low-level formatting also sets aside spare sectors not visible to the operating system. The
controller can be told to replace each bad sector logically with one of the spare sectors. This
scheme is known as sector sparing or forwarding.

39) What is seek time ?

Seek time: the time to position heads over a cylinder (~8 msec on average).

40) What is storage area networks?

A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block
level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape
libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally
attached devices to the operating system.

41) Write a brief note on RAID.

RAID (redundant array of independent disks; originally redundant array of inexpensive disks) is
a way of storing the same data in different places (thus, redundantly) on multiple hard disks. By
placing data on multiple disks, I/O (input/output) operations can overlap in a balanced way,
improving performance. Since multiple disks increases the mean time between failures (MTBF),
storing data redundantly also increases fault tolerance.

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42) What Characteristics determine the disk access speed?

• Seek time
• Rotational latency
• Other

43) Give the importance of Swap space Management.

Swap-space management: Swap-space management is low- level task of the operating system.
The main goal for the design and implementation of swap space is to provide the best throughput
for the virtual memory system.
Swap-space use: The operating system needs to release sufficient main memory to bring in a
process that is ready to execute. Operating system uses this swap space in various way. Paging
systems may simply store pages that have been pushed out of main memory. Unix operating
system allows the use of multiple swap spaces. These swap space are usually put on separate
disks, so the load placed on the I/O system by paging and swapping can be spread over the
systems I/O devices.
Swap-space location: Swap space can reside in two places:
1. Separate disk partition
2. Normal file system

44) Write three basic functions which are provided by the hardware clocks and timers.
• OSTickInit()
• OSTimeSet()
• OSTimeGet()

45) What are the advantages of Linked allocation?

The advantages are
 No external fragmentation.
 Size of the file does not need to be declared.

46) Define FAT

FAT is a much older file-system format that is understood by many systems besides Windows,
such as the software running on cameras. A disadvantage is that the FAT file system does not
restrict file access to authorized users. The only solution for securing data with FAT is to run an
application to encrypt the data before storing it on the file system.

47) What is Relative block number?

Relative block number is an index relative to the beginning of a file. Thus the 1st relative block
of the file is 0,the next is 1, and so on.

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48) What is double buffering?

OS can use various kinds of buffering:
 single buffering — OS assigns a system buffer to the user request
 double buffering — process consumes from one buffer while system fills the next
 circular buffers — most useful for bursty I/O

PART-B
1) Explain the different disk scheduling algorithms with examples.
2) Explain and compare FCFS, SSTF, C-SCAN and C-LOOK disk scheduling algorithms
with examples.
3) How do you choose a optimal technique among the various disk scheduling techniques?
Explain.
4) Write short notes on disk management.
5) Explain in detail the disk structure and implementation
6) Discuss how free space is managed by operating system?
7) Explain the process scheduling in Linux.
8) Write in detail the memory management in Linux.
9) Discuss in-detail the disk performance with suitable expressions.
10) Write short notes on swap space management.
11) Write short notes on file system in Linux.
12) Explain about the various components and salient features in Linux.
13) Write an elaborate note on RAID and RAID Levels.
14) Explain the file allocation methods.
15) i) Explain the issues in designing a file system. (8)
ii) Explain the various file directory structures. (8)

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UNIT V CASE STUDY

PART A
1. What are the components of a Linux System?
Linux system composed of three main modules . They are:
i) Kernel
ii) System libraries
iii) System utilities
2. What are the main supports for the Linux modules?
The Module support under Linux has three components. They are:
i) Module management
ii) Driver registration
iii) Conflict resolution mechanism.
3. Define shell.
A shell is a program that provides the traditional, text-only user interface for Linux and
other Unix-like operating systems. Its primary function is to read commands that are
typed into the console.
4. What is meant by kernel in Linux system?
Kernel is responsible for maintaining all the important abstractions of the operating
system including such things as virtual memory and processes.
5. What is meant by system Libraries?
System libraries define a standard set of functions through which applications can interact
with the kernel and that implement much of the operating-system functionality that
doesn’t need the full privileges of kernel code.
6. What is meant by system Utilities?
System Utilities are system programs that perform individual, specialized management
tasks. Some of the system utilities may be invoked just to initialize and configure some
aspect of the system and others may run permanently, handling such tasks as responding
to incoming network connections, accepting logon requests from terminals or updating
log files.

