Basics OS Interview Questions

1. What are a process and process table?

A process is an instance of a program in execution. For example, a Web Browser is a
process, and a shell (or command prompt) is a process. The operating system is
responsible for managing all the processes that are running on a computer and allocates
each process a certain amount of time to use the processor. In addition, the operating
system also allocates various other resources that processes will need, such as computer
memory or disks. To keep track of the state of all the processes, the operating system
maintains a table known as the process table. Inside this table, every process is listed
along with the resources the process is using and the current state of the process.

2. What are the different states of the process?

Processes can be in one of three states: running, ready, or waiting. The running state
means that the process has all the resources it needs for execution and it has been given
permission by the operating system to use the processor. Only one process can be in the
running state at any given time. The remaining processes are either in a waiting state (i.e.,
waiting for some external event to occur such as user input or disk access) or a ready
state (i.e., waiting for permission to use the processor). In a real operating system, the
waiting and ready states are implemented as queues that hold the processes in these
states.

3. What is a Thread?
A thread is a single sequence stream within a process. Because threads have some of the
properties of processes, they are sometimes called lightweight processes. Threads are a
popular way to improve the application through parallelism. For example, in a browser,
multiple tabs can be different threads. MS Word uses multiple threads, one thread to
format the text, another thread to process inputs, etc.

4. What are the differences between process and thread?

A thread has its own program counter (PC), a register set, and a stack space. Threads are
not independent of one another, like processes. As a result, threads share with other
threads their code section, data section, and OS resources like open files and signals.

5. What are the benefits of multithreaded programming?

It makes the system more responsive and enables resource sharing. It leads to the use of
multiprocess architecture. It is more economical and preferred.

6. What is Thrashing?
Thrashing is a situation when the performance of a computer degrades or collapses.
Thrashing occurs when a system spends more time processing page faults than executing
transactions. While processing page faults is necessary in order to appreciate the benefits
of virtual memory, thrashing has a negative effect on the system. As the page fault rate
increases, more transactions need processing from the paging device. The queue at the
paging device increases, resulting in increased service time for a page fault.

7. What is Buffer?
A buffer is a memory area that stores data being transferred between two devices or
between a device and an application.

8. What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory creates an illusion that each user has one or more contiguous address
spaces, each beginning at address zero. The sizes of such virtual address spaces are
generally very high. The idea of virtual memory is to use disk space to extend the RAM.
Running processes don’t need to care whether the memory is from RAM or disk. The
illusion of such a large amount of memory is created by subdividing the virtual memory
into smaller pieces, which can be loaded into physical memory whenever they are needed
by a process.

9. Explain the main purpose of an operating system?

An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer and
computer hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in
which a user can execute programs conveniently and efficiently.
An operating system is a software that manages computer hardware. The hardware must
provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation of the computer system
and to prevent user programs from interfering with the proper operation of the system.

10. What is demand paging?

The process of loading the page into memory on demand (whenever a page fault occurs) is
known as demand paging.

11. What is a kernel?

A kernel is the central component of an operating system that manages the operations of
computers and hardware. It basically manages operations of memory and CPU time. It is a
core component of an operating system. Kernel acts as a bridge between applications and
data processing performed at the hardware level using inter-process communication and
system calls.

12. What are the different scheduling algorithms?

● First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Scheduling.
● Shortest-Job-Next (SJN) Scheduling.
● Priority Scheduling.
 ● Shortest Remaining Time.
● Round Robin(RR) Scheduling.
● Multiple-Level Queues Scheduling.

13. Describe the objective of multi-programming.

Multi-programming increases CPU utilization by organizing jobs (code and data) so that
the CPU always has one to execute. The main objective of multi-programming is to keep
multiple jobs in the main memory. If one job gets occupied with IO, the CPU can be
assigned to other jobs.

14. What is the time-sharing system?

Time-sharing is a logical extension of multiprogramming. The CPU performs many tasks
by switches that are so frequent that the user can interact with each program while it is
running. A time-shared operating system allows multiple users to share computers
simultaneously.

15. What is a thread?

A thread is a path of execution within a process. A process can contain multiple threads.

