UNIT -4 -PART-A

1) What is a file? [R]

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.
2) List the various file attributes. (APRIL/MAY 2011, NOV/DEC 2012)(MAY/JUNE 2014)(APRIL/MAY
2015) [R]
A file has certain other attributes, which vary from one operating system to another, but typically consist of
these:

 Identifier

 Name

 Type

 Location

 Size

 Protection

 Time

 Date

 User identification
3) What are the various file operations? (NOV/DEC 2012, APRIL/MAY 2015) [R]
The six basic file operations are:

 Creating a file

 Writing a file

 Reading a file

 Repositioning within a file

 Deleting a file

 Truncating a file
4) What are all the information‟s associated with an open file? [R]
Several pieces of information are associated with an open file which may be:

 File pointer

 File open count

 Disk location of the file

 Access rights
5) What are the different accessing methods of a file? (APRIL/MAY 2010) [R]
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.
6) What is Directory? [R]
The device directory or simply known as directory records 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.
7) What are the operations that can be performed on a directory? [R]
The operations that can be performed on a directory are

 Search for a file

 Create a file

 Delete a file

 Rename a file

 List directory

 Traverse the file system

8) What are the most common schemes for defining the logical structure of a directory? [R]
(MAY/JUNE 2012)
The most common schemes for defining the logical structure of directory

 Single-Level Directory

 Two-level Directory

 Tree-Structured Directories

 Acyclic-Graph Directories

 General Graph Directory

9) Define UFD and MFD. [R]
In the two-level directory structure, each user has her own user file directory (UFD). Each UFD has a
similar structure, but lists 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.
10) What is a path name? [R]
A pathname is the path from the root through all subdirectories to a specified file.
In a two-level directory structure a user name and a file name define a path name.
11) What are the various layers of a file system? [R]
The file system is composed of many different levels. Each level in the design uses the feature of the
lower levels to create new features for use by higher levels.
i. Application programs
ii. Logical file system
iii. File-organization module
iv. Basic file system
 v. I/O control vi Devices
12) What are the structures used in file-system implementation? (APRIL/MAY 2011) [R]
Several on-disk and in-memory structures are used to implement a file system
On-disk structure include Boot
control block Partition block
Directory structure used to organize the files File control block
(FCB)
In-memory structure include
In-memory partition table
In-memory directory structure System-
wide open file table Per-process open
table
13) What are the functions of virtual file system (VFS)? [R]

 It separates file-system-generic operations from their implementation defining a clean VFS interface. It
allows transparent access to different types of file systems mounted locally.

 VFS is based on a file representation structure, called a vnode. It contains a numerical value for a network-
wide unique file .The kernel maintains one vnode structure for each active file or directory.
14) Define seek time and latency time. [R]
The time taken by the head to move to the appropriate cylinder or track is called seek time. Once the head is
at right track, it must wait until the desired block rotates under the read-write head. This delay is latency time.
15) What are the allocation methods of a disk space? [R]
Methods of allocating disk space which are widely in use are

 Contiguous allocation

 Linked allocation

 Indexed allocation
16) What are the advantages of Contiguous allocation? [R]
The advantages are

 Supports direct access

 Supports sequential access

 Number of disk seeks is minimal.

17) What are the drawbacks of contiguous allocation of disk space? [R]
The disadvantages are

 Suffers from external fragmentation.

 Suffers from internal fragmentation.

 Difficulty in finding space for a new file.

 File cannot be extended.

  Size of the file is to be declared in advance.
18) What are the disadvantages of linked allocation? [R]
The disadvantages are

 Used only for sequential access of files.

 Direct access is not supported.

 Memory space required for the pointers.

 Reliability is compromised if the pointers are lost or damaged

19) What are the advantages of Indexed allocation? [R]
The advantages are

 No external-fragmentation problems.

 Solves the size-declaration problems.

 Supports direct access.

