Distributed Systems (BCS515D)-Question Bank

Module-1
Model Question Paper Questions:
1. Define Distributed Systems. List and explain the significant consequences of Distributed
Systems.
2. Discuss the key challenges in the Distributed Systems.
3. Explain the Reply-Request Protocol used in the Distributed Systems for process
communication.
4. Discuss the design issues for Remote Procedure Call (RPC).
5. Illustrate the implementation of Remote Procedure Call (RPC) in a Distributed Systems
environment.
6. Discuss the implantation of Remote method invocation (RMI).

Old Question Paper Questions :

1. Explain R.M.I invocation semantics.
2. Explain the implantation of RPC in distributed systems.
3. List out the challenges of distributed system. Explain any three of them.
4. Briefly explain system architectures in distributed system designing.
5. What is server creation semantics? Explain various server creation semantics.
6. Explain various communication protocols for RPC.
7. What is consistent ordering of messages? Give a protocol for consistent ordering.
8. With a neat diagram, explain the implementation of RPC. Is it possible to achieve
complete semantic transparency? Justify your answer.
9. Define the characteristics of inter process communication and explain the
implementation of UDP datagram communication
10. Define Marshalling and Unmarshalling. Explain any one external data approach.
representation
11. Define web-briefly. Explain three main standard technological components of web.
12. Define failure model. Explain omission failures.
13. Briefly explain the characteristics of inter-process-communication.
14. With neat sketch, explain request reply protocol and also discuss HTTP methods in client
- server communication
15. Derive middleware. With neat diagram explain middle ware layer.
 16. With a schematic diagram, explain role of client and server stub procedures in RPC in the
context of a procedural language.
17. Compare process and thread in distributed system..
18. List the recent trends in distributed systems and explain with a diagram mobile and
ubiquitous computing
19. Define the consequences of distributed system List out the challenges of distributed
systems and explain any three of them.
20. Define the different system models used for distributed systems design and briefly
explain the various architectural patterns for distributed systems.
21. Explain the failure model of distributed systems design

22. What is a distributed system? Describe the main characteristics of distributed systems.
Give two examples of distributed systems.

23. Discuss the major issues in designing a distributed system.

24. How is the distributed computing system better than the parallel processing system?
Explain.

25. How is resource sharing done in distributed systems? Explain.

26. What are the web challenges for implementing distributed systems?

27. Define the term transparency. Explain important types of transparencies in distributed
systems.

UNIT-1
Q.1. What are the main objectives and challenges of distributed systems?
Q.2. Discuss the general organization of a distributed computing system and explain their
characteristic features.
Q.3. Discuss the major issues in designing a distributed operating system. Explain the main
characteristics of a distributed event-based system.
Q.4. Why is the architectural model important in the distributed system design? Also, discuss
resource sharing and its importance.
Q.5. Explain different failures in distributed systems.

Q.6. Explain why and how a client is prevented from calling arbitrary code within a server under
lightweight RPC.
Q.7. Compare and explain times for Synchronous and Asynchronous remote procedure calls
with suitable diagrams.
Q.8. Explain various Remote Procedure Call Semantics.
Q.9. What is an API for internet protocol?
Q.10. Explain various RPC protocols supporting client-server communication.

Q11. Explain the need of Distributed systems its characteristics with example

Q12. Explain how resource sharing is done in the web

Q13. Explain the challenges to be considered in the design of DS

Q14. Explain the design goals to be considered for DS

Q15. Explain the system model of DS in details

Q16. Explain the system architecture of DS

Q17. Explain the Various trends in distributed system

Module-2
Model Question Paper Questions:
1. Review the characteristics of file systems
2. Discuss the key requirements for Distributed File System. Explain the Distributed File
Service architecture.
3. Explain the followings w.r.t Name Services: (a) Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and
(b) Uniform Resource Locators (URL
4. What is navigation w.r.t Name Servers? Explain the following navigations wr.t Name
Servers: (a) iterative (b) multicast (c) non recursive server-controlled and (d) recursive
server-controlled.
5. What is Domain Name System? Explain the Domain Name System with suitable example.

