CS8493 – OPERATING SYSTEMS

Question Bank
II YEAR IT
 UNIT I
PART A
Blooms
S.
Question CO Taxanomy
No.
Level
1 What are the objectives of operating system?
(AU: April/May 2010) (AU: May/June 2012)
(April/May 2017)
Ans: An operating system is a program that
manages the computer hardware. it act as an C212.1 BTL-1
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.

2 What are the advantages of peer-to-peer systems

over client-server systems? (May/June 2016)
Ans:
• The main advantage of peer to peer network
is that it is easier to set up
• In peer-to-peer networks all nodes are act as
server as well as client therefore no need of
dedicated server. C212.1 BTL-1
• The peer to peer network is less expensive.
• Peer to peer network is easier to set up and
use this means that you can spend less time
in the configuration and implementation of
peer to peer network.
 It is not require for the peer to peer network
to use the dedicated server computer. Any
computer on the network can function as
both a network server and a user workstation
3 What is the purpose of system programs/system
calls?(May/June 2016) (Apr/May 2018)
C212.1 BTL-1
Ans: System programs can be thought of as bundles
of useful system calls. They provide basic
functionality to users so that users do not need to
 write their own programs to solve common
problems.
4 How does an interrupt differ from a trap?
(Nov/Dec 2016)(Apr/May 2018)
Ans: An interrupt is a hardware-generated signal
that changes the flow within the system. A trap is a
software-generated interrupt. C212.1 BTL-1

An interrupt can be used to signal the completion of

I/O so that the CPU doesn't have to spend cycles
polling the device. A trap can be used to catch
arithmetic errors or to call system routines

5 What are disadvantages of multi-processor

systems?(Nov/Dec 2016)
Ans:
C212.1 BTL-1
• Complex Operating System is required
• Large main memory required
• Very expensive
6 Defend timesharing differ from
multiprogramming? If so, how?(April/May 2015)
Ans: Main difference between multiprogramming
and time sharing is that multiprogramming is the
effective utilization of CPU time, by allowing C212.1 BTL-5
several programs to use the CPU at the same time
but time sharing is the sharing of a computing
facility by several users that want to use the same
facility at the same time.
7 Why API’s need to be used rather than system
call? (April/May2015)
Ans: There are four basic reasons:
1) System calls differ from platform to platform. By
using a stable API, it is easier to migrate your
software to different platforms.
C212.1 BTL-1
2) The operating system may provide newer
versions of a system call with enhanced features.
The API implementation will typically also be
upgraded to provide this support, so if you call the
API, you'll get it.
3) The API usually provides more useful
functionality than the system call directly. If you
 make the system call directly, you'll typically have
to replicate the pre-call and post-call code that's
already implemented by the API. (For example the
'fork' API includes tons of code beyond just making
the 'fork' system call. So does 'select'.)
4) The API can support multiple versions of the
operating system and detect which version it needs
to use at run time. If you call the system directly,
you either need to replicate this code or you can
only support limited versions.
8 Compare and contrast DMA and cache memory.
(Nov/Dec 2015)
Ans: DMA(Direct Memory Access): Direct
memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer
systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to
access main memory (Random-access memory),
independent of the central processing unit (CPU). C212.1 BTL-2
Cache Memory: A cache is a smaller, faster
memory, closer to a processor core, which stores
copies of the data from frequently used main
memory locations.
So, both DMA and cache are used for increasing the
speed of memory access.

9 Distinguish between batch systems and time

sharing systems.(Nov/Dec 2015)
Ans:
Batch System Time sharing system

The tasks are given

Jobs or work is keep in specific time and C212.1 BTL-4
order and jobs are run operating system
one after the other switches between
different tasks.

user interaction is
there won’t be any
involved in the
user interactions
processing

10 Compare tightly coupled systems and loosely

coupled systems? C212.1 BTL-2
Ans:
 Loosely coupled systems:-
Each processor has its own local memory. Each
processor can communicate with other all through
communication lines

