Top 50 Operating System Interview

Questions

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1) Explain the main purpose of an operating system?

Operating systems exist for two main purposes. One is that

it is designed to make sure a computer system performs
well by managing its computational activities. Another is
that it provides an environment for the development and
execution of programs.

2) What is demand paging?

Demand paging is a system wherein area of memory that

are not currently being used are swapped to disk to make
room for an application’s need.

3) What are the advantages of a multiprocessor system?

With an increased number of processors, there is

considerable increase in throughput. It can also save more
money because they can share resources. Finally, overall
reliability is increased as well.
4) What is kernel?

Kernel is the core of every operating system. It connects

applications to the actual processing of data. It also
manages all communications between software and
hardware components to ensure usability and reliability.

5) What are real-time systems?

Real-time systems are used when rigid time requirements

have been placed on the operation of a processor. It has
well defined and fixed time constraints.

6) What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory is a memory management technique for

letting processes execute outside of memory. This is very
useful especially is an executing program cannot fit in the
physical memory.

7) Describe the objective of multiprogramming.

The main objective of multiprogramming is to have process

running at all times. With this design, CPU utilization is said
to be maximized.

8 ) What are time sharing systems?

In a Time sharing system, the CPU executes multiple jobs by

switching among them, also known as multitasking. This
process happens so fast that users can actually interact
with each program while it is running.

9) What is SMP?

SMP is short for Symmetric MultiProcessing, and is the most

common type of multiple-processor systems. In this system,
each processor runs an identical copy of the operating
system, and these copies communicate with one another as
needed.

10) How are server systems classified?

Server systems can be classified as either computer-server

systems or file server systems. In the first case, an interface
is made available for clients to send requests to perform an
action. In the second case, provisions are available for
clients to create, access and update files.

11) What is asymmetric clustering?

In asymmetric clustering, a machine is in a state known as
hot standby mode where it does nothing but to monitor the
active server. That machine takes the active server’s role
should the server fails.

12) What is a thread?

A thread is a basic unit of CPU utilization. In general, a

thread is composed of a thread ID, program counter,
register set and the stack.

13) Give some benefits of multithreaded programming.

– there is an increased responsiveness to the user

– resource sharing within the process
– economy
– utilization of multiprocessing architecture

14) Briefly explain FCFS.

FCFS is short for First-come, first-served, and is one type of

scheduling algorithm. In this scheme, the process that
requests the CPU first is allocated the CPU first.
Implementation is managed by a FIFO queue.

15) What is RR scheduling algorithm?

RR (round-robin) scheduling algorithm is primarily aimed

for time-sharing systems. A circular queue is setup in such a
way that the CPU scheduler goes around that queue,
allocating CPU to each process for a time interval of up to
around 10 to 100 milliseconds.

16) What necessary conditions can lead to a deadlock

situation in a system?

Deadlock situations occur when four conditions occur

simultaneously in a system: Mutual exclusion; Hold and
Wait; No preemption; and Circular wait.

17) Enumerate the different RAID levels.

RAID 0 – Non-redundant striping

RAID 1 – Mirrored Disks
RAID 2 – Memory-style error-correcting codes
RAID 3 – Bit-interleaved Parity
RAID 4 – Block-interleaved Parity
RAID 5 – Block-interleaved distributed Parity
RAID 6 – P+Q Redundancy
18) Describe Banker’s algorithm

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Bankers Algorithm

Banker’s algorithm is one form of deadlock-avoidance in a

system. It gets its name from a banking system wherein the
bank never allocates available cash in such a way that it can
no longer satisfy the needs of all of its customers.

19) What factors determine whether a detection-

algorithm must be utilized in a deadlock avoidance
system?

One is that it depends on how often a deadlock is likely to

occur under the implementation of this algorithm. The
other has to do with how many processes will be affected
by deadlock when this algorithm is applied.

20) Differentiate logical from physical address space.

Logical address refers to the address that is generated by

the CPU. On the other hand, physical address refers to the
address that is seen by the memory unit.

21) How does dynamic loading aid in better memory

space utilization?

With dynamic loading, a routine is not loaded until it is

called. This method is especially useful when large amounts
of code are needed in order to handle infrequently
occurring cases such as error routines.

22) What are overlays?

Overlays are used to enable a process to be larger than the

amount of memory allocated to it. The basic idea of this is
that only instructions and data that are needed at any given
time are kept in memory.

23) What is the basic function of paging?

Paging is a memory management scheme that permits the

physical-address space of a process to be noncontiguous. It
avoids the considerable problem of having to fit varied
sized memory chunks onto the backing store.

24) What is fragmentation?

Fragmentation is memory wasted. It can be internal if we

are dealing with systems that have fixed-sized allocation
units, or external if we are dealing with systems that have
variable-sized allocation units.

25) How does swapping result in better memory

management?

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During regular intervals that are set by the operating

system, processes can be copied from main memory to a
backing store, and then copied back later. Swapping allows
more processes to be run that can fit into memory at one
time.

26) Give an example of a Process State.

