PART – A

1. List and briefly define the four main elements of a computer? [R]
• Processor – Controls the operation of the computer & performs its data
processing functions
• Main memory – Stores data & programs.it is volatile.
• I/O modules – Move data between the computer & its external environment
such as disks, communication equipment & terminals.
• System Bus – Provides for communication among processors, main memory &
I/O modules.
2. Define the two main categories of processor register? [R]
Two categories are
User- visible registers: - It Enable the machine or assembly language
programmer to minimize main memory references by optimizing register use.
Control & Status registers: - Registers used by the processor to control the
operation of the processor.
3. In general terms, what are the four distinct actions that machine instruction can
specify? [An]
• Processor – Memory
• Processor –I/O
• Data Processing
• Control
4. What is an Interrupt? [R]
• Interrupt are provided primarily as way to improve processor utilization.
• It is a mechanism by which other modules( I/O, Memory) may interrupt the
normal sequencing of the processor.
Classes of interrupts:-
• Program
• Timer
• I/O
• Hardware failure
5. How are multiple interrupt dealt with? [An]
Two approaches can be taken to dealing with interrupts
• Disabled Interrupt – Processor ignores any new interrupt request signal.
• Define Priority for interrupt – It allows an interrupt of higher priority.
6. What characteristics distinguish the various elements of a memory hierarchy?
[R]
Characteristics are
1. Cost Per bit
2. Capacity
3. Access Time
4. Frequency of access to the memory by the processo
7. What is Cache Memory? [R]
1. Cache memory is invisible to the OS
2. It interacts with other memory management hardware
3. Cache contains a copy of a portion of main memory .
8. List and briefly define 3 Techniques of I/O operation? [R]
• Programmed I/O
• Interrupt Driven I/O
• Direct memory access
9. What is the distinction b/w spatial locality & temporal locality? [An]
Temporal locality refers to the reuse of specific data and/or resources within
relatively small time durations.
Spatial locality refers to the use of data elements within relatively close storage
locations.
Sequential locality, a special case of spatial locality, occurs when data elements
are arranged and accessed linearly, e.g., traversing the elements in a one-
dimensional array.
10. Define Locality of Reference [R]
Locality of reference, also known as the principle of locality, is the phenomenon
of the same value or related storage locations being frequently accessed.
There are two basic types of reference locality.
o Temporal locality refers to the reuse of specific data and/or resources within
relatively small time durations.
o Spatial locality refers to the use of data elements within relatively close
storage locations.
o Sequential locality, a special case of spatial locality, occurs when data
elements are arranged and accessed linearly, e.g., traversing the elements in a one-
dimensional array.
11. What is an operating system? (NOV/DEC 2013) [R]
An operating system is a program that manages the computer hardware. it
act as an intermediate between a user‘s of a computer and the computer hardware. It
controls and coordinates the use of t h e hardware among the various application
programs for the various users.
12. What are the 3 objective of an OS Design? [R]
• Convenience – An OS makes a computer more convenient to use
• Efficiency -- An OS allows the system resources to be used in efficient
manner
• Ability to Evolve – An OS Constructed in such a way as to permit the effective
development, testing & introducing new function.
13. List the Services of operating system function. (NOV/DEC 2013) [R]
1. Program development
2. Program execution
3. User Interface
4. I/O Operations
5. File system Manipulation
6. Communication
7. Error Detection
8. Resource allocation
9. Accounting
10. Security
14. Define Kernel[R]
The kernel is a software code that resides in the central core of a operating
system. It has complete control over the system.
15. Define system call. (MAY/JUNE 2009, APRIL/MAY 2019) [R]
System Call provides the interface between running program and the OS
User can request any services from OS through System Call.
Categories of system call:-
• File management
• Process Management
• Inter process Communication
• I/O Device Management
• Information Processing & Maintenance
16. What is System Programs? (APRIL/MAY 2011) [R]
System programs provides an convenient environment to the user for developing
and executing the programs.
Categories:-
1. File management
2. Status Information
3. File Modification
4. Programming language support
5. Program loading & execution
6. Communication
17. What is Boot strapping? [R]
The boot program is stored on disk with predetermined address called boot sector.
The boot program then loads the operating system into memory to startup the computer
this arrangement is known as bootstrapping.
18. Difference b/w Monolithic & Microlithic. [An]