16. Give some benefits of multithreaded programming?

A thread is also known as a lightweight process. The idea is to achieve parallelism by
dividing a process into multiple threads. Threads within the same process run in shared
memory space,

17. Briefly explain FCFS.

FCFS stands for First Come First served. In the FCFS scheduling algorithm, the job that
arrived first in the ready queue is allocated to the CPU and then the job that came second
and so on. FCFS is a non-preemptive scheduling algorithm as a process that holds the
CPU until it either terminates or performs I/O. Thus, if a longer job has been assigned to
the CPU then many shorter jobs after it will have to wait.

18. What is the RR scheduling algorithm?

A round-robin scheduling algorithm is used to schedule the process fairly for each job in a
time slot or quantum and interrupting the job if it is not completed by then the job comes
after the other job which is arrived in the quantum time makes these scheduling fairly.
Round-robin is cyclic in nature, so starvation doesn’t occur
Round-robin is a variant of first-come, first-served scheduling
No priority or special importance is given to any process or task
RR scheduling is also known as Time slicing scheduling
19. Enumerate the different RAID levels?
A redundant array of independent disks is a set of several physical disk drives that the
operating system sees as a single logical unit. It played a significant role in narrowing the
gap between increasingly fast processors and slow disk drives. RAID has different levels:
● Level-0
● Level-1
● Level-2
● Level-3
● Level-4
● Level-5
● Level-6

20. What is Banker’s algorithm?

The banker’s algorithm is a resource allocation and deadlock avoidance algorithm that
tests for safety by simulating the allocation for the predetermined maximum possible
amounts of all resources, then makes an “s-state” check to test for possible activities,
before deciding whether allocation should be allowed to continue.

21. State the main difference between logical and physical address space?

SNO. PARAMETER LOGICAL ADDRESS PHYSICAL ADDRESS

1 Basic generated by the CPU. location in a memory unit.
Physical Address is a set
Logical Address Space is a set of
of all physical addresses
all logical addresses generated
2 Address Space mapped to the
by the CPU in reference to a
corresponding logical
program.
addresses.
Users can never view the
Users can view the logical
3 Visibility physical address of the
address of a program.
program.
4 Generation generated by the CPU. Computed by MMU.
The user can indirectly
The user can use the logical
access physical
5 Access address to access the physical
addresses but not
address.
directly.

22. 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.
23. What are overlays?
The concept of overlays is that whenever a process is running it will not use the complete
program at the same time, it will use only some part of it. Then overlay concept says that
whatever part you required, you load it and once the part is done, then you just unload it,
which means just pull it back and get the new part you required and run it. Formally, “The
process of transferring a block of program code or other data into internal memory,
replacing what is already stored”.

24. What is fragmentation?

Processes are stored and removed from memory, which makes free memory space, which
is too little to even consider utilizing by different processes. Suppose, that process is not
ready to dispense to memory blocks since its little size and memory hinder consistently
staying unused is called fragmentation. This kind of issue occurs during a dynamic
memory allotment framework when free blocks are small, so it can’t satisfy any request.

25. What is the basic function of paging?

● Paging is a method or technique which is used for non-contiguous memory
allocation. It is a fixed-size partitioning theme (scheme). In paging, both main
memory and secondary memory are divided into equal fixed-size partitions. The
partitions of the secondary memory area unit and the main memory area unit are
known as pages and frames respectively.

● Paging is a memory management method accustomed fetch processes from the

secondary memory into the main memory in the form of pages. in paging, each
process is split into parts wherever the size of every part is the same as the page
size. The size of the last half could also be but the page size. The pages of the
process area unit hold on within the frames of main memory relying upon their
accessibility.

26. How does swapping result in better memory management?

Swapping is a simple memory/process management technique used by the operating
system(os) to increase the utilization of the processor by moving some blocked processes
from the main memory to the secondary memory thus forming a queue of the temporarily
suspended processes and the execution continues with the newly arrived process. During
regular intervals that are set by the operating system, processes can be copied from the
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

27. Write the name of classic synchronization problem.

● Bounded-buffer
● Readers-writers
● Dining philosophers
● Sleeping barber
28. What is the Direct Access Method?
The 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. Direct
memory access (DMA) is a method that allows an input/output (I/O) device to send or
receive data directly to or from the main memory, bypassing the CPU to speed up memory
operations. The process is managed by a chip known as a DMA controller (DMAC).