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7. What do you meant by process?

Process is the basic context within in which all user-requested activity is serviced with in
the OS.
8. What is meant by Process-ID
A PID is an acronym for process identification number on a Linux or Unix-like operating
system. A PID is automatically assigned to each process when it is created. A process is
nothing but running instance of a program and each process has a unique PID on a Unix-
like system.
9. What is meant by personality?
Process personality are primarily used by emulation libraries to request that system call
be compatible with certain version of UNIX
10. What is meant by buffer cache?
It is the kernel’s main cache for blocked-oriented devices such as disk drivers and is the
main mechanism through which I/O to these devices is performed.
11. What is the disadvantage of static linking?
The main disadvantage of static linking is that every program generated must contain
copies of exactly the same common system library functions.
12. What is the function of module management?
The module management allows modules to be loaded into memory and to talk to the rest
of the kernel.
13. What is the function of driver registration?
Driver registration allows modules to tell the rest of the kernel that a new driver has
become available.
14. What is the function of conflict resolution mechanism?
This mechanism allows different device drivers to reserve hardware resources and to
protect those resources from accidental use by another driver.
15. What is meant by device drivers?
Device drivers include i) character devices such as printers, terminals ii) Block devices
(including all disk drives) and network interface devices.
16. What is a character device?

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A device driver which does not offer random access to fixed blocks of data. A character
device driver must register a set of functions which implement the driver’s various file
I/O operations.
17. What is Mobile OS?
A mobile operating system (mobile OS) is an OS built exclusively for a mobile device,
such as a smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet or other embedded mobile
OS.
18. What is iOS?
iOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its
hardware. It is the operating system that presently powers many of the company's mobile
devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It is the second most popular mobile
operating system globally after Android.
19. List the services available in iOS.
i) Cocoa Touch
ii) Media layer
iii) Service layer
iv) Core OS layer
20. List the features of iOS.
i) System fonts
ii) Folders
iii) Notification center
iv) Accessibility
v) Multitasking
vi) Switching Applications
vii) Task completion
viii) Background audio
ix) Voice over IP
x) Background Location
xi) Push notification
21. List the advantages of iOS
 Best gaming experience.

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 A vast number of applications.

 Suits for business and gaming.
 Excellent UI and fluid responsive.
 The latest version has two notification menus.
 Excellent security.
 Multitasking.
 Jailbreaking for customization.
 Wearables are getting launched.
 Feel is awesome.
 Excellent for media entertainment.
 Multi-language support.
 Apple Pay Support.
 Quick settings in the notification bar.
22. List the disadvantages of iOS
 It has a review process, when developers want to publish an app they need to send
it to Apple for review that takes around 7 days and it takes even more in some
cases.
 Applications are very large when compared to other mobile platforms
 Using iOS are costly Apps and no widget support
 Battery performance is very poor on 3G
 Repair costs are very piracy
 Not flexible only supports iOS devices
23. List the advantages of Android
 Android Is More Customizable Can change almost anything.
 In Android, any new publication can be done easily and without any review
process
 Use a Different Messaging App for SMS
 Android Offers an Open Platform
 Easy access to the Android App Market
 Cost Effective

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 Upcoming versions have a support to save RAW images

 Built in Beta Testing and staged rollout

24. List the disadvantages of Android

 Need internet connection
 Advertising
 Wasteful memory
 Many application contain viruses
25. How are iOS and Android similar? How are they different?
Similarities: Both are based on existing kernel. Both have architecture that uses software
stacks. Both provide framework for developers
Difference: iOS is closed-source and Android is open source. iOS applications are
developed in objective C, Android in java. Android uses a virtual machine, and iOS
executes code natively.
26. Describe some challenges of designing OS for mobile device compared with
designing OS for traditional PC’s
 Less storage capacity means the OS must be manage memory
 Less processing power plus fewer processors mean the operating system carefully
apportion
 Processors to applications
Part B
1. Explain the basic concepts of the Linux system
2. Explain about kernel modules
3. Explain in detail about the process management in Linux
4. Explain in detail about the scheduling in Linux
5. Explain the iOS architecture and various layers available in iOS
6. Discuss about various services in the media layer
7. Discuss about various services in the iOS core OS layer
8. Discuss about various services in the iOS service OS layer

CS8493 - OPERATING SYSTEMS Page 5