Monolithic Micro lithic

Kernel size is large Kernel size is small
OS is Complex to design OS is easy to Design Implement &
Install
Request may be serviced faster Request may be serviced slower
All OS services are included in the Kernel Provides only IPC and low level
Kernel Device management services
19. What is Multiprogramming? (MAY/JUNE 2013) [R]
Multi Programming increases CPU Utilization by organizing jobs so that the CPU
always has one to execute.
Advantage:-
• It increase CPU utilization
• It makes efficient use of the CPU overlapping the demands for the CPU & I/O
devices
• Increased throughput.
• Lower response time.
20. Define Real Time System [R]
Real time system is one that must react to input & responds to them quickly. A
real time system has well defined, fixed time constants.
21. What does the CPU do when there are no user programs to run? (NOV/DEC
2011) [R]
The CPU will always do processing. Even though there are no application
programs running, the operating system is still running and the CPU will still have to
process.
22. Describe the actions taken by a kernel to context-switch between processes.
[An] (NOV/DEC 2013)
In general, the operating system must save the state of the currently running
process and restore the state of the process scheduled to be run next. Saving the state of a
process typically includes the values of all the CPU registers in addition to memory
allocation. Context switches must also perform many architecture-specific operations,
including flushing data and instruction caches.
23. What is multicore processor? [R]
Hardware has been to place multiple processor cores on the same physical chip,
resulting in a multicore processor. Each core maintains its architectural state and thus
appears to the operating system to be a separate physical processor.
24. What is memory stall? [R]
Researchers have discovered that when a processor accesses memory, it spends a
significant amount of time waiting for the data to become available. This situation,
known as a memory stall , may occur for various reasons, such as a cache miss.
25. What is Boot strapping? [R]
• The boot program is stored on disk with predetermined address called boot sector.
• The boot program then loads the operating system into memory to startup the
computer. This arrangement is known as bootstrapping.
PART – B &C
1. Explain Operating System Structure and components. [R] (APRIL/MAY 2010,
NOV/DEC 2013)
2. Discuss multiprocessor systems in detail. [U] (MAY/JUNE 2013)
3. Explain in detail the types of system calls provided by a typical operating system.
[R] (NOV/DEC 2012)
4. Explain the purpose of system calls and discuss the calls related to device management
and communications in brief. [An] (MAY/JUNE 2014)
5. Explain the concepts of virtual machines, their implementation and benefits in
details.[An] (MAY/JUNE 2014)
PART – A
1. Define Process?[R]
A Process can be thought of as a program in execution. A process will need certain
resources such as CPU time, memory, files & I/O devices to accomplish its task.
Draw & briefly explain the process states?[U] or Name and draw five different
process states with proper definition. (NOV/DEC 2017)

New- The process is being created.

Running – Instructions are being executed
Waiting – The process is waiting for some event to occur
Ready – The process is waiting to be assigned a processor
Terminated - the process has finished execution
2. What is process control block? List out the data field associated with PCB.
(APR/MAY2015)[R]
Each process is represented in the operating system by a process control block also called
a task control block. (PCB) also called a task control block.

Process state
Process number
Program counter
CPU registers
Memory limits
List of open files
CPU scheduling information
Memory management information
Accounting information
I/O status information

3. What is meant by context switching?[R]

Switching the CPU to another process requires saving the state of the old process and lo
ading the savetthe state for the new process. This task is known as context switch.
4. Define co- operating process and independent process.[R]
Independent process:
o A process is independent if it cannot affect or be affected by the other processes
executing in the system.
o A process that does not share data with any other process is independent.
Cooperating process:
o A process is co-operating if it can affect or be affected by other processes
executing in the system.
o Any process that shares data with any other process is cooperating.
5. What are the benefits of multithreaded programming? [R]
The benefits of multithreaded programming can be broken down into four major categ
ories
• Responsiveness
• Resource sharing
• Economy scalability
• Utilization of multiprocessor architectures.
6. What is a thread?[R]
A thread otherwise called a lightweight process (LWP) is a basic unit of CPU uti
lization, it comprises of a thread id, a program counter, a register set and a stack. It shares
with otherthreads belonging to the same process its code section, data section, and opera
ting system resources such as open files and signals.