29. When does thrashing occur?

Thrashing occurs when processes on the system frequently access pages, not available
memory.

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. What is multitasking?

Multitasking is a logical extension of a multiprogramming system that supports multiple
programs to run concurrently. In multitasking, more than one task is executed at the same
time. In this technique, the multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common
processing resources such as a CPU.

32. What is caching?

The cache is a smaller and faster memory that stores copies of the data from frequently
used main memory locations. There are various different independent caches in a CPU,
which store instructions and data. Cache memory is used to reduce the average time to
access data from the Main memory.

33. What is spooling?

Spooling refers to simultaneous peripheral operations online, spooling refers to putting
jobs in a buffer, a special area in memory, or on a disk where a device can access them
when it is ready. Spooling is useful because devices access data at different rates.

34. What is the functionality of an Assembler?

The Assembler is used to translate the program written in Assembly language into
machine code. The source program is an input of an assembler that contains assembly
language instructions. The output generated by the assembler is the object code or
machine code understandable by the computer.
35. What are interrupts?
The interrupts are a signal emitted by hardware or software when a process or an event
needs immediate attention. It alerts the processor to a high-priority process requiring
interruption of the current working process. In I/O devices one of the bus control lines is
dedicated to this purpose and is called the Interrupt Service Routine (ISR).

36. 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.

37. What is preemptive multitasking?

Preemptive multitasking is a type of multitasking that allows computer programs to share
operating systems (OS) and underlying hardware resources. It divides the overall
operating and computing time between processes, and the switching of resources
between different processes occurs through predefined criteria.

38. What is a pipe and when is it used?

A Pipe is a technique used for inter-process communication. A pipe is a mechanism by
which the output of one process is directed into the input of another process. Thus it
provides a one-way flow of data between two related processes.

39. What are the advantages of semaphores?

● They are machine-independent.
● Easy to implement.
● Correctness is easy to determine.
● Can have many different critical sections with different semaphores.
● Semaphores acquire many resources simultaneously.
● No waste of resources due to busy waiting.
●
40. What is a bootstrap program in the OS?
Bootstrapping is the process of loading a set of instructions when a computer is first
turned on or booted. During the startup process, diagnostic tests are performed, such as
the power-on self-test (POST), which set or checks configurations for devices and
implements routine testing for the connection of peripherals, hardware, and external
memory devices. The bootloader or bootstrap program is then loaded to initialize the OS.

41. What is IPC?

Inter-process communication (IPC) is a mechanism that allows processes to communicate
with each other and synchronize their actions. The communication between these
processes can be seen as a method of cooperation between them.
42. What are the different IPC mechanisms?
These are the methods in IPC:
● Pipes (Same Process): This allows a flow of data in one direction only. Analogous to
simplex systems (Keyboard). Data from the output is usually buffered until the
input process receives it which must have a common origin.
● Named Pipes (Different Processes): This is a pipe with a specific name it can be
used in processes that don’t have a shared common process origin. E.g. FIFO where
the details written to a pipe are first named.
● Message Queuing: This allows messages to be passed between processes using
either a single queue or several message queues. This is managed by the system
kernel these messages are coordinated using an API.
● Semaphores: This is used in solving problems associated with synchronization and
avoiding race conditions. These are integer values that are greater than or equal to
0.
● Shared Memory: This allows the interchange of data through a defined area of
memory. Semaphore values have to be obtained before data can get access to
shared memory.
● Sockets: This method is mostly used to communicate over a network between a
client and a server. It allows for a standard connection which is computer and OS
independent.