– New State – means a process is being created

– Running – means instructions are being executed
– Waiting – means a process is waiting for certain conditions
or events to occur
– Ready – means a process is waiting for an instruction from
the main processor
– Terminate – means a process is done executing

27) What is a socket?

A socket provides a connection between two applications.

Each endpoint of a communication is a socket.

28) What is Direct Access Method?

Direct Access method is based on a disk model of a file,

such that it is viewed as a numbered sequence of blocks or
records. It allows arbitrary blocks to be read or written.
Direct access is advantageous when accessing large
amounts of information.

29) When does trashing occur?

Trashing refers to an instance of high paging activity. This

happens when it is spending more time paging instead of
executing.

30) What is the best page size when designing an

operating system?

The best paging size varies from system to system, so there

is no single best when it comes to page size. There are
different factors to consider in order to come up with a
suitable page size, such as page table, paging time, and its
effect on the overall efficiency of the operating system.

31) When designing the file structure for an operating

system, what attributes are considered?

Typically, the different attributes for a file structure are

naming, identifier, supported file types, and location for the
files, size, and level of protection.

32) What is root partition?

Root partition is where the operating system kernel is

located. It also contains other potentially important system
files that are mounted during boot time.

33) What are device drivers?

Device drivers provides a standard means of representing

I/O devices that maybe manufactured by different
companies. This prevents conflicts whenever such devices
are incorporated in a systems unit.
34) What are the primary functions of VFS?

VFS, or Virtual File System, separates file system generic

operations from their implementation by defining a clean
VFS interface. It is also based on a file-representation
structure known as vnode, which contains a numerical
designator needed to support network file systems.

35) What are the different types of CPU registers in a

typical operating system design?

– Accumulators
– Index Registers
– Stack Pointer
– General Purpose Registers

36) What is the purpose of an I/O status information?

I/O status information provides info about which I/O

devices are to be allocated for a particular process. It also
shows which files are opened, and other I/O device state.

37) What is multitasking?

Multitasking is the process within an operating system that

allows the user to run several applications at the same
time. However, only one application is active at a time for
user interaction, although some applications can run
“behind the scene”.

38) What are some pros and cons of a command line

interface?

A command line interface allows the user to type in

commands that can immediately provide results. Many
seasoned computer users are well accustomed to using the
command line because they find it quicker and simpler. The
main problem with a command line interface is that users
have to be familiar with the commands, including the
switches and parameters that come with it. This is a
downside for people who are not fond of memorizing
commands.

39) What is caching?

Caching is the processing of utilizing a region of fast

memory for a limited data and process. A cache memory is
usually much efficient because of its high access speed.
40) What is spooling?

Spooling is normally associated with printing. When

different applications want to send an output to the printer
at the same time, spooling takes all of these print jobs into
a disk file and queues them accordingly to the printer.

41) What is an Assembler?

An assembler acts as a translator for low level language.

Assembly codes, written using mnemonic commands are
translated by the Assembler into machine language.

42) What are interrupts?

Interrupts are part of a hardware mechanism that sends a

notification to the CPU when it wants to gain access to a
particular resource. An interrupt handler receives this
interrupt signal and “tells” the processor to take action
based on the interrupt request.

43) What is GUI?

GUI is short for Graphical User Interface. It provides users

with an interface wherein actions can be performed by
interacting with icons and graphical symbols. People find it
easier to interact with the computer when in a GUI
especially when using the mouse. Instead of having to
remember and type commands, users just click on buttons
to perform a process.

44) What is preemptive multitasking?

Preemptive multitasking allows an operating system to

switch between software programs. This in turn allows
multiple programs to run without necessarily taking
complete control over the processor and resulting in
system crashes.

45) Why is partitioning and formatting a prerequisite to

installing an operating system?

Partitioning and formatting creates a preparatory

environment on the drive so that the operating system can
be copied and installed properly. This includes allocating
space on the drive, designating a drive name, determining
and creating the appropriate file system structure.

46) What is plumbing / piping?

It is the process of using the output of one program as an
input to another. For example, instead of sending the listing
of a folder or drive to the main screen, it can be piped and
sent to a file, or sent to the printer to produce a hard copy.

47) What is NOS?

NOS is short for Network Operating System. It is a

specialized software that will allow a computer to
communicate with other devices over the network,
including file/folder sharing.

48) Differentiate internal commands from external

commands.

Internal commands are built-in commands that are already

part of the operating system. External commands are
separate file programs that are stored in a separate folder
or directory.

49) Under DOS, what command will you type when you
want to list down the files in a directory, and at the same
time pause after every screen output?
a) dir /w
b) dir /p
c) dir /s
d) dir /w /p

Answer: d) dir /w /p

50) How would a filenamed EXAMPLEFILE.TXT appear

when viewed under the DOS command console operating
in Windows 98?

The filename would appear as EXAMPL~1.TXT . The reason

behind this is that filenames under this operating system is
limited to 8 characters when working under DOS
environment.

Operating System Quiz

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ThunderWiring  •  a month ago
demand paging is NOT what you wrote it is! it's when not all of
a process's pages are in the RAM, then the OS brings the
missing(and required) pages from the disk into the RAM, hence
the name "demand paging"..please modify this!
△  ▽ • Reply • Share › 

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