7. Under What circumstances CPU scheduling decision takes place.[An]

(1) When a process switches from running state to waiting state
(2) When a process switches from running state to ready state.
(3) When a process switches from running state to waiting state to ready state
(4) When a process terminates.
8. What are the various scheduling criteria for CPU scheduling?[R]
The various scheduling criteria are
• CPU utilization
• Throughput
• Turnaround time
• Waiting time
• Response time
9. Write down the definition of TestAndSet() Instruction.[R]
boolean TestAndSet (boolean &target)
{
boolean rv = *target;
*target = true;
return rv;
}
10. Define busy waiting and spinlock. [R]
Busy waiting:-
When a process is in its critical section, any other process that tries to enter its critical s
ection must loop continuously in the entry code. This is called as busy waiting.
Spinlock:-
Busy waiting waster CPU cycles that some other process might be able to use
productively. This type of semaphore is also called a spinlock because the process
―spin‖ while waiting for the lock.
11. What is mean by monitors?[R]
A high level synchronization construct. A monitor type is an ADT which presents set of
programmer define operations that are provided mutual exclusion within the monitor.
12. What are the characterizations of deadlock?[R]
1. Mutual exclusion: only one process at a time can use a resource.
2. Hold and wait: a process holding at least one resource is waiting to acquire
additional resources held by other processes.
3. No preemption: a resource can be released only voluntarily by the process holding
it, after that process has completed its task.
4. Circular wait: there exists a set {P0, P1, …, P0} of waiting processes such that P0
is waiting for a resource that is held by P1, P1 is waiting for a resource that is
held by P2, …, Pn–1 is waiting for a resource that is held by Pn, and P0 is
waiting for a resource that is held by P0.Deadlock can arise if four conditions
hold simultaneously.
13. Differentiate a Thread form a Process. (NOV/DEC 2012)[An]
Threads
• Will by default share memory
• Will share file descriptors
• Will share file system context
• Will share signal handling
Processes
• Will by default not share memory
• Most file descriptors not shared
• Don't share file system context
• Don't share signal handling
14. What are the difference b/w user level threads and kernel level threads? (MAY
/JUNE 2012) (MAY/ JUNE 2016) (NOV/DEC 2015)[An]
User threads
User threads are supported above the kernel and are implemented by a thread library
at the user level. Thread creation & scheduling are done in the user space, without
kernel intervention. Therefore they are fast to create and manage blocking system call
will cause the entire process to block
Kernel threads
Kernel threads are supported directly by the operating system .Thread creation,
scheduling and management are done by the operating system. Therefore they are
slower to create & manage compared to user threads. If the thread performs a blocking
system call, the kernel can schedule another thread in the application for execution
15. What is the use of fork and exec system calls?[R]
Fork is a system call by which a new process is created. Exec is also a system call,
which is used after a fork by one of the two processes to place the process memory space
with a new program.
16. Define thread cancellation & target thread.[R]
The thread cancellation is the task of terminating a thread before it has completed. A
thread that is to be cancelled is often referred to as the target thread. For example, if
multiple threads are concurrently searching through a database and one thread returns the
result, the remaining threads might be cancelled.
17. What are the different ways in which a thread can be cancelled?[An]
Cancellation of a target thread may occur in two different scenarios:
• Asynchronous cancellation: One thread immediately terminates the target thread
is called asynchronous cancellation.
• Deferred cancellation: The target thread can periodically check if it should
terminate, allowing the target thread an opportunity to terminate itself in an orderly
fashion.
18. Define PThreads[R]
PThreads refers to the POSIX standard defining an API for thread creation and
synchronization. This is a specification for thread behavior, not an implementation.
19. What is critical section problem?[R]
Consider a system consists of 'n' processes. Each process has segment of code called
a critical section, in which the process may be changing common variables, updating a
table, writing a file. When one process is executing in its critical section, no other
process can be allowed to execute in its critical section.
21. What are the requirements that a solution to the critical section problem must
satisfy?[R]
The three requirements are
• Mutual exclusion
• Progress & Bounded waiting
22. Define mutual exclusion. (MAY/JUNE 2013)[R]
Mutual exclusion refers to the requirement of ensuring that no two process or threads
are in their critical section at the same time.
i.e. If process Pi is executing in its critical section, then no other processes can be
executing in their critical sections.