43. What is the difference between preemptive and non-preemptive scheduling?

● In preemptive scheduling, the CPU is allocated to the processes for a limited time
whereas, in Non-preemptive scheduling, the CPU is allocated to the process till it
terminates or switches to waiting for the state.
● The executing process in preemptive scheduling is interrupted in the middle of
execution when a higher priority one comes whereas, the executing process in
non-preemptive scheduling is not interrupted in the middle of execution and waits
till its execution.
● In Preemptive Scheduling, there is the overhead of switching the process from the
ready state to the running state, vice-verse, and maintaining the ready queue.
Whereas the case of non-preemptive scheduling has no overhead of switching the
process from running state to ready state.
● In preemptive scheduling, if a high-priority process frequently arrives in the ready
queue then the process with low priority has to wait for a long, and it may have to
starve. On the other hand, in non-preemptive scheduling, if CPU is allocated to the
process having a larger burst time then the processes with a small burst time may
have to starve.
● Preemptive scheduling attains flexibility by allowing the critical processes to
access the CPU as they arrive in the ready queue, no matter what process is
executing currently. Non-preemptive scheduling is called rigid as even if a critical
process enters the ready queue the process running CPU is not disturbed.
● Preemptive Scheduling has to maintain the integrity of shared data that’s why it is
cost associative which is not the case with Non-preemptive Scheduling.
44. What is the zombie process?
A process that has finished the execution but still has an entry in the process table to
report to its parent process is known as a zombie process. A child process always first
becomes a zombie before being removed from the process table. The parent process
reads the exit status of the child process which reaps off the child process entry from the
process table.

45. What are orphan processes?

A process whose parent process no more exists i.e. either finished or terminated without
waiting for its child process to terminate is called an orphan process.

46. What are starvation and aging in OS?

Starvation: Starvation is a resource management problem where a process does not get
the resources it needs for a long time because the resources are being allocated to other
processes.

Aging: Aging is a technique to avoid starvation in a scheduling system. It works by adding

an aging factor to the priority of each request. The aging factor must increase the priority
of the request as time passes and must ensure that a request will eventually be the
highest priority request

47. Write about monolithic kernel?

Apart from microkernel, Monolithic Kernel is another classification of Kernel. Like
microkernel, this one also manages system resources between application and hardware,
but user services and kernel services are implemented under the same address space. It
increases the size of the kernel, thus increasing the size of an operating system as well.
This kernel provides CPU scheduling, memory management, file management, and other
operating system functions through system calls. As both services are implemented under
the same address space, this makes operating system execution faster.

48. What is Context Switching?

Switching of CPU to another process means saving the state of the old process and
loading the saved state for the new process. In Context Switching the process is stored in
the Process Control Block to serve the new process so that the old process can be
resumed from the same part it was left.
49. What is the difference between the Operating system and kernel?

S.NO Operating System Kernel

The kernel is system software

Operating System is system
1 that is part of the Micro kernel
software.
operating system.

Operating System provides an The kernel provides an interface

2 interface b/w the user and the b/w the application and
hardware. hardware.

Its main purpose is memory

It also provides protection and management, disk management,
3
security. process management and task
management.

All system needs a real-time

All operating system needs a
4 operating real-time, and
kernel to run.
Microkernel system to run.

Type of operating system

includes single and multiuser Type of kernel includes
5
OS, multiprocessor OS, Monolithic and Microkernel.
real-time OS, Distributed OS.

It is the first program to load

It is the first program to load
6 when the operating system
when the computer boots up.
loads

50. What is the difference between process and thread?

S.NO Process Thread

Process means any program is Thread means a segment of a

1.
in execution. process.
 The process is less efficient in Thread is more efficient in
2.
terms of communication. terms of communication.

3. The process is isolated. Threads share memory.

The process is called heavy Thread is called light weight

4.
weight the process. process.

Thread switching does not

Process switching uses,
require to call an operating
5. another process interface in
system and cause an interrupt
operating system.
to the kernel.

If one process is blocked then The second, thread in the same

6. it will not affect the execution task could not run, while one
of other process server thread is blocked.

Thread has Parents’ PCB, its

The process has its own
own Thread Control Block and
7. Process Control Block, Stack
Stack and common Address
and Address Space.
space.

51. What is PCB?

the process control block (PCB) is a block that is used to track the process’s execution
status. A process control block (PCB) contains information about the process, i.e.
registers, quantum, priority, etc. The process table is an array of PCBs, that means
logically contains a PCB for all of the current processes in the system.

52. When is a system in a safe state?

The set of dispatchable processes is in a safe state if there exists at least one temporal
order in which all processes can be run to completion without resulting in a deadlock.

