CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore

Department(s): Electronics & Communication Engineering

Semester: 06 Section(s): A & B
Operating Systems 10ECE65 Lectures/week: 05
Course Instructor(s): Mrs. Rashmi Sinha

QUESTION BANK

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF OPERATING SYSTEMS

1. What is an Operating system? Discuss its role from different perspective? Explain the designer’s view of an
operating system?
OR
Define an OS? Discuss its role with user and system viewpoint?
2. What are the common tasks performed by an OS?
OR
What is an Operating system? Explain the goals of an OS?
3. Explain Time Sharing OS with respect to: i) Scheduling ii) Memory Management
4. Explain the concept of Virtual machines. Bring out its advantages.
5. Discuss the operating system functions-
i) That are helpful to user
ii) That are meant for ensuring the efficient operation of system
6. Define essential properties of the following OS-
Time sharing OS Batch OS
Real Time OS Distributed OS
7. Multi-programming (or multi-tasking) enables more than a single process to apparently execute
simultaneously. How is this achieved on a uniprocessor?
8. What are the components of an operating system? Discuss the major activities of each system component.
OR
Explain the Functions of Operating system.

STRUCTURE OF THE OPERATING SYSTEMS

9. Explain Kernel based and Micro Kernel based OS.

10. Explain the following: i) Resource Preemption ii) Concurrent Sharing iii) Spooling
11. Briefly explain the common classes of services provided by various OS for helping the users and for
ensuring the efficient operation of system?
12. Explain the following terms-
i) Bootstrap program
ii) Caching
iii) Traping
iv) Job pool
v) Symmetric multiprocessing
13. Write and explain the sequence of system calls for copying a file to another new file?
14. Mention the different system structures employed in a modern OS? Explain the virtual machine approach?
15. Explain OS with Monolythic Structure?
16. Explain layered design of OS
17. Write a note on-
1. The Kernel of Unix
2. The Kernel of Linux
PROCESS MANAGEMENT

18. Describe the three state process model, describe what transitions are valid between the three states, and
describe an event that might cause such a transition.
OR
Explain States and States Transition in process?

OR

With a diagram, explain the different states of process?

19. Explain the content of PCB?

20. Explain Kernel level threads and User level threads?
21. Discuss the operations of process creation and process termination in UNIX?
22. Why is thread called LWP? Describe any one threading model?
23. Consider the following data about processes-

Process- P1 P2 P3 P4 P5

Arrival Time- 0 3 4 4 5

Burst Time- 7 2 3 1 3

Priority- 3 2 1 1 3

i) Draw charts to illustrate execution using SRTF, preemptive priority and RR(TS= 1 m sec).
ii) Compute waiting time in each of these case?
iii) Which of them provide minimal average waiting time and turnaround time?
iv) Find out the time at which there are maximum no of processes in the ready queue in the above
scenario?
24. Consider a system running 10 I/O bound tasks and one CPU bound task. Assume I/O bound task issue an
I/O once for every msec of CPU computing and that each I/O operation takes 10 msec to complete. Also
assume that the context switchingoverhead is 0.1 msec and that all processes arelong running tasks.
Comment on the CPU utilization for a RR scheduler when TS= 1 msec and TS= 10 msec?
25. Discuss various multi threading models with diagrams?
26. Define Race conditions. List the requirements that a solution to critical section problem must satisfy?

OR

Explain three requirements that a solution to critical section problem, must satisfy?

27. Describe the following-

i) Semaphore ii) wait() Operation iii) signal() operation.
28. Consider the following data about processes-

Process- P1 P2 P3 P4

Arrival Time- 0 1 2 3

Burst Time- 1 9 1 9

i) Draw gant charts to illustrate execution using FCFS, preemptive SJF, non- preemptive SJF and
RR(quantum 1) scheduling schemes.
ii) Compute turnaround time, waiting time in each of these case?
iii) Compute average turnaround and waiting time for each process and thus find the best scheme in
this particular case.
29. Explain the term: critical section and mutual exclusion?
30. What is semaphore? Explain the role of a semaphore in solving Critical Section problem?
31. What is monitor? Explain?

MEMORY MANAGEMENT

32. Explain Kernel Memory Allocator Method?

33. Compare Static & Dynamic memory allocation method?
34. Explain non-contigious memory allocation?
35. Define the algorithm Test(), Set(), Swap(). Show that they satisfy mutual Exclussion?
OR
Define the hardware instructions Test(), Set() & Swap(). And also give the algorithms for
implementing mutual Exclussion with these instructions?
36. Consider the following snapshot of the system-
Process
Allocation Maximum Available
ABCD ABCD ABCD
P0 0012 0012 1520
P1 1000 1750
P2 1354 2356
P3 0632 0652
P4 0014 0656
Answer the following using Bankers Algorithm-
i) What is the content of the matrix need?
ii) Is the system in the safe state?
iii) If a request from process P1 arrives for (0,4,2,0) can the request e granted immediately?
37. Explain the segmentation memory management. Describe the hardware support that is required for its
implementation?
38. What is a test-and-set instruction? How can it be used to implement mutual exclusion? Consider using a
fragment of psuedo-assembly language aid you explanation.
39. Describe the implementation of IPC using shared memory and message passing?