Old Question Paper Questions :

a. Explain all the requirements of distributed file systems. Explain any five of them.
b. With a neat diagram explain the SUN NES architecture and operations

Unit-2
 1. What are the two basic file system used in distributed system?
2. What are the file system modules?
3. Write the Characteristics of file systems?
4. What are the 2 components of file system?
5. What are the different forms of transparency are partially or wholly addressed by
current file services?

Module-3
Model Question Paper Questions:
1. Discuss the followings: (a) Clock Skew, (b) Clock Drift and (c) Coordinated Universal Time.
2. Explain the Cristian’s method for synchronizing clocks
3. What is a Logical Clock? Explain the Lamport’s logical clock.
4. Discuss the followings w.r.t Network Time Protocol: (a) Design aims and features (b)
Modes of NTP server synchronization
5. Explain the Global states and consistent cuts with suitable example.

Old Question Paper Questions :

1. Define NTP. With neat diagram, discuss the synchronization subnet in an NTP
implementation. And also explain differene modes of NTP servers synchranization.
2. Briefly explain the logical time and logical clocks.
3. Define clock skew and clock drift. Explain the network time protocol with an example.
4. With an example explain the Lamport's logical time algorithm for ordering events.
5. Define the global properties of distributed systems and explain the snapshot algorithm
for finding the global states.
6. With schematic diagram, explain monolithic kernel and microkernel. And also
differentiate between monolithic kernel and microkernel.
7. What is drifting of clocks? Explain active and passive time server algorithm for clock

Unit-3

1. Write about the rules of Chandy and Lamport’s ‘snapshot’ algorithm

2. Explain Logical time and logical clocks.
3. What are the different modes of synchronization of NTP servers.
 4. Write the features of Network Time Protocol

Module-4
Model Question Paper Questions:
1. Discuss the followings algorithms for mutual exclusion in Distributed Systems: (a) central
server algorithm (b) ring-based algorithm (c) multicast and logical clocks.
2. b. What are the properties of Reliable multicast? Explain the Reliable multicast
algorithm.
3. Explain the Maekawa’s voting algorithm for mutual exclusion in Distributed Systems.
4. b. What is an Election algorithm? What are its requirements? Explain the ring-based
election algorithm

Old Question Paper Questions :

1. With respect to mutual exclusion, discuss essential requirements and evaluating the
performance of algorithm and also draw the diagram of server managing a mutual
exclusion token for a set processes.
2. What is an election algorithm? Explain ring based election algorithm.
3. Define distributed Mutual Exclusion. Explain the ring based mutual exclusion algorithm.
4. What are election algorithms? Explain ring algorithm and compare it with bully
algorithm.

UNIT-4
Q.1. What are the requirements for distributed mutual exclusion algorithms?

Module-5
Model Question Paper Questions:
1. Explain the two-phase commit protocol w.r.t distributed transactions.
2. Discuss the various methods of concurrency control in distributed transactions.
3. Discuss (a) Phantom deadlocks and (b) Edge chasing w.r.t deadlock in Distributed
Systems
 4. Explain the following approaches used in the file recovery in Distributed Systems: (a)
Logging and (b) Shadow versions.

Old Question Paper Questions :

1. With neat diagram, explain distributed transaction and nested banking transaction.
2. Discuss voting phase and a completion phase of two-phase commit protocol.
3. c. Discuss the operating in coordinator for nested transactions.
4. a. Illustrate locking in distributed transaction and also explain timestamp ordering
currency control and optimistic concurrency control.
5. Define deadlock. With a schematic figure, explain local and global wait-for graphs
6. List the types of distributed transactions and explain the nested transaction with
example Explain two-phase commit protocol in detail.
7. With suitable example define distributed deadlock and give the edge chasing handling
distributed deadlocks. algorithm for
8. Write short notes on :
 Phantom deadlocks
 Concurrency control in distributed transactions

UNIT-5
Q.1. Discuss various concurrency control protocols.
Q.2. Explain in detail the deadlock handling strategy.
Q.3. Explain briefly different types of load distributing algorithms.
Q.4. What is fragmentation and replication in distributed systems?