PART-B&C
1) Explain the FCFS, preemptive and non-preemptive versions of Shortest-Job First
andRound Robin (time slice = 2) scheduling algorithms with Gantt charts for the four
Processes given. Compare their average turnaround and waiting time. [E] (NOV/DEC
2012)
Process Arrival Time Waiting Time
P1 0 8
P2 1 4
P3 2 9
P4 3 5

2) Write in detail about several CPU scheduling algorithms. [An] (APRIL/MAY2011)

3) What is critical section? Specify the requirements for a solution to critical
sectionproblem. [An] (NOV/DEC 2012)

4) How monitors help in process synchronization. [An] (NOV/DEC 2009)Write in detail

about deadlock avoidance. [U] (NOV/DEC 2009)
5) Write in detail about deadlock recovery. [U] (APRIL/MAY2011)
6) Explain the Banker algorithm for deadlock avoidance in detail with an example. [Ap]
(APRIL/MAY2010, NOV/DEC 2012) (NOV/DEC 2013)
7) Explain the FCFS, preemptive and non-preemptive versions of Shortest-Job First and
Round Robin (time slice = 2) scheduling algorithms with Gantt charts for the four
Processes given. Compare their average turnaround and waiting time. [Ap]
(APR/MAY 2015)
Process Arrival Time Waiting Time
P1 0 10
P2 1 6
P3 2 12
P4 15
3
UNIT---3
1. What is virtual memory? Mention its advantages. (NOV/DEC 2012)
(MAY/JUNE 2014) [R]
Virtual memory is a technique that allows the execution of processes that may not be
completely in memory. It is the separation of user logical memory from physical
memory. This separation provides an extremely large virtual memory, when only a
smaller physical memory is available.
The main visible advantage of this scheme is that programs can be larger than physical
memory.
2. Define Demand paging and write advantages. [R]
Virtual memory is commonly implemented by demand paging. In demand paging,
the pager brings only those necessary pages into memory instead of swapping in a whole
process. Thus it avoids reading into memory pages that will not be used anyway,
decreasing the swap time and the amount of physical memory needed.
3. What is the purpose of paging the page tables? [R]
In certain situations the page tables could become large enough that by paging the
page tables, one could simplify the memory allocation problem (by ensuring that
everything is allocated as fixed-size pages as opposed to variable-sized chunks) and also
enable the swapping of portions of page table that are not currently used.
4. What do you mean by thrashing? (APR/MAY 2015) [R] (APR/MAY 2019)
Thrashing is the coincidence of high page traffic and low CPU utilization.
5. How do you limit the effects of thrashing? [An]
To limit the effect of thrashing we can use local replacement algorithm. With Local
replacement algorithm, if the process starts thrashing, it cannot steal frames from another
process and cause the latter to thrash as well. The problem is not entirely solved. Thus
the effective access time will increase even for the process that is not thrashing.
6. What do mean by page fault? [R]
Page fault is the situation in which the page is not available whenever a processor
needs to execute it.
7. Differentiate between Global and Local page replacement algorithms. [An]

Global Page Replacement Algorithm Local Page Replacement Algorithm

Allows a process to select a Each process select form only its own
replacement frame from the set of all set of allocated frames
The number of frames allocated to a The number of frames allocated to a
process can change since a process may process does not change
happen to select only frames allocated
to other processes, thus increasing the
number of frames allocated to it.
A process cannot control its own page- A process can control its own page-
fault rate fault rate
8. Define TLB. [R]
a. Translation Look-Aside Buffer, a table in the processors memory that contains
information about the pages in memory the processor has accessed recently
b. The TLB enables faster computing because it allows the address processing to take
place independent of the normal address-translation pipeline
9. Define Pre paging. [R]
It is an attempt to prevent the high level of initial paging. This strategy is to bring into
memory at one time all the pages the will be needed.
Example: - Solaris uses pre paging.
10. Define logical address and physical address. [R]
An address generated by the CPU is referred as logical address. An address seen
by the memory unit that is the one loaded into the memory address register of the
memory is commonly referred as physical address
11. What is the main function of the memory-management unit?[R]
The runtime mapping from virtual to physical addresses is done by a hardware
device called a memory management unit (MMU).
12. What is difference between demands paging n pure demand paging? [R]
In demand paging, a page is not loaded into main memory until it is needed. In
pure demand paging, even a single page is not loaded into memory initially. Hence pure
demand paging causes a page fault.
13. Define Copy-on-write. [R]
Copy-on-write finds its main use in virtual memory operating systems; when
a process creates a copy of itself, the pages in memory that might be modified by either
the process or its copy are marked copy-on-write.
14. Define swapping. (NOV/DEC 2013) [R]
A process needs to be in memory to be executed. However a process can be
swapped temporarily out of memory to a backing store and then brought back into
memory for continued execution. This process is called swapping.
15. What are the common strategies to select a free hole from a set of available
holes? [R]
The most common strategies are
A. First fit B. Best fit C. Worst fit
16. Define lazy swapper. [R]
Rather than swapping the entire process into main memory, a lazy swapper is
used. A lazy swapper never swaps a page into memory unless that page will be needed.
PART-B &C
1. Describe the hierarchical paging technique for structuring page tables. (8) [An]
(MAY/JUNE 2013)
2. What is the cause for thrashing? How does the system detect thrashing? Once it
detects, what can the system do to eliminate this problem? [An] (MAY/JUNE 2009)
3. Write in detail about Segmentation.[U] (NOV/DEC 2009)
4. Write in detail about Segmentation with Paging. [U] (APRIL/MAY2010)
5. Explain the segmentation with paging implemented in OS/2 32-bit IBM system.
Describe the following algorithms: [An] (APRIL/MAY2010)
a. First fit
b. Best Fit
c. Worst Fit
6. Explain how paging supports virtual memory. With a neat diagram explain how
logical address is translated into physical address. [An] (NOV/DEC 2012)
7. Explain the principles of segmented and paging implemented in memory with a
diagram. [U] (NOV/DEC2013)
8. Explain the segmentation with paging implemented in MULTICS system. [U]