20) How can the index blocks be implemented in the indexed allocation scheme? [R]
The index block can be implemented as follows

 Linked scheme

 Multilevel scheme

 Combined scheme
21) What is garbage collection? (MAY /JUNE 2012 ) [R]
Garbage Collection (GC) is a form of automatic memory management. The garbage collector, or just
collector, attempts to reclaim garbage, or memory occupied by objects that are no longer in use by the program.
22) Mention the objectives of File Management System. (APR/MAY 2010) [R]
The system that an operating system or program uses to organize and keep track of files. For example, a
hierarchical file system is one that uses directories to organize files into a tree structure.
23) What is the content of a typical file control block? (APR/MAY 2011, APR/MAY 2010) [R]
File permissions

File dates (create, access,

write)

File owner, group, ACL

File size

File data blocks

File Control Block (FCB) is a file system structure in which the state of an open file is maintained.
24) What are the two types of system directories? (MAY/JUNE 2012) [R} Device directory,
describing physical properties of files.
File directory, giving logical properties of the files.
25) What is meant by polling?(MAY/JUNE 2014) [R]
Polling is the process where the computer waits for an external device to check for its readiness. The
computer does not do anything else than checking the status of the device .Polling is often used with low-level
hardware. Example: when a printer connected via a parallel port the computer waits until the next character has
been received by the printer. These processes can be as minute as only reading 1 Byte. Polling is the continuous (or
frequent) checking by a controlling device or process of other devices, processes, queues, etc.
26) State any three disadvantages of placing functionality in a device controller, rather than in the
kernel. (MAY/JUNE 2014) [R]
Three advantages:-
a. Bugs are less likely to cause an operating system crash.
b. Performance can be improved by utilizing dedicated hardware and hard-coded algorithms.
The kernel is simplified by moving algorithms out of it.
Three disadvantages:
a. Bugs are harder to fix - a new firmware version or new hardware is needed
b. Improving algorithms likewise require a hardware update rather than just kernel or device driver update
c. Embedded algorithms could conflict with application‘s use of the device, causing decreased performance.
27) How free-space is managed using bit vector implementation?[An]
The free-space list is implemented as a bit map or bit vector. Each block is represented by 1 bit. If the
block is free, the bit is 1; if the block is allocated, the bit is 0.
28) List the attributes of a file(MAY/JUNE 2014)[R]
Name, Identifier, Type, Location, Size, Protection, Time, Date and User
authentication.
29) What are the information contained in a boot control block and partition control block?
(MAY/JUNE 2014) [R]
Boot control block:
Contain information needed by the system to boot an operating from that partition. If the disk does not
contain an operating system, this block can be empty. It is typically the first block of a partition. In UFS, this is
called the boot block.
Partition Control block:
Contains partition details, such as number of blocks in the partition, size of the blocks, free block count and
free block pointers, and free FCB count and FCB pointers.
30) Define buffering. [R]
A buffer is a memory area that stores data while they are transferred between two devices or between
a device and an application. Buffering is done for three reasons
a. To cope with a speed mismatch between the producer and consumer of a data stream
b. To adapt between devices that have different data transfer sizes
c. To support copy semantics for application I/O
31) Define caching. [R]
A cache is a region of fast memory that holds copies of data. Access to the cached copy is more
efficient than access to the original. Caching and buffering are distinct functions, but sometimes a region of memory
can be used for both purposes.
32) Define spooling. [R]
A spool is a buffer that holds output for a device, such as printer, that cannot accept interleaved data
streams. When an application finishes printing, the spooling system queues the corresponding spool file for output
to the printer. The spooling system copies the queued spool files to the printer one at a time.
33) Define rotational latency and disk bandwidth. (NOV/DEC 2010, MAY/JUNE 2013) [R]
Rotational latency is the additional time waiting for the disk to rotate the desired
sector to the disk head.Disk bandwidth is the total number of bytes transferred, divided by the time between the
first request for service and the completion of the last transfer.
34) What are the various disk-scheduling algorithms? [R]
The various disk-scheduling algorithms are