Tightly coupled systems:-

Common memory is shared by many processors No
need of any special communication lines.
11 What is real time system?
Ans: A real time system has well defined, fixed
time constraints. Processing must be done within C212.1 BTL-1
the defined constraints, or the system will fail. It is
often used as a control device in a dedicated
application.
12 What are privileged instructions?
Ans: Some of the machine instructions that may
cause harm to a system are designated as privileged C212.1 BTL-1
instructions. The hardware allows the privileged
instructions to be executed only in monitor mode.
13 What do you mean by system calls?
Ans: System calls provide the interface between a
process and the operating system. When a system C212.1 BTL-1
call is executed, it is treated as by the hardware as
software interrupt.
14 Define: process
Ans: A process is a program in execution. It is an
C212.1 BTL-1
active entity and it includes the process stack,
containing temporary data and the data section
contains global variables.
15 What is process control block?
Ans: Each process is represented in the OS by a C212.1 BTL-1
process control block. It contain many pieces of
information associated with a specific process.
16 What is scheduler?
Ans: A process migrates between the various
scheduling queues through out its life time. The OS C212.1 BTL-1
must select processes from these queues in some
fashion. This selection process is carried out by a
scheduler.
17 What are the use of job queues, ready queues
and device queues?
Ans: As a process enters a system they are put in to
a job queue. This queues consist of all jobs in the
system. The processes that are residing in main C212.1 BTL-1
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.
18 What is meant by context switch?
Ans: Switching the CPU to another process requires
C212.1 BTL-1
saving the state of the old process and loading the
saved state for the new process. This task is known
as context switch.
19 Discuss the difference between symmetric and
asymmetric multiprocessing
Ans:
Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), in which each
processor runs an identical copy of the operating C212.1 BTL-6
system and these copies, communicate with one
another as needed. Asymmetric multiprocessing,
in which each processor is assigned a specific task.
The master processor controls the system; the other
processor looks the master.
20 What is the main advantage of
multiprogramming?
Ans: Multiprogramming makes efficient use of the
CPU by overlapping the demands for the CPU and C212.1 BTL-1
its I/O devices from various users. It attempts to
increase CPU utilization by always having
something for the CPU to execute.

PART B

1 Explain different operating system structures with

neat sketch. (Nov/Dec 2015) (Apr/May 2017)
(Apr/May 2018)
Refer page no 55 – 61 from text book “Abraham C212.1 BTL-5
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
“Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
2 Explain the various types of system calls with
examples. (May/June 2015) (Nov/Dec 2015)
(Apr/May 2017) (Nov/Dec 2018)
Refer page no 62 – 73 from text book “Abraham C212.1 BTL-5
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
“Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.

3 What are the basic functions of OS and DMA

(Nov/Dec 2015) (Apr/May2017)
Refer page no 464 – 466 from text book “Abraham C212.1 BTL-1
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
“Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
4 Explain the concept of multiprocessor and
Multicore organization. (Apr/May 2017) C212.1 BTL-5
Refer page no 14 – 16 from text book “Abraham
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
5 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using
the same system call interface for both files and
devices. (Nov/Dec 2016)
C212.1 BTL-1
Refer page no 64 – 71 from text book “Abraham
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
“Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
6 Describe the difference between symmetric and
asymmetric multiprocessing. Discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of multiprocessor
systems. (May/June 2016) (Nov/Dec 2016)
C212.1 BTL-6
Refer page no 12 – 18 from text book “Abraham
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
“Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
 UNIT II

PART – A
S. Blooms
No Question CO Taxanomy
. Level
1 Compare and contrast Single-threaded and
multi-threaded process. (Apr/May 2017)
Ans:Single-threading is the processing of one
command/ process at a time. Whereas multi
threading is a widespread programming and C212.2 BTL-2
execution model that allows multiple threads to exist
within the context of one process. These threads
share the process's resources, but are able to execute
independently.

2 Priority inversion is a condition that occurs in

real time systems – Analyzing on this statement.
(Apr/May 2017)
Ans: Priority inversion is a problem that occurs in
concurrent processes when low-priority threads hold
shared resources required by some high-priority C212.2 BTL-4
threads, causing the high priority-threads to block
indefinitely. This problem is enlarged when the
concurrent processes are in a real time system where
high- priority threads must be served on time.
Priority inversion occurs when task interdependency
exists among tasks with different priorities.

