RAJASTHAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, KOTA

Syllabus
III Year-VI Semester: B.Tech. Computer Science and Engineering

6CS5-11: Distributed System

Credit: 2 Max. Marks: 100(IA:20, ETE:80)

2L+0T+0P End Term Exam: 2 Hours
SN Contents Hours
1 Introduction: Objective, scope and outcome of the course. 01

2 Distributed Systems: Features of distributed systems, nodes of a

distributed system, Distributed computation paradigms, Model of
distributed systems, Types of Operating systems: Centralized Operating
System, Network Operating Systems, Distributed Operating Systems and
Cooperative Autonomous Systems, design issues in distributed operating
06
systems. Systems Concepts and Architectures: Goals, Transparency,
Services, Architecture Models, Distributed Computing Environment (DCE).
Theoretical issues in distributed systems: Notions of time and state, states
and events in a distributed system, time, clocks and event precedence,
recording the state of distributed systems.

3 Concurrent Processes and Programming: Processes and Threads, Graph

Models for Process Representation, Client/Server Model, Time Services,
Language Mechanisms for Synchronization, Object Model Resource
Servers, Characteristics of Concurrent Programming Languages (Language 05
not included).Inter-process Communication and Coordination: Message
Passing, Request/Reply and Transaction Communication, Name and
Directory services, RPC and RMI case studies

4 Distributed Process Scheduling: A System Performance Model, Static

Process Scheduling with Communication, Dynamic Load Sharing and
Balancing, Distributed Process Implementation. Distributed File Systems:
Transparencies and Characteristics of DFS, DFS Design and 06
implementation, Transaction Service and Concurrency Control, Data and
File Replication. Case studies: Sun network file systems, General Parallel
file System and Window’s file systems. Andrew and Coda File Systems

5 Distributed Shared Memory: Non-Uniform Memory Access Architectures,

Memory Consistency Models, Multiprocessor Cache Systems, Distributed
Shared Memory, Implementation of DSM systems. Models of Distributed
Computation: Preliminaries, Causality, Distributed Snapshots, Modelling a 06
Distributed Computation, Failures in a Distributed System, Distributed
Mutual Exclusion, Election, Distributed Deadlock handling, Distributed
termination detection.

6 Distributed Agreement: Concept of Faults, failure and recovery,

Byzantine Faults, Adversaries, Byzantine Agreement, Impossibility of
Consensus and Randomized Distributed Agreement. Replicated Data
05
Management: concepts and issues, Database Techniques, Atomic
Multicast, and Update Propagation. CORBA case study: Introduction,
Architecture, CORBA RMI, CORBA Services.

Total 28

Syllabus of 3rdYear B. Tech. (CS) for students admitted in Session 2017-18 onwards. Page 8
 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

Unit-I Question Bank

1. In distributed system each processor has its own: 11. A distributed System has:
a) local memory b) clock a) Physical Clock b) Logical Clock
c) both (a) and (b) d) none of the mentioned c) Vector Clock d) none of the mentioned
12. A distributed System consists of:
2. If one site fails in distributed system: a) Collection of autonomous computers
a) the remaining sites can continue operating b) A distribution Middleware
b) all the sites will stop working c) All of above
c) directly connected sites will stop working d) none of the mentioned
d) none of the mentioned
13. A distributed System is said to have:
3. Network operating system runs on: a) Full distribution transparency
a) server b) Some amount of distribution transparency
b) every system in the network c) Both a and b
c) both (a) and (b) d) none of the mentioned
d) none of the mentioned
14. A scalable distributed System has:
4.The distributed system is a collection of: a) Size Scalability b) Geographical Scalability
(a)Loosely coupled h/w on tightly coupled s/w c) Administrative Scalability d) All of above
(b) Tightly coupled h/w on loosely coupled s/w
(c) Tightly coupled s/w on loosely coupled h/w 15. A distributed System supports:
(d) Loosely coupled s/w on tightly coupled h/w a) Client/Server Architecture
b) 2-Tier Architecture
5.The capability of a system to adapt the increased service load c) 3-Tier Architecture
is called: d) All of above
a) scalability b) tolerance
c) capacity d) none of the mentioned

6.In distributed systems, a logical clock is associated with:

a) each instruction b) each process
c) each register d) none of the mentioned

7.If timestamps of two events are same, then the events are:
a) concurrent b) non-concurrent
c) monotonic d) non-monotonic

8.What are different ways in which a distributed system may

suffer:
a) Failure of a link b) Failure of a site
c) Loss of message d) Failure if power

9.What are design issues in distributed system structure ?

a) Scalability b) Fault-tolerance
c) Clustering d) Upgradation

10. In distributed systems, a logical clock is associated with

a) each instruction b) each process
c) each register d) none of the mentioned
 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