53. What is Cycle Stealing?

cycle stealing is a method of accessing computer memory (RAM) or bus without
interfering with the CPU. It is similar to direct memory access (DMA) for allowing I/O
controllers to read or write RAM without CPU intervention.

54. What are a Trap and Trapdoor?

A trap is a software interrupt, usually the result of an error condition, and is also a
non-maskable interrupt and has the highest priority Trapdoor is a secret undocumented
entry point into a program used to grant access without normal methods of access
authentication.

55. Write a difference between process and program?

S.NO Program Process

Program contains a set of

Process is an instance of an
1. instructions designed to
executing program.
complete a specific task.

Process is anThe process active

Program is a passive entity as
entity as it is created during
2. it resides in the secondary
execution and loaded into the
memory.
main memory.

The program exists in a single Process exists for a limited span

3. place and continues to exist of time as it gets terminated after
until it is deleted. the completion of a task.

4. A program is a static entity. The process is a dynamic entity.

Program does not have any Process has a high resource

resource requirement, it only requirement, it needs resources
5.
requires memory space for like CPU, memory address, and
storing the instructions. I/O during its lifetime.

The program does not have The process has its own control
6. any control block. block called Process Control
Block.

56. What is a dispatcher?

The dispatcher is the module that gives process control over the CPU after it has been
selected by the short-term scheduler. This function involves the following:
1. Switching context
2.Switching to user mode
3.Jumping to the proper location in the user program to restart that program

57. Define the term dispatch latency?

Dispatch latency can be described as the amount of time it takes for a system to respond
to a request for a process to begin operation. With a scheduler written specifically to
honor application priorities, real-time applications can be developed with a bounded
dispatch latency.

58. What are the goals of CPU scheduling?

● Max CPU utilization [Keep CPU as busy as possible]Fair allocation of CPU.
● Max throughput [Number of processes that complete their execution per time unit]
● Min turnaround time [Time taken by a process to finish execution]
● Min waiting time [Time a process waits in ready queue]
● Min response time [Time when a process produces the first response]

59. What is a critical- section?

When more than one processes access the same code segment that segment is known as
the critical section. The critical section contains shared variables or resources which are
needed to be synchronized to maintain the consistency of data variables. In simple terms,
a critical section is a group of instructions/statements or regions of code that need to be
executed atomically such as accessing a resource (file, input or output port, global data,
etc.).

60. Write the name of synchronization techniques?

● Mutexes
● Condition variables
● Semaphores
● File locks
 Intermediate OS Interview Questions

61. Write a difference between a user-level thread and a kernel-level thread?

S.NO User-level thread Kernel level thread

User threads are implemented by kernel threads are implemented by
1 users. OS.

OS doesn’t recognize user-level Kernel threads are recognized by

2 threads. OS.

Implementation of User threads is Implementation of the perform

3 easy. kernel thread is complicated.

Context switch time is less. Context switch time is more.

4

Context switch requires no

Hardware support is needed.
5 hardware support.

If one user-level thread performs a If one kernel thread perform a the

blocking operation then entire blocking operation then another
6 process will be blocked. thread can continue execution.

User-level threads are designed as Kernel level threads are designed

7 dependent threads. as independent threads.

62. Write down the advantages of multithreading?

Some of the most important benefits of MT are:
● Improved throughput. Many concurrent compute operations and I/O requests
within a single process.
● Simultaneous and fully symmetric use of multiple processors for computation and
I/O.
● Superior application responsiveness. If a request can be launched on its own
thread, applications do not freeze or show the “hourglass”. An entire application
will not block or otherwise wait, pending the completion of another request.
● Improved server responsiveness. Large or complex requests or slow clients don’t
 block other requests for service. The overall throughput of the server is much
greater.
● Minimized system resource usage. Threads impose minimal impact on system
resources. Threads require less overhead to create, maintain, and manage than a
traditional process.
● Program structure simplification. Threads can be used to simplify the structure of
complex applications, such as server-class and multimedia applications. Simple
routines can be written for each activity, making complex programs easier to
design and code, and more adaptive to a wide variation in user demands.
● Better communication. Thread synchronization functions can be used to provide
enhanced process-to-process communication. In addition, sharing large amounts
of data through separate threads of execution within the same address space
provides extremely high-bandwidth, low-latency communication between separate
tasks within an application.