 First Come First Served Scheduling

 Shortest Seek Time First Scheduling

 SCAN Scheduling

 C-SCAN Scheduling
35) What is the need for disk scheduling? (NOV/DEC 2012) [R]
In operating systems, seek time is very important. Since all device requests are linked in queues, the seek
time is increased causing the system to slow down.
Disk Scheduling Algorithms are used to reduce the total seek time of any request.
36) What is low-level formatting? [R]
Before a disk can store data, it must be divided into sectors that the disk controller can read and write.
This process is called low-level formatting or physical formatting. Low-level formatting fills the disk with a special
data structure for each sector. The data structure for a sector consists of a header, a data area, and a trailer.
37) What is the use of boot block? [R]
For a computer to start running when powered up or rebooted it needs to have an initial program to run.
This bootstrap program tends to be simple. It finds the operating system on the disk loads that kernel into
memory and jumps to an initial address to begin the operating system execution. The full bootstrap program is
stored in a partition called the boot blocks, at fixed location on the disk. A disk that has boot partition is called boot
disk or system disk.
38) What is sector sparing? [R]
Low-level formatting also sets aside spare sectors not visible to the operating system. The controller can be
told to replace each bad sector logically with one of the spare sectors. This scheme is known as sector sparing or
forwarding.
39) What is seek time? (MAY /JUNE 2012) [R]
Seek time: the time to position heads over a cylinder (~8 msec on average).
40) What are storage area networks? (April/May 2011) [R]
A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data
storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes,
accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices to the operating system.
41) Write a brief note on RAID. (MAY/JUNE 2013) [R]
RAID (redundant array of independent disks; originally redundant array of inexpensive disks) is a way of
storing the same data in different places (thus, redundantly) on multiple hard disks. By placing data on multiple
disks, I/O (input/output) operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance. Since multiple disks
increase the mean time between failures (MTBF), storing data redundantly also increases fault tolerance.
42) What Characteristics determine the disk access speed? (MAY /JUNE 2012) [R]

 Seek time

 Rotational latency

 Command processing time

 Settle time
43) Give the importance of Swap space Management. [R] (NOV/DEC 2012, APR/MAY2010,
NOV/DEC 2010)
Swap-space management: Swap-space management is low- level task of the operating system. The main
goal for the design and implementation of swap space is to provide the best throughput for the virtual memory
system.
Swap-space use: The operating system needs to release sufficient main memory to bring in a process that is
ready to execute. Operating system uses this swap space in various ways. Paging systems may simply store pages
that have been pushed out of main memory. UNIX operating system allows the use of multiple swap spaces. These
swap space are usually put on separate disks, so the load placed on the I/O system by paging and swapping can be
spread over the systems I/O devices.
Swap-space location: Swap space can reside in two places:
1. Separate disk partition
2. Normal file system

44) Write three basic functions which are provided by the hardware clocks and timers. (APRIL/MAY
2011) [R]

 OSTickInit()

 OSTimeSet()

 OSTimeGet()
45) What are the advantages of Linked allocation? [R]
The advantages are

 No external fragmentation.

 Size of the file does not need to be declared.

46) Define FAT(NOV/DEC 2014) [R]
FAT is a much older file-system format that is understood by many systems besides Windows, such as the
software running on cameras. A disadvantage is that the FAT file system does not restrict file access to authorized
users. The only solution for securing data with FAT is to run an application to encrypt the data before storing it on the
file system.
47) What is Relative block number? (NOV/DEC 2014) [R]
Relative block number is an index relative to the beginning of a file. Thus the 1st relative block of the file is
0, the next is 1, and so on.
48) What is double buffering? (NOV/DEC 2014) [R]
OS can use various kinds of buffering:
1. Single buffering — OS assigns a system buffer to the user request
2. Double buffering — process consumes from one buffer while system fills the next
3. Circular buffers — most useful for burst I/O
49) Draw the diagram for interrupt driven I/O cycle? (NOV/DEC 2014) [Ap]

50) What is HSM? Where it is used? [R]