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 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.
13) 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.
14) 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
15) What are the advantages of Contiguous allocation? [R]
The advantages are
• Supports direct access
• Supports sequential access
• Number of disk seeks is minimal.
16) 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
17) 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.
18) 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.
19) 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.
20) 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.

21) List the attributes of a file(MAY/JUNE 2014)[R]
Name, Identifier, Type, Location, Size, Protection, Time, Date and User
authentication.
22) 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.
23) 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
24) 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
25) 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.
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) 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)

PART-A
1) What is Linux distribution?[R]
A Linux distribution includes all the standard components of the Linux system,
plus a set of administrative tools to simplify the initial installation and subsequent
upgrading of Linux and manage installation and removal of other packages on the
system.
2) What is the use of User mode? [R]
Under Linux, no user code is built into the kernel. Any operating-system-support
code that does not need to run in kernel mode is placed into the system libraries and runs
in user mode.
3) What are the components of kernel mode[R]
The module support under Linux has four components:
1. The module-management system allows modules to be loaded into memory
and to communicate with the rest of the kernel.
2. The module loader and unloader, which are user-mode utilities, work with the
module-management system to load a module into memory.
3. The driver-registration system allows modules to tell the rest of the kernel that
a new driver has become available.
4. A conflict-resolution mechanism allows different device drivers to reserve
hardware resources and to protect those resources from accidental use by another driver.
4) What is process Identity? [R]
Each process has a unique identifier. The PID is used to specify the process to the
operating system when an application makes a system call to signal, modify, or wait for
the process. Additional identifiers associate the process with a process group (typically, a
tree of processes forked by a single user command and login session.
5) Define DNS[R]
The Domain Name System (DNS) provides host-name-to-network-address
translations for the entire Internet. Before DNS became widespread, files containing the
same information were sent via e-mail or ftp between all networked hosts.
6) What is virtualization? [R]
Virtualization, in computing, refers to the act of creating a virtual (rather than
actual) version of something, including but not limited to a virtual computer hardware
platform, operating system (OS), storage device, or computer network resources.

7) Do FAT file system is advantageous? Why?[An]