63. Difference between Multithreading and Multitasking?

S.No Multi-threading Multi-tasking

1. Multiple threads are executing Several programs are executed

at the same time at the same or concurrently.
different part of the program.

2. CPU switches between multiple CPU switches between multiple

threads. tasks and processes.

3. It is the process of a lightweight It is a heavyweight process.

part.

4. It is a feature of the process. It is a feature of the OS.

5. Multi-threading is sharing of Multitasking is sharing of

computing resources among computing resources(CPU,
threads of a single process. memory, devices, etc.) among
processes.

64. What are the drawbacks of semaphores?

● Priority Inversion is a big limitation of semaphores.
● Their use is not enforced but is by convention only.
● The programmer has to keep track of all calls to wait and signal the semaphore.
● With improper use, a process may block indefinitely. Such a situation is called
Deadlock.
65. What is Peterson’s approach?
It is a concurrent programming algorithm. It is used to synchronize two processes that
maintain the mutual exclusion for the shared resource. It uses two variables, a bool array
flag of size 2 and an int variable turn to accomplish it.

66. Define the term Bounded waiting?

A system is said to follow bounded waiting conditions if a process wants to enter into a
critical section will enter in some finite time.

67. What are the solutions to the critical section problem?

There are three solutions to the critical section problem:
● Software solutions
● Hardware solutions
● Semaphores

68. What is a Banker’s algorithm?

The banker’s algorithm is a resource allocation and deadlock avoidance algorithm that
tests for safety by simulating the allocation for the predetermined maximum possible
amounts of all resources, then makes an “s-state” check to test for possible activities,
before deciding whether allocation should be allowed to continue.

69. What is concurrency?

A state in which a process exists simultaneously with another process than those it is said
to be concurrent.

70. Write a drawback of concurrency?

● It is required to protect multiple applications from one another.
● It is required to coordinate multiple applications through additional mechanisms.
● Additional performance overheads and complexities in operating systems are
required for switching among applications.
● Sometimes running too many applications concurrently leads to severely degraded
performance.

71. What are the necessary conditions which can lead to a deadlock in a system?
● Mutual Exclusion: There is a resource that cannot be shared.
● Hold and Wait: A process is holding at least one resource and waiting for another
resource, which is with some other process.
● No Preemption: The operating system is not allowed to take a resource back from
a process until the process gives it back.
● Circular Wait: A set of processes waiting for each other in circular form.
72. What are the issues related to concurrency?
● Non-atomic: Operations that are non-atomic but interruptible by multiple
processes can cause problems.
● Race conditions: A race condition occurs of the outcome depends on which of
several processes gets to a point first.
● Blocking: Processes can block waiting for resources. A process could be blocked
for a long period of time waiting for input from a terminal. If the process is required
to periodically update some data, this would be very undesirable.
● Starvation: It occurs when a process does not obtain service to progress.
● Deadlock: It occurs when two processes are blocked and hence neither can
proceed to execute

73. Why do we use precedence graphs?

A precedence graph is a directed acyclic graph that is used to show the execution level of
several processes in the operating system. It has the following properties also:

● Nodes of graphs correspond to individual statements of program code.

● An edge between two nodes represents the execution order.
● A directed edge from node A to node B shows that statement A executes first and
then Statement B executes

74. Explain the resource allocation graph?

The resource allocation graph is explained to us what is the state of the system in terms of
processes and resources. One of the advantages of having a diagram is, sometimes it is
possible to see a deadlock directly by using RAG.

75. What is a deadlock?

Deadlock is a situation when two or more processes wait for each other to finish and none
of them ever finish. Consider an example when two trains are coming toward each other
on the same track and there is only one track, none of the trains can move once they are in
front of each other. A similar situation occurs in operating systems when there are two or
more processes that hold some resources and wait for resources held by other(s).

76. What is the goal and functionality of memory management?

The goal and functionality of memory management are as follows;
● Relocation
● Protection
● Sharing
● Logical organization
● Physical organization
77. Write a difference between physical address and logical address?