Hierarchical storage management (HSM) is a data storage technique, which automatically moves data
between high-cost and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-speed storage devices, such as hard
disk drive arrays, are more expensive (per byte stored) than slower devices, such as optical discs and magnetic tape
drives.
51) Identify the two important functions of Virtual File System (VFS) layer in the concept of file system
implementation. (Nov/Dec 2015) [R]
Linux VFS provides a set of common functionalities for each files system, using function pointers accessed
through a table. The same functionality is accessed through the same table position for all file system types, though
the actual functions pointed to by the pointers may be files system-specific. Common operations provided include
open( ), read( ), write( ), and mmap( ).
52) How does DMA increase system concurrency? (May/Jun 2016)[An]
DMA increases system concurrency by allowing the CPU to perform tasks while the DMA system transfers data
via the system and memory buses. Hardware design is complicated because the DMA controller must be integrated
into the system and the system must allow the DMA controller to be a bus master.
53) Why rotational latency is usually not considered in disk scheduling? (May/Jun 2016)[An]
Most disks do not export their rotational position information to the host. Even if they did, the time for this
information to reach 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.
54) Define C-SCAN scheduling (NOV/DEC 2016)[R]
In the C-Scan all the Processes are Arranged by using Some Circular List. Circular List is that in which there is
no start and end point of the list means the End of the List is the Starting Point of the list. In the C-Scan Scheduling
the CPU will search for the Process from Start to end and if an End has Found then this again start from the Starting
Process.
55) Why it is important to scale up system –bus and device speeds as CPU speed increases? (NOV/DEC
2016)[An]
Consider a system which performs 50% I/O and 50% computers. Doubling the CPU Performance on this system
would increase the 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.
56) Suppose that the disk rotates at 7200 rpm. What is the average rotational latency of the disk drive?
(APR/MAY 2017) [E]
Average disk access time=average seek time+ average rotational delay + transfer time + controller overhead.

57) Differentiate between file and directory (NOV/DEC 2016) [An]

Directory is a collection of files and folders. difference between directory and File : A file is any kind of
computer document and a directory is a computer document folder or filing cabinet. Directory is a collection of a the
folders and files.
58) Suppose that the disk rotates at 7200 rpm[E](NOV/DEC 2017)
a) What is the average rotational latency of the disk drive ?
b) Identify seek distance can be covered in the time ?
a) 7200 rpm gives 120 rotations per second.
Therefore Full rotation takes 8.33 ms and Average rotational latency takes 4.167ms. b)t=4.167ms
t=0.7561+0.24L 4.167=0.756+0.2439L
L=195.58
Therefore We can seek over 195 tracks(about 4% of the disk) during an average rotational latency
59) Enlist different types of directory structure. [R](NOV/DEC 2017)
There are many types of directory structure in Operating System. They are as follows
:- 1) Single Level Directory
2) Two Level Directory
3) Tree Structured Directory
4) Acyclic Graph Directory
5) General Graph Directory
60) State the typical bad-sector transactions. [R] (APR/MAY 2018) Typical bad sector
transactions might be as follows :

 The OS tries to read logical block.

 The controller calculates the ECC and finds that the sector is bad. It reports this finding to the OS.

 The next time that the system is rebooted ,a special command is run to tell the SCSI controller to
replace the bad sector with a spare.

 After that, whenever the system requests logical block, the request is translated into the replacement
sector‘s address by the controller.
61) What is the advantage of bit vector approach in free space management ? [R] (APR/MAY 2018)
Advantages of bit vector approach:

 Relatively simple

 Efficient to find the first free blocks or n consecutive free blocks on the disk
62. Write short notes on file system mounting. (APR/MAY 2019)
The mount procedure is straightforward. The operating system is given the name of the device and the
mount point—the location within the file structure where the file system is to be attached. Some operating
systems require that a file system type be
provided, while others inspect the structures of the device and determine the type of file system. Typically, a mount
point is an empty directory.
63. What is SSD? (APR/MAY 2019)
The highest level, the operating system may maintain a cache of file-system data in main memory. In
addition, electronic RAM disks (also known as solid-state disks) may be used for high-speed storage that is
accessed through the file-system interface.
64. Enlist different types of file directory structure. (NOV/DEC 2021)
65. Is FAT file system advantageous? Justify. (NOV/DEC 2021)
PART-B&C
1) Explain the different disk scheduling algorithms with examples. [An] (APRIL/MAY 2010, MAY/JUNE 2012,
APRIL/MAY 2011, MAY/JUNE 2013) (MAY/JUNE 2014)
2) Explain and compare FCFS, SSTF, C-SCAN and C-LOOK disk scheduling algorithms with examples. [An]
(NOV/DEC 2012)
3) Write short notes on disk management. [U] (NOV/DEC 2009)
4) Write short notes on file system in Linux. [U] (NOV/DEC 2009) (NOV/DEC 2014)
5) Write an elaborate note on RAID and RAID Levels. [U] (APRIL/MAY 2010, MAY/JUNE 2012,
NOV/DEC 2012, MAY/JUNE 2013)
6) Explain the services provided by Kernel I/O subsystem. [An] (APRIL/MAY 2010, APRIL/MAY 2011,
NOV/DEC2012, MAY/JUNE 2013)
7) Consider the following I/O scenarios on a single-user PC.
 A mouse used with a graphical user interface.

 A tape drive on a multitasking operating system (assume no device preallocation is available)

 A disk drive containing user files.