FAT File System is best for cross-compatibility with other platforms. There are
NTFS file system drivers for Linux, but not really for Windows. FAT, however, can be
read more or less transparently by both operating systems. There is also a slight speed
gain in FAT.
8) What is the responsibility of kernel in Linux operating system?[R]
Kernel is the core part of Linux. It is responsible for all major activities of this
operating system. It is consists of various modules and it interacts directly with the
underlying hardware. Kernel provides the required abstraction to hide low level hardware
details to system or application programs.
9) Why Virtualization is required? (Nov/Dec 2015) [An]
Virtualization reduces the number of physical servers, reducing the energy
required to power and cool them. Save time. With fewer servers, you can spend less time
on the manual tasks required for server maintenance. It's also much faster to deploy a
virtual machine than it is to deploy a new physical server.
10) State the components of a Linux System? (May/Jun 2016)[R]
• Kernel: The kernel is responsible for maintaining all the important abstractions of the
operating system, including such things as virtual memory and processes.
• System libraries: The system libraries define a standard set of functions through
which applications can interact with the kernel. These functions implement much of the
operating-system functionality that does not need the full privileges of kernel code.
• System utilities: The system utilities are programs that perform individual,
specialized management tasks. Some system utilities are invoked just once to initialize
and configure some aspect of the system.
11) Define the function of Caching-only servers. (May/Jun 2016)[R]
All DNS servers cache answers to queries they receive from outside their own
zone of authority. A cache-only DNS server is not authoritative for any zone. Related
Topics: DNS root servers: Root servers are critical to the function of a DNS server that is
directly connected to the Internet.
12) What is virtualization? (NOV/DEC 2016)[R]
In computing, virtualization refers to the act of creating a virtual (rather than
actual) version of something, including virtual computer hardware platforms, storage
devices, and computer network resources.
13) What scheduling algorithm is used in linux operating system to schedule jobs?
(NOV/DEC 2016)[R]
The Completely Fair Scheduler (CFS) Algorithm is used in Linux operating
system to schedule jobs.

14) Mention any two features of Linux file systems. (APR/MAY 2017)[U]
✓ Portable
✓ Open Source
✓ Multi user
✓ Multi Programming
17) List the advantages of Linux OS.[U] (NOV/DEC 2017)
Advantages of Linux OS:
Low cost
Stability
Performance
Security, Flexibility, Compatibility
18) Write the purpose of using virtualization.[R] (NOV/DEC 2017)
Operating system virtualization provides application-transparent virtualization to
users by decoupling applications from the OS. The OS virtualization technique offers
granular control at the application level by facilitating the transparent migration of
individual applications. OS virtualization can also be used to migrate critical applications
to another running operating system instance.

19) List the advantages and disadvantage of writing an operating system in high
level language such as C.[R] (APR/MAY 2018)
The code can be written faster, is more compact, and is easier to understand and
debug. In addition, improvements in compiler technology will improve the generated
code for the entire operating system by simple recompilation. Finally, an operating
system is far easier to port to move to some other hardware if it is written in a higher-
level language
20) What is handle? How does a process obtain a handle? [U] (APR/MAY 2018)
The handle is an integer value in the operating system assigned to the associated
process when the process was started. The system uses this handle to keep track of
process attributes. An application can obtain a handle to a process that can be used as a
parameter to many process-information and control functions.
21. Write short notes on driver registration in Linux. (APR/MAY 2019)
The driver registration allows modules to tell the rest of the kernel that a new driver has
become available.
22. List out the methods used to recover from the deadlock. (APR/MAY 2019)
We can use a protocol to prevent or avoid deadlocks, ensuring that the system will never
enter a deadlocked state.
• We can allow the system to enter a deadlocked state, detect it, and recover.
• We can ignore the problem altogether and pretend that deadlocks never occur in the
system.
23.What are the Components of a Linux System?
Every OS has component parts, and the Linux OS also has the following components
parts:
• Boot loader
• OS Kernel
• Background services
• OS Shell
• Graphics server
• Desktop environment
• Applications.
24.Which layer of iOS contains fundamental system services for apps?
The Core Services layer contains the fundamental system services that all
applications use, The Core Services layer provides an abstraction over the services
provided in the Core OS layer. It provides fundamental access to iOS services and
consists of the following components:
▪ Collections
▪ Address Book
▪ Networking
▪ File Access
▪ SQLite
▪ Core Location
▪ Net Services
▪ Threading
▪ Preferences
▪ URL Utilities
PART-B & C
1. Explain in detail about the concepts of Linux system. [U]
2. Explain in detail about virtualization [U]
3. Explain in detail about setting up a Linux mainframe server [An]
4. Explain in detail about Linux host and adding guest OS [U]
5. Explain the significance and steps involved in setting up Xen, VMware software‘s on
Linux host for successful virtualization in detail. [An] May/June 2015
6. Briefly discuss about the requirements to become a Linux system administrator.
[An] May/June 2015
7. Discuss about the steps involved in the installation of a Linux Multifunction server.
[An] May/June 2015
8. Write a short note on Linux Network Services. [U] May/June 2015
9. Write about LINUX architecture and LINUX kernel with neat sketch. [U] (Nov/Dec
2015)
10. Explain in detail about LINUX multifunction server, DNS VMware on LINUX host.
[An] (Nov/Dec 2015)
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