3 Distinguish between CPU bounded, I/O bounded

processes. (Nov/Dec 2016)
Ans:
CPU bound process, spends majority of its C212.2 BTL-4
time simply using the CPU (doing calculations).
I/O bound process, spends majority of its
time in input/output related operations.
4 What resources are required to Creating
threads? (Nov/Dec 2016)
Ans: When a thread is Creatingd the threads does
not require any new resources to execute. The thread C212.2 BTL-1
shares the resources of the process to which it
belongs to and it requires a small data structure to
hold a register set, stack, and priority.
5 Under what circumstances user level threads are
better than the kernel level threads? (May/June
2016) (Nov/Dec 2015)
Ans: User-Level threads are managed entirely by
the run-time system (user-level library).The kernel
knows nothing about user-level threads and manages
them as if they were single-threaded processes.
User-Level threads are small and fast, each thread is C212.2 BTL-1
represented by a PC, register, stack, and small thread
control block. Creating a new thread, switching
between threads, and synchronizing threads are done
via procedure call. i.e. no kernel involvement. User-
Level threads are hundred times faster than Kernel-
Level threads.
User level threads are simple to represent, simple to
manage and fast and efficient.

6 What is the meaning of the term busy waiting?

(May/June 2016)(Nov/Dec2018)
Ans: Busy-waiting, busy-looping or spinning is a C212.2 BTL-1
technique in which a process repeatedly checks to
see if a condition is true.
7 List out the data fields associated with process
control blocks. .(April/May 2015)
Ans: Process ID, pointers, process state, priority, C212.2 BTL-1
program counter, CPU registers, I/O information,
Memory management information, Accounting
information, etc.

8 Define the term ‘Dispatch Latency”. (April/May

2015)
Ans: The term dispatch latency describes the C212.2 BTL-1
amount of time it takes for a system to respond to a
request for a process to begin operation.

9 What is the concept behind strong semaphore C212.2 BTL-1

and spinlock? (Nov/Dec 2015)
 Ans: Strong semaphores specify the order in which
processes are removed from the queue (FIFO order),
which guarantees avoiding starvation.
Spinlock is a lock which causes a thread trying to
acquire it to simply wait in a loop ("spin") while
repeatedly checking if the lock is available.
10 What is a thread?
Ans: 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 C212.2 BTL-1
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.
11 What are the benefits of multithreaded
programming?
Ans: The benefits of multithreaded programming
can be broken down into four major categories:
C212.2 BTL-1
• Responsiveness
• Resource sharing
• Economy
• Utilization of multiprocessor architectures

12 Compare user threads and kernel threads.

Ans:
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 Creating and manage blocking system call
will cause the entire process to block C212.2

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 Creating & manage
compared to user threads. If the thread performs a
blocking system call, the kernel can schedule
another thread in the application for execution

13 What is the use of fork and exec system calls? C212.2 BTL-1
 Ans: Fork is a system call by which a new process is
Creatingd. 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.
14 Distinguish between user-level threads and
kernel-level threads? Under what circumstances
is one type better than the other?
Ans:
• User-level threads are unknown by the
kernel, whereas the kernel is aware of kernel C212.2 BTL-4
threads.
• User threads are scheduled by the thread
library and the kernel schedules kernel
threads.
• Kernel threads need not be associated with a
process whereas every user thread belongs to
a process.
15 Define thread cancellation and target thread.
Ans: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 C212.2 BTL-1
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.
16 What are the different ways in which a thread
can be cancelled?
Ans:Cancellation of a target thread may occur in
two different scenarios:
Asynchronous cancellation: One thread
immediately terminates the target thread is called C212.2 BTL-1
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.

17 Define CPU Scheduling.

Ans: CPU scheduling is the process of switching the
CPU among various processes. CPU scheduling is C212.2 BTL-1
the basis of multiprogrammed operating systems. By
switching the CPU among processes, the operating
system can make the computer more productive.
18 Distinguish between preemptive and non-
preemptive Scheduling.
Ans: Under nonpreemptive scheduling once the
CPU has been allocated to a process, the process
keeps the CPU until it releases the CPU either by C212.2 BTL-4
terminating or switching to the waiting state.
Preemptive scheduling can preempt a process which
is utilizing the CPU in between its execution and
give the CPU to another process.
19 List the functions of Dispatcher Module.
Ans: The dispatcher is the module that gives control
of the CPU to the process selected by the short- term
scheduler. This function involves: C212.2 BTL-1

•Switching context
•Switching to user mode
•Jumping to the proper location in the user
program to restart that program.
20 What are the various scheduling criteria for CPU
scheduling?
Ans: The various scheduling criteria are,
C212.2 BTL-1
• CPU utilization
• Throughput
• Turnaround time
• Waiting time
• Response time
PART B
1 Suppose that the following processes arrive for
execution at the times indicated. Each process will
run the listed amount of time. In answering the
questions, use non-preemptive scheduling and
base all decisions on the information you have at
the time the decision must be made. (Nov/Dec
2018)
Process Arrival Time Burst Time
P1 0.0 8
C212.2 BTL-
1
P2 0.4 4

a. Find the average turnaround time for these

processes with the FCFS scheduling algorithm?