 A graphics card with direct bus connection, accessible through memory-mapped I/O For each of these I/O
scenarios, would you design the operating system to use buffering, Spooling, caching, or a combination?
Would you use polled I/O, or interruption driven I/O? [An]
8) Write short notes on
1. File types
2. File attributes
3. File operations [U]
9) Explain the file allocation methods. [U] (APRIL/MAY 2010)
10) Explain the role of Access Matrix for protection in files. [An] (APRIL/MAY 2010)
11) Write in detail the security measures taken in file system?
1. Write short notes on file system mounting
2. Write in detail about the various file organizations [An]
12) Explain the allocation of frames in detail. [An]
13) Explain directory subsystem [U] (APRIL/MAY 2011)
(i) Explain Linked File Allocation method (6)
(ii) Explain the issues in designing a file system. (8)
(ii) Explain the various file directory structures. (8) (NOV/DEC 2012)
14) (i) Explain the different file access methods in detail. (8) (MAY/JUNE 2014)
(ii) Describe the two level and acyclic graph schemes for defining the logical structure of a
directory. [An] (MAY/JUNE 2013)
15) Explain the Linked list and indexed file allocation methods with neat diagram. Mention their
advantages and disadvantages. (8) [An] (MAY/JUNE 2013)
16) What are the most common schemes for defining the logical structure of a directory? [An]
(MAY/JUNE 2014)
17) Write a brief note on the steps involved in DMA transfer [U] (MAY/JUNE 2014)
18) Explain the data structures supported by kernel I/O system [U] (MAY/JUNE 2014)
19) Write a brief note on tertiary storage devices [U] (MAY/JUNE 2014)
20) Explain different directory implementation methods [U](NOV/DEC 2013)
21) Why disk scheduling is necessary? Explain the different seek optimization techniques [An]
(NOV/DEC 2013)
22) Explain about RAID structure in disk management with various RAID levels of organization in detail
[An] (Apr/May 2015)
23) Briefly discuss about the various directory structures. [An] (APR/MAY 2015)
24) Compare the functionalities of FCFS, SSTF, SCAN AND C-LOOK disk scheduling algorithms with an
example for each. [An] (APR/MAY 2015)
25) Write short notes on free space management. [U] (APR/MAY 2015, MAY/JUNE 2013)
26) (i) Discuss the functions of files and file implementation.
(ii) Explain free space management with neat example. [U] (Nov/Dec 2015)
27) On a disk with 200 cylinders, numbered 0 to 199, compute the number of tracks the disk arm must move to
satisfy the entire request in the disk queue. Assume the last request received was at truck 100. The queue in FIFO
order contains requests for the following tracks. 55, 58, 39, 18, 90, 160, 150, 38, 184. Perform the computation to
find the seek time for the following disk scheduling algorithms.
(i) FCFS (ii)SSTF
(iii) SCAN
(iv) C-SCAN
(v) LOOK [E] (Nov/Dec 2015)
28) (i) Why it is important to balance file-system I/O among the disks and controllers on a system in a
multitasking environment?
(ii) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of supporting links to files that cross mount points. [An]
(MAY/JUNE 2016)
29) (i) Explain why logging metadata updates ensures recovery of a file system after a file-system crash.
(iii) Could a RAID level 1 organization achieve better performance for read requests than a RAID level
0 organizations? If so, how? [An] (MAY/JUNE 2016)
30) (i) Describe some advantages and disadvantages of using SSDs as a caching tier and as a disk-drive
replacement compared with using only magnetic disks. (8) [An] (NOV/DEC 2016)
(ii) Discuss how performance optimizations for file systems might result in difficulties in maintaining the
consistency of the systems in the event of computer crashes (8) [U] (NOV/DEC 2016)
31) (i) Distinguish between a STREAMS driver and a STREAMS module (8) [An] (NOV/DEC 2016)
(ii) Could a RAID level l organization achieve better performance for read requests than a RAID level 0
organization? If so, how? Explain. (8) [An](NOV/DEC 2016)
32) (i) Discuss about the various file access methods (7) [U] (APR/MAY 2017)
(ii)With neat sketch explain about the Directory structure, File Sharing (6) [U]
 (APR/MAY 2017)
33) (i) Explain about kernel I/O subsystem and transforming I/O to hardware operations (7) [U] (APR/MAY
2017)
34) (ii) On a disk with 1000 cylinders, numbers 0 to 999, Compute the number of tracks the disk arm must move to
satisfy the entire request in the disk queue. Assume the last received was at track 345 and the head is moving
towards track 0.The queue in FIFO order contains requests for the following tracks. 123,874,692,475,105 and
376.Find the seek length for the following scheduling algorithm. (1) SSTF (2) LOOK (3) CSCAN [An] (APR/MAY
2017)
35) (i)In a variable partition scheme the operating system has to keep track of allocated and free space. Suggest a
means of achieving this. Describe the effects of new allocations and process terminations in your suggested
scheme.(5) [An] (NOV/DEC 2017)
(ii)What are different allocation methods in disk storage? Explain with neat sketch.(8)
36) Consider a disk queue with requests for I/O to blocks on cylinders 93,183, 37,122, 14,
124, 65, 67
If the disk head is start at 53, then find out the total head movement with respect to FCFS,SSTF, SCAN,C-
SCAN and LOOK scheduling.(13) [E] (NOV/DEC 2017)
37) What are the various disk space allocation methods? Explain any two in detail.[U] (APR/MAY 2018)
38) State and explain the FCFS, SSTF and SCAN disk scheduling with examples.
[U] (APR/MAY 2018)
33. Suppose that a disk drive has 5000 cylinders, numbered 0 through 4999. The drive is serving a request at
cylinder 143. The queue of pending requests, in FIFO order is 86, 1470, 913, 1774, 948, 1509, 1022, 1750, 130
Starting from the head position what is the total distance (in cylinders) that the disk arm moves to satisfy all the
pending requests for each of the following disk-scheduling algorithms? FCFS, SSTF, SCAN, LOOK, C- SCAN C-
LOOK. Explain the pros and cons of all disks scheduling algorithms. (13) (APR/MAY 2019)
34. (i) Explain in detail the various allocation methods with their pros and cons. (8)
(ii) Brief the various procedures need to be followed ‗in disk management. (5)
(APR/MAY 2019)
41.(i) What do you mean by directory structure? Also discuss Tree-Structure Directories and Acyclic-Graph
Directories. (7) (NOV/DEC 2021)
(ii) Describe in details about file system implementation and file allocation method (6).
42. Suppose that a disk drive has 200 cylinder, numbered 0 to 199. The work queue is: 23,89,132,42,187.
Determine the total distance for the following disk scheduling algorithms
(i) SCAN (ii) LOOK (iii) C-SCAN (iv) C-LOOK
Work Queue : 23,89,132,42,187

 There are 200 cylinder numbered from 0 – 199

 The disk head stars at number 100. (NOV/DEC 2021)