S.NO. Parameters Logical address Physical Address

It is the virtual address The physical address is a
1. Basic
generated by CPU. location in a memory unit.
Set of all logical addresses Set of all physical addresses
generated by the CPU in mapped to the
2. Address reference to a program is corresponding logical
referred to as Logical addresses is referred to as a
Address Space. Physical Address.
The user can view the The user can never view the
3. Visibility logical address of a physical address of the
program. program
The user uses the logical
The user can not directly
4. Access address to access the
access the physical address
physical address.
The Logical Address is Physical Address is
5. Generation
generated by the CPU Computed by MMU

78. Explain address binding?

The Association of program instruction and data to the actual physical memory locations
is called Address Binding.

79. Write different types of address binding?

Address Binding is divided into three types as follows.
1. Compile-time Address Binding
2. Load time Address Binding
3. Execution time Address Binding

80. Write an advantage of dynamic allocation algorithms?

● When we do not know how much amount of memory would be needed for the
program beforehand.
● When we want data structures without any upper limit of memory space.
● When you want to use your memory space more efficiently.
● Dynamically created lists insertions and deletions can be done very easily just by
the manipulation of addresses whereas in the case of statically allocated memory
insertions and deletions lead to more movements and wastage of memory.
● When you want to use the concept of structures and linked lists in programming,
dynamic memory allocation is a must.
81. Write a difference between internal fragmentation and external fragmentation?

S.NO Internal fragmentation External fragmentation

In external fragmentation,
In internal fragmentation
variable-sized memory blocks
1. fixed-sized memory, blocks square
square measure appointed to the
measure appointed to process.
method.
Internal fragmentation happens External fragmentation happens
2. when the method or process is when the method or process is
larger than the memory. removed.
Solution for external fragmentation
The solution to internal
3. is compaction, paging and
fragmentation is the best-fit block.
segmentation.
External fragmentation occurs
Internal fragmentation occurs
when memory is divided into
4. when memory is divided into
variable-size partitions based on
fixed-sized partitions.
the size of processes.
The unused spaces formed
The difference between memory
between non-contiguous memory
allocated and required space or
5. fragments are too small to serve a
memory is called Internal
new process, which is called
fragmentation.
External fragmentation.

82. Define the Compaction?

The process of collecting fragments of available memory space into contiguous blocks by
moving programs and data in a computer’s memory or disk.

83. Write about the advantages and disadvantages of a hashed-page table?

Advantages
● The main advantage is synchronization.
● In many situations, hash tables turn out to be more efficient than search trees or
any other table lookup structure. For this reason, they are widely used in many
kinds of computer software, particularly for associative arrays, database indexing,
caches, and sets.

Disadvantages
● Hash collisions are practically unavoidable. when hashing a random subset of a
large set of possible keys.
● Hash tables become quite inefficient when there are many collisions.
● Hash table does not allow null values, like a hash map.
 ● Define Compaction.

84. Write a definition of Associative Memory and Cache Memory?

S.NO Associative Memory Cache Memory

A memory unit accessed by

content is called associative
Fast and small memory is called
1 memory.A memory unit
cache memory
accessed by content is called
associative memory.

It reduces the time required to It reduces the average memory

2
find the item stored in memory. access time.

Here data is accessed by its Here, data are accessed by their

3
content address

It is used when a particular group

It is used where search time is of data is accessed repeatedly.
4
very short

Its basic characteristic is its

Its basic characteristic is its fast
5 logic circuit for matching its
access
content.

85. Write a difference between paging and segmentation?

S.NO Paging Segmentation

In segmentation, the program is

In paging, program is divided into
1 divided into variable-size
fixed or mounted-size pages.
sections.

For the paging operating system is For segmentation compiler is

2
accountable. accountable.

Here, the section size is given by

3 Page size is determined by hardware.
the user.
 It is faster in comparison of
4 Segmentation is slow.
segmentation.

Paging could result in internal Segmentation could result in

5
fragmentation. external fragmentation.

Here, logical address is split into

In paging, logical address is split into
6 section number and section
that page number and page offset.
offset.

While segmentation also

Paging comprises a page table which
comprises the segment table
7 encloses the base address of every
which encloses the segment
page.
number and segment offset.