b. Find the average turnaround time for these

 processes with the SJF scheduling algorithm?

c. The SJF algorithm is supposed to improve

performance, but notice that we chose to run
process P1 at time 0 because we did not know that
two shorter processes would arrive soon. Find
what is the average turnaround time will be if the
CPU is left idle for the first 1 unit and then SJF
scheduling is used.
Remembering that processes P1 and P2 are
waiting during this idle time, so their waiting time
may increase. This algorithm could
be known as future-knowledge
scheduling. (Apr/May2017) (Apr/May2018)
--Refer class work

2 State critical section problem? Discuss three

solutions to solve the critical section problem.
(Apr/May 2017)
Refer page no 256-259 from text book “Abraham C212.2 BTL-6
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne,
“Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.

Explain dining philosopher’s problem. (Apr/May

3 2017) (Nov/Dec 2018)
Refer page no 272 – 273 from text book C212.2 BTL-5
“Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and
Greg Gagne, “Operating System Concepts”, 9th
Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.

4 Distinguish among short-term, medium-term and

long-term scheduling with suitable example. (Apr C212.2 BTL-4
/May 2018)

5 Explain the differences in the degree to which the

following scheduling algorithms deiscriminate in C212.2 BTL-5
favour of short processes: RR, Multilevel
Feedback Queues (Apr/May 2018)
6 Discuss how the following pairs of scheduling
criteria conflict in certain settings.
i) CPU utilization and response time ii) Average C212.2 BTL-5
turn around time and maximum waiting time
iii)I/O device utilization and CPU utilization.
(Nov/Dec 2018)
 UNIT III
STORAGE MANAGEMENT

Main Memory-Contiguous Memory Allocation, Segmentation, Paging, 32 and 64 bit architecture

Examples; Virtual Memory- Demand Paging, Page Replacement, Allocation, Thrashing;
Allocating Kernel Memory, OS Examples.

PART A
S. Blooms
No Question CO Taxano
. my
Level
1 What is the difference between user-level instructions and
privileged instructions? (April/May 2017)
Ans: A non-privileged (i.e. user-level) instruction is an
instruction that any application or user can execute. A C212.3 BTL-1
privileged instruction, on the other hand, is an instruction that
can only be executed in kernel mode. Instructions are divided in
this manner because privileged instructions could harm the
kernel.
2 Define: Belady’s anomaly? (April/May 2017)
Ans: In computer storage, Bélády's anomaly is the
phenomenon in which increasing the number of page frames
C212.3 BTL-1
results in an increase in the number of page faults for certain
memory access patterns. This phenomenon is commonly
experienced when using the first-in first-out (FIFO) page
replacement algorithm.
3 What is the purpose of paging the page table? (Nov/Dec
2016)

Ans: In certain situations the page tables could become large

enough that by paging the page tables, one could simplify the C212.3 BTL-1
memory allocation problem (by ensuring that everything is
allocated as fixed-size pages as opposed to variable-sized
chunks) and also enable the swapping of portions of page table
that are not currently used.

4 Why page sizes are always power of 2? (Nov/Dec 2016)

Ans: Recall that paging is implemented by breaking up an
address into a page and offset number. It is most efficient to
break the address into X page bits and Y offset bits, rather than C212.3 BTL-1
perform arithmetic on the address to calculate the page number
and offset. Because each bit position represents a power of 2,
splitting an address between bits results in a page size that is a
power of 2.
5 What are the steps required to handle a page fault in
demand paging? (Nov/Dec 2015)
Ans: Steps in handling page fault:

1. Operating system looks at another table to

decide: C212.3 BTL-1
• Invalid reference - abort
• Just not in memory
2. Find free frame
3. Swap page into frame via scheduled disk
operation
4. Reset tables to indicate page now in memory Set
validation bit = v
5. Restart the instruction that caused the page fault
C212.3 BTL-1
Tell the significance of LDT and GDT in segmentation.
6
(May/June 2015)
Ans: The LDT is supposed to contain memory segments which
are private to a specific program, while the GDT is supposed to
contain global segments.

