Operating System Question Bank

1. Explain the layered structure of an operating system by giving typical operations and
the objects that are operated in each layer.
2. What is multiprogramming? State objective of multiprogramming. Enlist and explain
in brief various multiprogrammed operating system.
3. Define a file system. What are various components of a file system? State and explain
commonly used operations on file.
4. Draw and explain Layered File System.
5. Explain advantages and disadvantages of following file allocation methods:-
i) Contiguous Allocation
ii) Linked Allocation
iii) Indexed Allocation
6. What is disk scheduling? Explain the following types of disk scheduling by giving an
example:-
i) SSTF Scheduling
ii) C-SCAN Scheduling
7. Explain the concept of Process. Draw a process transition diagram and explain the
various process states.
8. State and explain various scheduling criteria. Explain the following scheduling
algorithms by giving an example:
i) Shortest Job First Scheduling
ii) Priority scheduling
9. Explain threads. Differentiate between heavyweight and lightweight processes.
10. What is meant by Process Control Block? Draw and explain different fields of PCB.
Explain Context Switch by giving an example.
11. State and explain various memory management techniques.
12. What are the advantages of OS portability from the point of view of
i) Component Manufacturer
ii) Independent Software vendors
iii) Programmers
iv) Users ?
13. Discuss the main difficulties in writing an OS for a real time environment.
14. Explain Distributed System.
15. Explain various methods for disk allocation.
16. What are the advantages and disadvantages of indexed allocation scheme?
17. Suppose the head of moving-head disk with 200 tracks, numbered 0 to 199 is
currently serving a request at track 143 and has just finished a request at track 125. if the
queue of requests is kept in the FIFO order
86, 147, 91, 177, 94, 150, 100, 175, 130
What is total head movement to satisfy these request for the following disk scheduling
algorithms?
i) FCFS
ii) SSTF
iii) C-SCAN

18. Which algorithm will be used for CPU scheduling in:
i) Batch OS
ii) Interactive OS
iv) Real time OS? Why?
19. State whether following are true or false with justification:
i) Multitasking is a kind of multiprogramming.
ii) Multi-user system does not imply multiprogramming.
iii) Response times are more predictable in preemptive system than in non-
preemptive system.
20. Assume that following jobs have arrived in the order 1,2,3,4 and 5:

Job Arrival Time Burst Time Priority
1 0 15 2
2 2 3 1
3 5 5 5
4 6 8 4
5 7 12 3
Give Gantt chart and calculate Avg. Turnaround Time and Waiting Time for:
i) FCFS
ii) SRTF and Preemptive priority algorithm
21. Define the essential properties of following OS with its advantages and
disadvantages.
i) Distributed
ii) Real Time
iii) Time sharing
22. What is the purpose of Command line interpreter? Why is it usually separated from
kernel?
23. What is the purpose of system call?
24. What are the differences between user level threads and kernel level threads? Under
what circumstances one is better than other?
25. Consider the following set of process with the length of CPU burst time in
milliseconds:-
Process Burst Time Priority
P1 7 3
P2 9 2
P3 2 1
P4 1 4
P5 3 5
The processes are assumed to have arrived in the order P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 and all at time
0.
a) Draw Gantt chart, illustrating the execution of these processes using FCFS, SJF,
preemptive priority and RR (quantum = 1) scheduling.
b) What is turn around time of each process for each of the following scheduling
algorithm in Part A?
c) What is the waiting time for each process for each of the scheduling algorithms in
Part A?
d) Which of the schedule in Part A, results in the minimal average waiting
time(overall process)?
26. Explain the following:-
a) Disk Caching
b) Sector queuing
27. What are different space allocation strategies?
28. Describe the difference between following:-
i) Symmetric and A-symmetric Multiprocessing
ii)Time sharing and real time OS
29. What problems could occur of system allowed a file system to be mounted
simultaneously at more than one location?
30.One of the drawbacks of early OS was that users lost the ability to interact with their
jobs

31. Differentiate between Process and threads.
32. A hard disk has 63 sectors per tracks, 10 platters each with 2 recording surfaces and
1000 cylinders. The address of a sector is given as a triple <c,h,s> where c is the cylinder
number ,h is the surface number and s is the sector number. Thus 0
th
sector is addressed
as <0,0,0>, the 1
st
sector is addressed as <0,0,1> and so on. Calculate the address of
1050
th
sector.