Unit-II Question Bank

1.If a process is executing in its critical section: a) Semaphore Control Structure
a) any other process can also execute in its critical section b) Monitor Shared Variable & System Call
b) no other process can execute in its critical section c) Serializer Data Structure
c) one more process can execute in its critical section d) Path Expression Data Type & Control Structure
d) none of the mentioned e) Critical Region Data Type & Program Structure

2. In distributed systems, transaction coordinator: 11. Inter process communication :

a) starts the execution of transaction a) allows processes to communicate and synchronize their
b) breaks the transaction into number of sub transactions actions when using the same address space.
c) coordinates the termination of the transaction b) allows processes to communicate and synchronize their
d) all of the mentioned actions without using the same address space.
c) allows the processes to only synchronize their actions without
3. An RPC (remote procedure call) is initiated by the: communication. d) None of these
a) server b) client c ) both a and b d) neither a nor b
12. Message passing system allows processes to :
4. RPC works between two processes. These processes may be:
a) communicate with one another without resorting to shared data.
a) on the same computer
b) on different computers connected with a network b) communicate with one another by resorting to shared data.
c) both (a) and (b) d) none of the mentioned c) share data d) name the recipient or sender of the message

5. The local operating system on the server machine passes the 13. An IPC facility provides atleast two operations :
incoming packets to the: a) write message b) delete message
a) server stub b) client stub c) send message d) receive message
c) client operating system d) none of the mentioned
14.The link between two processes P and Q to send and receive
6. What is interprocess communication?
messages is called :
a) communication within the process
a) communication link b) message-passing link
b) communication between two process
c) synchronization link d) All of these
c) communication between two threads of same process
d) none of the mentioned 15.In the non blocking send :
a) sending process keeps sending until message is received
7. What are the characteristics of atomicity?
b) sending process sends the message and resumes operation
a) All operations associated are executed to completion or none
c) sending process keeps sending until it receives a message
are performed
d) None of these
b) One processor as coordinator which handles all requests
c) When responses are received from all processes, then process
can enter its Critical Section
d) Use communication links

8. Define the following terms:

a) PCB- b) TCB-

9. Which statements are true for graph models:

a) Synchronous Graph Model-Direct Acyclic Graph
b) Asynchronous Graph Model-Undirected Graph
c) Synchronous Graph Model-Undirected Graph
d) Asynchronous Graph Model-Direct Acyclic Graph

10. Match with the appropriate option:

 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

Unit-III Question Bank

1. Which of the following condition is required for deadlock to a) Bottleneck b) Slow response
be possible? c) Vulnerability d) One request per second
a) mutual exclusion 10. What things are transaction coordinator is responsible for ?
b) a process may hold allocated resources while awaiting (Choose three)
assignment of other resources a) Starting the execution of the transaction
c) no resource can be forcibly removed from a process holding it b) Breaking transaction into a number of subtransactions
d) all of the mentioned c) Coordinating the termination of the transaction
d) Syncronization of the parties
2. The number of resources requested by a process :
a) must always be less than the total number of resources 11. What are the advantages of token(with rings) passing
available in the system approach ? (Choose three)
b) must always be equal to the total number of resources a) One processor as coordinator which handles all requests
available in the system b) No starvation if the ring is unidirectional
c) must not exceed the total number of resources available in the c) There are many messages passed per section entered if few
system users want to get in section
d) must exceed the total number of resources available in the d) One processor (coordinator)which handles all requests
system e) Only one message/entry if everyone wants to get in

3. For non sharable resources like a printer, mutual exclusion : 12. CORBA is a :
a) must exist b) must not exist (a) Hardware (b) Software (c) Middleware (d) Firmware
c) may exist d) None of these
13. RPC provides a(an) _____ on the client side, a separate one
4. Which of the following is permission based approach of for each remote procedure.
Distributed Mutual Exclusion ? (Multiple Choice)
a) stub b) identifier c) name d) process identifier
a) Centralized Algorithm b) Decentralized Algorithm
c) Distributed Algorithm d) Ring Algorithm
14. Replication transparency :
5. Which are the memory models: (a)Enables the concealment of faults
a ) Uniform Memory Access (b) Allow the movement of resources
b) Non-Uniform Memory Access (c) Enables multiple instances of resources
c) Both a & b d) None of above (d) Allows system and applications to expand

6. What are the characteristics of mutual exclusion using 15. An IPC facility provides atleast two operations :
centralized approach ? (Choose three) a) write message b) delete message
a) One processor (coordinator) which handles all requests c) send message d) receive message
b) It requires request/reply & release per critical section entry
c) The method is free from starvation
d) When responses are received from all processes, then process
can enter its Critical Section