In order to reference a segment, a program must use its index

inside the GDT or the LDT. Such an index is called a segment
selector or selector in short.
7 What do you meant by thrashing? (May/June 2015)
(May/June 2016)
Ans: A process that is spending more time in paging than
executing is said to be thrashing. In other words it means that C212.3 BTL-1
the process doesn't have enough frames to hold all the pages for
its execution, it will do swapping pages in and out very
frequently to keep executing.
8 What are the counting based page replacement algorithm?
(Apr/May 2018)
Ans: These algorithms keep a counter of the number of C212.3 BTL-1
references that have been made to each page. Example: Least
Frequently Used(LFU), Most Frequently Used(MFU)
9 Define swapping.
Ans: A process needs to be in memory to be executed. However
C212.3 BTL-1
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.
10 What is Demand Paging?
Ans: Virtual memory is commonly implemented by demand
paging. In demand paging, the pager brings only those
C212.3 BTL-1
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.
11 What is pure demand paging?
Ans: 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
C212.3 BTL-1
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.
12 Outline about virtual memory.
Ans: Virtual memory is a technique that allows the execution
of processes that may not be completely in memory. It is the C212.3 BTL-2
separation of user logical memory from physical memory. This
separation provides an extremely large virtual memory, when
only a smaller physical memory is available.
13 Define lazy swapper.
Ans: Rather than swapping the entire process into main C212.3 BTL-1
memory, a lazy swapper is used. A lazy swapper never swaps a
page into memory unless that page will be needed.
14 What are the common strategies to select a free hole from a
set of available holes?
Ans: The most common strategies are,
C212.3 BTL-1
• First fit
• Worst fit
• Best fit
15 What is the basic approach for page replacement?
Ans: 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 C212.3 BTL-1
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.
16 Distinguish between page and segment.
Ans: Paging is used to get a large linear address space without
C212.3 BTL-4
having to buy more physical memory. Segmentation allows
programs and data to be broken up into logically independent
address spaces and to aid sharing and protection.
17 How the problem of external fragmentation can be
solved. Ans: Solution to external fragmentation :
1) Compaction : shuffling the fragmented memory into one C212.3 BTL-1
contiguous location.
2) Virtual memory addressing by using paging and
segmentation.
18 Formulate how long a paged memory reference takes if
memory reference takes 200 nanoseconds .Assume a paging
system with page table stored in memory. C212.3 BTL-6
Ans: 400 nanoseconds. 200 ns to access the page table plus 200
ns to access the word in memory.
19 Evaluating the maximum number of pages needed If a
system supports 16 bit address line and 1K page size.
Ans:
A 16 bit address can address 2^16 bytes in a byte addressable C212.3 BTL-5
machine. Since the size of a page 1K bytes (2^10),
the number of addressable pages is 2^16 / >2^10 = 2^6 = 64
pages.

20 How does the system discover thrashing? (Nov/Dec 2018)

Ans: In a virtual memory system, thrashing is a situation when
there is excessive swapping of pages between memory and the C212.3 BTL-4
hard disk, causing the application to respond more slowly. The
operating system often warns users of low virtual memory when
thrashing is occurring.
 PART B&C
1 Explain about given memory management techniques. (i)
Partitioned allocation (ii) Paging and translation look-aside
buffer. (Nov/Dec 2015) (Apr/May 2017)
C212.3 BTL-5
Refer page no 360-371 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
2 Elaborate about the free space management on I/O buffering
and blocking. (Apr/May 2017)
Refer page no 561 – 564 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.3 BTL-6
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
3 What is copy-on write feature and under what circumstances it
is beneficial? What hardware support is needed to implement
this feature? (Nov/Dec 2016)
C212.3 BTL-1
Refer page no 400-401 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
4 When page faults will occur? Describe the actions taken by
operating system during page fault. (May/June 2016)
Refer page no 360-371 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.3 BTL-1
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
5 C212.3 BTL-3
Consider the following page reference string: 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 5,
6, 2, 1, 2, 3, 7, 6, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 6.
Identify the no.of page faults would occur for the following
replacement algorithms, assuming one, two, three, four, five,
six, or seven frames? Remember all frames are initially empty,
so your first unique pages will all cost one fault each.
a.LRU replacement b. FIFO replacement
c.Optimal replacement (Apr/May 2015) (Nov/Dec2015)
--Refer class work
7 Why are segmentation and paging sometimes combined into
one scheme? (May/June 2016)
Refer page no 358-360 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.3 BTL-1
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
 UNIT IV