A page table is employed to keep up Section Table maintains the

8
the page data. section data.

In segmentation, the operating

system maintains a list of holes in
In paging, operating system must
9 the main memory.
maintain a free frame list.

In paging, processor needs page In segmentation, the processor

10 number, offset to calculate the uses segment number, and offset
absolute address. to calculate the full address.

Segmentation is visible to the

11 Paging is invisible to the user
user.

86. What is “Locality of reference”?

The locality of reference refers to a phenomenon in which a computer program tends to
access the same set of memory locations for a particular time period. In other words,
Locality of Reference refers to the tendency of the computer program to access
instructions whose addresses are near one another.

87. Write down the advantages of virtual memory?

● A higher degree of multiprogramming.
● Allocating memory is easy and cheap
● Eliminates external fragmentation
● Data (page frames) can be scattered all over the PM
● Pages are mapped appropriately anyway
● Large programs can be written, as the virtual space available is huge compared to
physical memory.
 ● Less I/O required leads to faster and easy swapping of processes.
● More physical memory is available, as programs are stored on virtual memory, so
they occupy very less space on actual physical memory.
● More efficient swapping.

88. How to calculate performance in virtual memory?

The performance of virtual memory of a virtual memory management system depends on
the total number of page faults, which depend on “paging policies” and “frame allocation”.

Effective access time = (1-p) x Memory access time + p x page fault time

89. Write down the basic concept of the file system?

A file is a collection of related information that is recorded on secondary storage. Or file is
a collection of logically related entities. From the user’s perspective, a file is the smallest
allotment of logical secondary storage.

90. Write the names of different operations on file?

Operation on file:
● Create
● Open
● Read
● Write
● Rename
● Delete
● Append
● Truncate
● Close

91. Define the term Bit-Vector?

A Bitmap or Bit Vector is a series or collection of bits where each bit corresponds to a disk
block. The bit can take two values: 0 and 1: 0 indicates that the block is allocated and 1
indicates a free block.

92. What is a File allocation table?

FAT stands for File Allocation Table and this is called so because it allocates different files
and folders using tables. This was originally designed to handle small file systems and
disks. A file allocation table (FAT) is a table that an operating system maintains on a hard
disk that provides a map of the cluster (the basic units of logical storage on a hard disk)
that a file has been stored in.
93. What is rotational latency?
Rotational Latency: Rotational Latency is the time taken by the desired sector of the
disgeek to rotate into a position so that it can access the read/write heads. So the disk
scheduling algorithm that gives minimum rotational latency is better.

94. What is seek time?

Seek Time: Seek time is the time taken to locate the disk arm to a specified track where
the data is to be read or written. So the disk scheduling algorithm that gives a minimum
average seek time is better.

Advanced OS Interview Questions

95. What is Belady’s Anomaly?

Bélády’s anomaly is an anomaly with some page replacement policies increasing the
number of page frames resulting in an increase in the number of page faults. It occurs
when the First In First Out page replacement is used.

96. What happens if a non-recursive mutex is locked more than once?

Deadlock. If a thread that had already locked a mutex, tries to lock the mutex again, it will
enter into the waiting list of that mutex, which results in a deadlock. It is because no other
thread can unlock the mutex. An operating system implementer can exercise care in
identifying the owner of the mutex and return it if it is already locked by the same thread
to prevent deadlocks.

97. What are the advantages of a multiprocessor system?

There are some main advantages of a multiprocessor system:
● Enhanced performance.
● Multiple applications.
● Multi-tasking inside an application.
● High throughput and responsiveness.
● Hardware sharing among CPUs.

98. What are real-time systems?

A real-time system means that the system is subjected to real-time, i.e., the response
should be guaranteed within a specified timing constraint or the system should meet the
specified deadline.

99. How to recover from a deadlock?

We can recover from a deadlock by following methods:
● Process termination
 ● Abort all the deadlock processes
● Abort one process at a time until the deadlock is eliminated
● Resource preemption
● Rollback
● Selecting a victim

100. 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.

101. Explain the resource allocation graph?

The resource allocation graph is explained to us what is the state of the system in terms of
processes and resources. One of the advantages of having a diagram is, sometimes it is
possible to see a deadlock directly by using RAG.