7. What are the characteristics of fully distributed approach ?

(Choose two)
a) When responses are received from all processes, then process
can enter its Critical Section
b) When process exits its critical section, the process sends reply
messages to all its deferred requests.
c) Requires request/reply,release per critical section entry
d) One processor(coordinator) which handles all requests

8. Single coordinator approach has the following advantages :

(Choose two)
a) Simple implementation b) Simple deadlock handling
c) Speed of operation d) No bottleneck

9. Single coordinator approach has the following disadvantages :

(Choose two)
 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

Unit-IV Question Bank

1. In distributed System, in 3-Tier Architecture, server acts as: b) allows a thread to invoke a method on a remote object
a) Client c) allows a thread to invoke memory on a remote object
b) Server d) allows a process to invoke a method on a remote object

2. In distributed System, the global state of a system at instant t 10. A process that is based on IPC mechanism which executes
is: on different systems and can communicate with other processes
a) State of any entity b) States of all entities using message based communication, is called :
a) Local Procedure Call b) Inter Process Communication
3. In Naive state recording, the role of the coordinating node is c) Remote Procedure Call d) Remote Machine Invocation
to:
a) Record its own state 11. An RPC (remote procedure call) is initiated by the:
b) Send a recording message to all neighbouring nodes. a) server b) client c) both a and b d) neither a nor b
c) None of the mentioned
12. ................... serve as the 'glue' between the client and server
d) Both a and b
applications respectively, and that ORB.
A) ORB and ORB Interface
4. The difference between the time at any specific machine and B) CORBA IDL stubs and skeletons
the actual time is: C) Client and servant D) Client and server
a) Clock skew b) Clock Drift
c) None of the mentioned d) Both a and b 13. Platform is a combination of :
(a) Application and operating system
(b) Middleware and operating system
5. If a message m is sent by process I to process J, having times (c) Middleware and computer hardware
at respective sites ti and tj, if ti > tj holds, then: (d) Operating system and computer hardware
a) Process J does nothing
b) Process J adds the average communication delay to its local 14. Communication is achieved in distributed system by:
clock (a) Disk Sharing (b) Shared memory location
c) None of the mentioned (c) File sharing (d) Message passing
d) Both a and b
15.In which state transactions executes the final statement
(a)Committed (b) Abort
6.In indirect communication between processes P and Q (c)Active (d) partially committed
a) there is another process R to handle and pass on the messages
between P and Q
b) there is another machine between the two processes to help
communication
c) there is a mailbox to help communication between P and Q
d) None of these

7. RPC provides a(an) _____ on the client side, a separate one for
each remote procedure.
a) stub b) identifier c) name d) process identifier

8.The stub :
a) transmits the message to the server where the server side stub
receives the message and invokes procedure on the server side
b) packs the parameters into a form transmittable over the
network
c) locates the port on the server d) All of these

9. The remote method invocation :

a) allows a process to invoke memory on a remote object
 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

Unit-V Question Bank

1. Explain the following: …………………………………………………
(a) Uniform Memory Access- …………………………………………………
………………………………………… …………………………………………………
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(b) Non-Uniform Memory Access- …………………………………………………
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………………………………………… 5. Explain Byzantine Failure:
………………………………………… …………………………………………………
2. What is CORBA? What does it do ? …………………………………………………
………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
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………………………………………………… 6. Explain the following terms :
………………………………………………… (a) SISD -
3. Replication transparency : …………………………………………………
(a)Enables the concealment of faults (b) SIMD –
(b) Allow the movement of resources …………………………………………………
(c) Enables multiple instances of resources (c) MISD –
(d) Allows system and applications to expand …………………………………………………
4. Explain Stopping failure:
 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

(d) MIMD - …………………………………………………

………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
7. Write down the steps of Byzantine Agreement …………………………………………………
Algorithm: …………………………………………………
………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
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9. What are Client centric consistency model?
………………………………………………… List 4 models.
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10. What is the agreement protocol? How can be
………………………………………………… resolved? Explain its types.
………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
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8. What are data centric consistency model? List
any 5 models. …………………………………………………
………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
………………………………………………… …………………………………………………
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 Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan,
Ramnagaria, Jagatpura, Jaipur-302017, INDIA
Approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Government of India
Recognized by UGC under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Tel. : +91-0141- 5160400 Fax: +91-0141-2759555
E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.skit.ac.in

Text and Reference Books:

1. Distributed Operating System and Algorithm Analysis by Randy Chow and T. Johnson, Pearson.
2. Operating Systems: A Concept based Approach by DM Dhamdhere, Tata McGraw Hill
3. Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Marteen Van Steen, “Distributed System Principals and Paradigms, Pearson Edu.
4. Charles Crowley: Opearting System A Design Oriented Approach, Tata McGraw Hill