PART A
Blooms
S.
Taxano
No Question CO
my
.
Level
1 Distinguish file from dictionary. (Apr/May2017)
Ans: C212.4 BTL-4
A file is any kind of computer document whereas a directory is a
collection of files and folders.
2 Why it is important to scale up system bus and device speed
as CPU speed increases? (Nov/Dec 2016)
Ans:
Consider a system which performs 50% I/O and 50% computes.
Doubling the CPU performance on this system would increase C212.4 BTL-1
total system performance by only 50%. Doubling both system
aspects would increase performance by 100%. Generally, it is
important to remove the current system bottleneck, and to
increase overall system performance, rather than blindly
increasing the performance of individual system components.

3 Define C-SCAN scheduling. (Nov/Dec 2016)

Ans:
C212.4 BTL-1
The elevator algorithm (also SCAN) is a disk scheduling
algorithm to determine the motion of the disk's arm and head in
servicing read and write requests.
 This algorithm is named after the behaviour of a building
elevator, where the elevator continues to travel in its current
direction (up or down) until empty, stopping only to let
individuals off or to pick up new individuals heading in the same
direction.
4 How does DMA increase system concurrency? (May/June
2016)
Ans: C212.4 BTL-1
DMA increases system concurrency by allowing the CPU to
perform tasks while the DMA system transfers data via the
system and memory buses.
5 Why rotational latency is not considered in disk scheduling?
(May/June2016)
Ans:
Most disks do not export their rotational position information to
the host. Even if they did, the time for this information to reach C212.4 BTL-1
the scheduler would be subject to imprecision and the time
consumed by the scheduler is variable, so the rotational position
information would become incorrect. Further, the disk requests
are usually given in terms of logical block numbers, and the
mapping between logical blocks and physical locations is very
complex.
6 List the various file attributes. (Apr/May 2015) (Nov/Dec
2018)
Ans:
C212.4 BTL-1
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, and date and user
identification

7 What is HSM? Where it is used? (Apr/May

2015) Ans:
Hierarchical storage management (HSM) is a data storage
technique, which automatically moves data between high-cost C212.4 BTL-1
and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-
speed storage devices, such as solid state drive arrays, are more
expensive (per byte stored) than slower devices, such as hard
disk drives, optical discs and magnetic tape drives.
8 What are the functions of Virtual File System (VFS) layer in C212.4 BTL-1
file system implementation? (Nov/Dec 2015)
 Ans:
A virtual file system (VFS) or virtual file system switch is an
abstraction layer on top of a more concrete file system. The
purpose of a VFS is to allow client applications to access
different types of concrete file systems in a uniform way. A VFS
can, for example, be used to access local and network storage
devices transparently without the client application noticing the
difference.
9 What is a
file? Ans:
C212.4 BTL-1
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.
10 What are the various file operations? (Nov/Dec2018)
Ans:
The six basic file operations are
Creating a file
Writing a file C212.4 BTL-1

Reading a file
Repositioning within a file
Deleting a file
Truncating a file

11 What are the informations associated with an open

file? Ans:
Several pieces of information are associated with an open file
which may be:
C212.4 BTL-1
File pointer
File open count
Disk location of the file

Access rights

12 What are the different accessing methods of a file?

C212.4 BTL-1
Ans:
 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.

13 Define Directory.
Ans:
The device directory or simply known as directory records C212.4 BTL-1
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.
14 List the operations that can be performed on a directory. C212.4 BTL-1

15 Determine the most common schemes for defining the logical

structure of a directory?
Ans:
The most common schemes for defining the logical structure of
a directory
Single-Level Directory C212.4 BTL-5

Two-level Directory
Tree-Structured
Directories Acyclic-Graph
Directories
General Graph Directory
16 Define UFD and MFD.
Ans:
In the two-level directory structure, each user has her own user
file directory (UFD). Each UFD has a similar structure, but lists C212.4 BTL-1
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.
17 Examine how an index file is used to speed up the access in C212.4 BTL-4
direct-access files?
 Ans:
Have an index in memory; the index gives the key and the disk
location of its corresponding record. Scan the index to find the
record you want, and then access it directly.
18 Explain what ISAM is.
Ans:
ISAM is Indexed sequential access method in which the file is C212.4 BTL-5
stored in sorted order. ISAM has a master index file, indicating
in what part of another index file the key you want is; the
secondary index points to the file records. In both cases, a binary
search is used to locate a record.
19 List disadvantages of using a single
directory. Ans:
C212.4 BTL-4
Users have no privacy. Users must be careful in choosing file
names, to avoid names used by others. Users may destroy each
other’s work.
20 List the advantages of two-level directory?