VIRTUAL MEMORY

40. Explain Demand Paging?

41. Explain the data structures in virtual memory VM handler?
42. For the following page reference string, calculate the no. of page faults with FIFO when,
i) No. of page frames are three
ii) No. of page frames are four
Page reference string 5 4 3 2 1 4 3 5 4 3 2 1 5.
43. Memory partitions of 100 KB, 500KB, 200KB, 300KB, 600 KB are available. How would first fit, best fit
and worst fit algorithm place processes of 212KB, 417KB, 112KB, 426Kb (in order). Which algorithm
makes the best use of memory?
44. Differentiate between internal and external fragmentations? How u overcome it?
45. What is Paging and Swapping?
46. With a diagram, discuss the steps involved in handling page faults?
47. Consider the following page reference string-70120304230321201701 for a memory with three frames?
How many page faults will occur for LRU, FIFO, and optimal page replacement algorithms? Which is the
most efficient among them?
48. Assume that we have paged memory system with associative registers(TLB) to hold the most active page
table entries. If the page table is normally held in memory and memory access time is 1 mircosecond, what
would be the effective excess time if 85% of all memory references find their ntries in the associative
register . Assume that associative register time is zero.
49. Name and describe four page replacement algorithms. Critically compare them with each other.
OR
Explain Indexed sequential & Direct file Accessing?
50. Explain about various allocation methods? (or)
51. Explain about Free space Management?
52. What are the three major activities of an operating system in regard to memory management?
53. Discuss about the memory hierarchy?

FILE SYSTEMS

54. What is a file? Define different access methods on files?

OR
What are the different file access methods? Explain briefly?
55. Draw a neat diagram and explain linked file allocation? Is FAT linked Allocation?
56. Describe File Mounting?
57. Explain the following-
i) File types
ii) File operation
iii) File Attributes
iv) Sequential file access
58. Explain the methods used for implementing directories?
59. Explain contigious, linked and indexed methods of allocating disk space?
60. What is meant by “consiteny semantics”? explain the consiteny semantics as implemented in a modern OS?
61. With the help of a neat diagram, explain
i) Tree structured directories
ii) Acyclic- graph directory
62. Explain Virtual File System?
63. Explain any two file allocation methods with their merits and demerits?
(2 to 4 marks Q)
64. What file access pattern is particularly suited to chained file allocation on disk?
65. What file allocation strategy is most appropriate for random access files?
66. What is the maximum file size supported by a file system with 16 direct blocks, single, double, and triple
indirection? The block size is 512 bytes. Disk block numbers can be stored in 4 bytes.
67. Discuss about Virtual File system?

SCHEDULING

68. Explain Long term, Mediun term and Short term Scheduling?
OR
Differentiate between long term and midterm scheduler?
OR
69. What are schedulers? Explain various schedulers with diagrams?
70. With the help of examples explain- i) FCFS ii) Shortest job next scheduling iii) Round Robin Scheduling?
71. A driver has 5000 cylinders numbered 0 to 4999. The driver is currently serving the request at cylinder 143
and the previous request was at cylinder 125. The queue of pending requests in FIFO order is 86, 1470, 913,
1774, 948, 1509, 1022, 1750, 130. Starting from the current head position, what is the total distance
travelled by the disk arm to satisfy the request using the algorithm FCFC, SSTF, SCAN, LOOK. Illustrate
with figures in each case.
72. Explain the access matrix model of implementing matrix in OS?
73. Suppose the position of cylinder is at 53. Sketch the graphical representation for the queue of pending
requests in the order 98, 183, 37,122,14,124,65,67 for FCFS, SSTF and LOOK scheduling schemes. Give
your comment on this scenario?
(2 to 4 marks Q)
74. Name four disk-arm scheduling algorithms. Outline the basic algorithm for each.
75. What are the three general goals of computer security?
76. What is the difference between preemptive scheduling and non-preemptive scheduling? What is the issue
with the latter?
77. Describe round robin scheduling. What is the parameter associated with the scheduler? What is the issue in
choosing the parameter?

MESSAGE PASSING

78. What is a mailbox? With an example, explain the features of mailboxes and its advantages?
79. Discuss primary issues in message passing implementation?
80. Write notes on-
i) Buddy System of memory management in UNIX
ii) Thrashing
iii) Solution to bounded buffer problem using semaphore
iv) Bad blocks on disk
v) Tree directory structure
vi) Inter process communication facility in LINUX

Good luck!