33. A hard disk has 63 sectors per tracks, 10 platters each with 2 recording surfaces and
1000 cylinders. The address of a sector is given as a triple <c,h,s> where c is the cylinder
number ,h is the surface number and s is the sector number. Thus 0
th
sector is addressed
as <0,0,0>, the 1
st
sector is addressed as <0,0,1> and so on. Calculate the sector number
whose address is <400, 16, 29>.
34. What are the services provided by OS?
35. What do you mean by Zombie state of a process?
36. Give difference between Multilevel and Multilevel feedback queue.
37. Write a program for creation of child process.
38. What is blocked suspended and ready suspended state of a process?
39. What are privileged instructions? Which of the following instructions are privileged?
i) Set the value of timer
ii) Read the clock
iii) Clear the memory
iv) Turn off interrupts
v) Switch from user to monitor mode
40. Compare Linked and Indexed allocation.

41. Describe the semaphore. How the semaphores help in the process
synchronization?

42. Describe resource allocation graph.


43. What are monitors?

44.Consider a system consisting of m resources of the same type being shared by
n processes only one at a time. Show that the system is deadlock free if the
following condition hold:
i) The maximum need of each process is between 1 and m resources.
ii) The sum of all maximum needs is less than m + n.


45.Consider the following snapshot of a system

Allocation Max Available
A B C D A B C D A B C D
P0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 2 1 5 2 0
P1 1 0 0 0 1 7 5 0
P2 1 3 5 4 2 3 5 6
P3 0 6 3 2 0 6 5 2
P4 0 0 1 4 0 6 5 6

Answer the following question using the bankers algorithm:
i) What is the content of matrix Need?
ii) Is the System in a safe state?
iii) If a request from process P1 arrives for (0, 4, 2, 0) can the request be
granted immediately?

46. Compare the following main memory organization schemes : contiguous
memory allocation, pure segmentation, and pure paging with respect to the
following issues:
a) External fragmentation
b) Internal fragmentation
c) Ability to share code across processes.


47.What is the purpose of paging the page tables?

48.Consider the following page reference string
1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for a memory with three frames.
How many page fault would occur for following replacement algorithm.
i) LRU replacement
ii) FIFO replacement
iii) Optimal replacement.

49.What is thrashing? How it can be prevented?

50.What advantages do threads have over multiple processes? What major
disadvantages do they have?


51.Explain differences between-
iii) Logical and physical address.
iv) Internal and external fragmentation.

52.Define critical section. What are the requirements to solve critical-section
problem?

53.Write an algorithm to implement a semaphore using:-
v) The Swap instruction
vi) The Test and set instruction.

54.What is the race condition?

55.Consider the following page reference string
A,B,C,D,B,A,E,F,A,B,C,G,F,C,F. How many page faults would occur for the
following page replacement algorithm assuming three and four frames?
Remember all frames are initially empty:
vii) FIFO
viii) Optimal
ix) LRU

56.Write short note on
x) Beladys Anomaly
xi) Thrashing
xii) Locality of references

57.How address calculation is done in segmentation?

58.Give memory partition of 100K,500K,200K,300K and 600K(in order).How
would each of the first fit, best fit and worst fit algorithm place process of
212k,417k,112k,and 426k(in order)? Which algorithm makes the most efficient
use of memory?


59.State and explain the necessary condition that lead to deadlock situation.

60.What is purpose of resource allocation graph?
61.Explain the combined approach to deadlock handling.

62.Why is it difficult to protect a system in which users are allowed to do their
own I/O?


63.Explain how relocation helps for the protection of the data.

64.Explain Access-list and access matrix.

65.What is meant by semaphore? What are the drawbacks of semaphore?

66.Consider the following page reference string
4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5
Assume page framer =3, pure demand paging. How many page faults
would occur for i) FIFO ii) LRU iii) Optimal algorithm.

67.When do page fault occurs? Describe the action taken by O.S. when page
fault occurs.

68.Explain single contiguous memory management technique with advantage and
disadvantages.

69.Explain relocatable partioned memory management technique with example.

70.What is deadlock? What are the necessary conditions for deadlock?

71.Explain the working of bankers algorithm for deadlock avoidance with
suitable examples.

72.What are the main characteristics of capability lists and access lists?

73.Explain cryptography in access control techniques.