Ans: C212.4 BTL-4

Users are isolated from each other. Users have more freedom in
choosing file names.

PART B
1 Explain about directory structure? (Apr/May 2015) (Apr/May C212.4 BTL-5
2017)
Refer page no 517 – 526 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
2 What are files and explain the access methods for files?
(Apr/May 2017)
C212.4 BTL-1
Refer page no 379 – 382 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
 3 Explain about kernel I/O subsystem and transforming I/O to
hardware operations. (Apr/May 2017)
Refer page no 592-600 from text book “Abraham C212.4 BTL-5
Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating
System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc.,
2012”.

4 Explain about RAID in detail. (Apr/May 2015) (Nov/Dec2016)

Refer page no 484 – 491 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.4 BTL-5
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
5 Compare the functionalities of FCFS, SSTF, C-SCAN and C-
LOOK with example. (Apr/May 2015) (Apr/May 2018)
Refer page no 472 – 478 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.4 BTL-4
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
6 Explain about file system mounting in detail. (May/June 2016)

Refer page no 498 – 502 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.4 BTL-5
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.

UNIT V
PART A
Blooms
S. Taxano
Question CO
No. my
Level
1 What are the features of Linux file system? (Apr/May
2017) Ans:
• Specifying paths C212.5 BTL-1
• Partition, drives/devises and Directories
• Mounting and Unmounting
• Case sensitivity
• File Extensions
• Hidden files
 • File System Permissions
2 What is the use of kernel modules in Linux? (Apr/May
2017) Ans:
C212.5 BTL-1
Kernel modules are pieces of code that can be loaded and
unloaded into the kernel upon demand. They extend the
functionality of the kernel without the need to reboot the system.
3 Define the components of LINUX system. (May/June
2016) Ans:
Linux Operating System has primarily three components:
Kernel − Kernel is the core part of Linux. It is responsible for
all major activities of this operating system. It consists of various
modules and it interacts directly with the underlying hardware.
Kernel provides the required abstraction to hide low level
hardware details to system or application programs. C212.5 BTL-1

System Library − System libraries are special functions or

programs using which application programs or system utilities
accesses Kernel's features. These libraries implement most of the
functionalities of the operating system and do not requires kernel
module's code access rights.
System Utility − System Utility programs are responsible to do
specialized, individual level tasks.

4 Define the function of caching-only serves. (May/June

2016) Ans:
A cache server is a dedicated network server or service acting as C212.5 BTL-1
a server that saves Web pages or other Internet content locally.
By placing previously requested information in temporary
storage, or cache, a cache server both speeds up access to data
and reduces demand on an enterprise's bandwidth.

5 What is virtualization? ?(Nov/Dec

2016) Ans:
C212.5 BTL-1
Virtualization is the creation of a virtual -- rather than actual --
version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a
storage device or network resources.
6 What scheduling algorithm is used in Linux to schedule
jobs? (Nov/Dec2016)
C212.5 BTL-1
Ans:
The current Linux task scheduler is called Completely Fair
 Scheduler (CFS). It handles CPU resource allocation for
executing processes, and aims to maximize overall CPU
utilization while also maximizing interactive performance.
7 List some of the Linux Network services. (Apr/May 2015)
Ans:
• ntpd – Network Time Protocol Daemon
• httpd – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Daemon
• sshd – Secure SHell Daemon C212.5 BTL-1
• sendmail – Mail Server Daemon
• snmpd – Simple Network Management Protocol Daemon
• iptables – Network Filtering Protocol Service
• nfsd – Network File System Server Daemon
• nscd – Name Service Cache Daemon
• named – Dynamic Naming Service Server Daemon
8 Why virtualization is required? (Nov/Dec
2015) Ans:
Virtualization reduces the number of physical servers, reducing C212.5 BTL-1
the energy required to power and cool them. Save time.......It's
also much faster to deploy a virtual machine than it is to deploy
a new physical server. Reduce desktop management headaches.

9 What are the requirements for Linux system administrator?

(Nov/Dec2015)
Ans:
The administrator must have the knowledge about, C212.5 BTL-1

• Linux file systems

• File system hierarchy
• Handling files and directories
• System Management, etc.
10 What is the responsibility of kernel in LINUX operating
system? (Apr/May2015) (Nov/Dec 2018)
Ans:
The kernel is the essential centre of a computer operating C212.5 BTL-1
system, the core that provides basic services for all other parts of
the operating system. A synonym is nucleus. A kernel can be
contrasted with a shell, the outermost part of an operating system
that interacts with user commands

11 Do FAT file system is advantageous? Why? (Apr/May 2015)

(Nov/Dec 2018)
C212.5 BTL-1
Ans:
The main advantage of FAT is its efficient use of disk space.
 FAT can place the parts of the file wherever they fit. File names
can be up to 255 characters and file extensions longer than 3
characters. Easy to recover file names that have been deleted.
FAT is also useful for cross-platform compatibility.
12 What are the components of kernel
module? Ans:
Linux Kernel modules has three component,
C212.5 BTL-1
Module management
Driver registration
Conflict resolution mechanism

13 Define: Conflict
Resolution. Ans:
A mechanism that allows different device drivers to, reserve C212.5 BTL-1
hardware resources and to protect those resources from
accidental use by another driver.
Linux provides a ventral conflict resolution mechanism.

14 Define the design principles of LINUX

systems. Ans:
 Linux is a multiuser, multitasking system
• Linux is UNIX compatible
• its file system adheres to traditional UNIX semantics C212.5 BTL-1
• it fully implements the standard UNIX networking model
• its API adheres to the SVR4 UNIX semantics
• it is POSIX-compliant
• Linux supports a wide variety of architectures
• Main design goals are speed, efficiency, and
standardization
15 Classify Virtualization.
Ans:
C212.5 BTL-4
• Full virtualization
 Paravirtualization
• Hardware-assisted virtualization
16 Define Hypervisor.
Ans:
C212.5 BTL-1
A hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM) is computer
software, firmware or hardware that Creatings and runs virtual
machines. A computer on which a hypervisor runs one or more
 virtual machines is called a host machine, and each virtual
machine is called a guest machine.
17 List the two types of
Hypervisor. Ans:
There are two types of hypervisors: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 C212.5 BTL-1
hypervisors run directly on the system hardware. They are often
referred to as a "native" or "bare metal" or "embedded"
hypervisors in vendor literature. Type 2 hypervisors run on a
host operating system.

18 Define XEN.
Ans:
Xen is a virtual machine monitor (VMM) for x86-compatible C212.5 BTL-1
computers. Xen can securely execute multiple virtual machines,
each running its own OS, on a single physical system with close-
to-native performance. Xen is open source, and is released under
terms of the GNU General Public License.
19 List the advantages of Virtualization.
Ans:
• Better utilization of computer hardware.
• More securable and manageable than one kernel running C212.5 BTL-1
many applications.
• Reduce complexity of hardware.
• Consumes less power and less space.
• Requires less maintenance
 Extended life for installed software.
20 Illustrate the key features of VMware server virtualization.

Ans:
• High Availability (HA) C212.5 BTL-2
• Fault Tolerance (FT)
• vMotion
• Storage vMotion
• Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
PART B&C
1 Explain about Linux kernel and virtualization with neat sketch.
(Apr/May 2017) (Nov/Dec 2016)
C212.5 BTL-2
Refer page no 703 – 705 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
2 Briefly discuss about the requirements needed to become a
Linux System Administrative. (Apr/May 2015)
Refer text book “Abraham Silberschatz, Peter Baer Galvin and C212.5 BTL-6
Greg Gagne, “Operating System Concepts”, 9th Edition, John
 Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
3 Explain about Linux’s Completely-Fair scheduler in detail.
(Nov/Dec 2016)
C212.5 BTL-2
Refer page no 730 – 731 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.
4 What are the primary goals of conflict-resolution mechanisms
used by the Linux kernel for loading kernel modules?
(May/June 2016)
C212.5 BTL-1
Refer page no 703 – 705 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.

5 Explain the concept of Domain name system and multi-function

server. (Apr/May 2017) (Nov/Dec 2015)
C212.5 BTL-2
Refer page no 804 – 809 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz,
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.

6 Discuss about the steps involved in the installation of the Linux

multi-function server. (Apr/May 2015) (May/June 2016)
Refer page no 804 – 809 from text book “Abraham Silberschatz, C212.5 BTL-6
Peter Baer Galvin and Greg Gagne, “Operating System
Concepts”, 9th Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2012”.