Midterm

CS604 Operating Systems 2013

A computer system can be divided roughly into four components:

The software, the operating system, the application programs and the users
The hardware, the operating system, the application programs and the users
The hardware, the operating system, the application programs and the emails
The hardware, the database system, the application programs and the users
2. We use function -------------------to create a thread
fork()
thread() (pg 71)
mkfifo()
open()
3. The priorities of processes in the ----------Group remain fixed whereas the priorities of
processes in the -----------Group are recalculated every second.
Kernel, Kernel
User, Kernel
User, User
Kernel, User (pg 93)
1Command-line interpreter is often known as the --------
register
shell (pg 16)
kernel
1 timer
2. You can display all of the signals supported by your system, along with their numbers, by
using the -----------command
<Ctrl-A>
fg

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
jobs
kill –l (pg 69)
4. The section of code implementing the request that each process must first request
permission to enter its critical section is called the -------------
Critical Section (CS)
Entry Section (ES) (pg 101)
Leave/Exit Section (LS).
Remainder Section (RS).
5. OS helps manages the following except
Application software
Bus speed of the system
Memory
Virtual memory
6. The critical section problem can be solved by the following except
Software based solution
Firmware based solution (pg 101)
Operating system based solution
Hardware based solution
7. __________ commands in Linux is used to copy file
ls
cp (pg 30)
mv
mkdir
8. In Unix/ Linux, by default the standard input file is attached to the ___________
Mouse
Keyboard (pg 55)
Light pen
Joystick
9. Which one of the following is the correct syntax to copy file1 to file2?
cp file2, file1
cp file1/file2
cp file2 file1
cp file1 file2 (pg 30)
10. Which one of the following indicates end of the file in a read ( ) system call?
-1
0
1
2
11. Which of the following command is used to read data from file named academics?
con < academics
cat < academics (page 58)
2 socket > academics
ran > academics
12. The __________ view is a program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a
computer and the computer hardware, and makes the computer system convenient to use.
Top-down (pg 6)

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
Bottom-up
External
Internal
13. ________threads are supported directly by the operating system.
Kernel (pg 73)
Functional
Non-functional
User
14. In __________model, there is a kernel thread for every user thread.
One-to-one (pg 74)
Many –to-one
One-to-many
Many-to-many
15. While two processes in execution, only one can be in critical section at a time , this
requirement is named as __________.
Race condition
Mutual exclusion (page 101
Progress
Bounded waiting
16. A binary semaphore________.
has the values one or zero (page 117)
is essential to binary computers
is a deadlock scheme
is a preemption scheme
17. A ------------process produces information that is consumed by a -----------process.
Consumer, Producer
Producer, Consumer (pg 44)
Customer, Purchaser
Merchandiser, Consumer
18. Blocking is considered ___________ and Non-blocking is considered _____________ .
Synchronous , Asynchronous (pg 47)
Synchronous , Asynchronous
Direct , Indirect
Zero capacity , Bounded capacity
19. -------------------- are used by shell commands to pass data from one shell pipeline to
another, without creating temporary files.
Pipes
Message queues
BSD sockets
FIFOs (pg 61)
20. mkfifo() is a (an) ------------------ .
3 System call
Library call (pg 58)
Interrupt
Signal
1 A ----------- is a multi-user, multi-process, and interactive system

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
Batch systems
Single-user system
Time-sharing systems (pg 9)
Multi programmed systems
2. You can display all of the signals supported by your system, along with their numbers, by
using the -----------command

<Ctrl-A>
fg
jobs
kill –l (pg 69)
CS604 Operating Systems
1. The priorities of processes in the ----------Group remain fixed whereas the priorities of
processes in the -----------Group are recalculated every second.
Kernel, Kernel
User, Kernel
User, User
Kernel, User (pg 93)
2. Preemptive scheme of Short job first scheduling is known as -------
First Come First Serve Scheduling
Priority Scheduling
Round-Robin Scheduling
Shortest-Remaining-Time-First (pg 85)
3. In Linux directory structure, there is ___________ root directory.
1 (pg 26)
2
3
4
4. Linux uses ___________ directory to store system configuration files.
/bin
/dev
/boot
/etc (pg 26)
5. Process synchronization is a process of helping processes to _________________
update the shared data simultaneously
update the shared data and resources in an orderly fashion (g 98)
not to update the shared data or memory
access data and memory at first come first serve basis
6. All ------------ within a process share the same address space
Threads (pg 70)
Processes
4 CPU burst
IO Burst
7. …………………….. provides basic computing resources.
Application programs
Operating System

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
Hardware (pg 4)
Users
8. The systems that control scientific experiments, medical imaging systems, industrial
control systems and certain display systems are examples of ………………….. systems.
Real Time system (pg 9)
Batch
Multi programmed
Time-sharing system
9. A named pipe is a pipe whose access point is a file kept on the file system called
as……………………….
None of the given
All of the given (pg 59)
Named FIFO
FIFO
10. A new process can be created by using
Fork System Call (pg 39)
Trap
Signal
Interrupt
11. Which of the following command is used to read data from file named academics?
con < academics
cat < academics (page 58)
socket > academics
ran > academics
12. “No resource can be forcibly removed from a process holding it” best describes which
one of the following conditions?
Mutual Exclusion (page 131)
Hold and wait
Starvation
No preemption
13. ________threads are supported directly by the operating system.
Kernel (pg 73)
Functional
Non-functional
User
14. ________threads are implemented by a thread library at the user level.
Kernel
User (pg 73)
Functional
Non-functional
15. A ______________ is a piece of code in a cooperating process in which the process may
5 update shared data (variable, file, database, etc.).
critical section (pg 100)
critical region
monitor
semaphore

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
16. A ------------process produces information that is consumed by a -----------process.
Consumer, Producer
Producer, Consumer (pg 44)
Customer, Purchaser
Merchandiser, Consumer
17. The wait () system call suspends the calling process until one of the immediate children
_______________ or until a child that is being traced stops because it has hit an event of
interest.
Processes
Terminates (pg 42)
Sleeps
Executes
18. Blocking is considered ___________ and Non-blocking is considered _____________ .
Synchronous , Asynchronous (pg 47)
Asynchronous , Synchronous
Direct , Indirect
Zero capacity , Bounded capacity
19. In client-server applications, which of the following are used to pass data between a
server process and client processes?
FIFOs (pg 61)
Message queues
BSD sockets
Pipes
20. mkfifo() is a (an) ------------------ .
System call
Library call (pg 58)
Interrupt
Signal
CS604 Operating Systems
1.In Linux directory structure, there is ___________ root directory.
1 (pg 26)
2
3
4
2. Shared libraries and kernel modules are stored in _____________ directory
/bin
/dev
/boot
/lib (pg 26)
3. __________________ is a software based solution to the synchronization problem.
Bakery algorithm
6 TSL instruction
Semaphore(page 111)
Monitors
4. In a Multilevel Queue, the foreground queue has -------- scheduling algorithm and
background queue has -------------- scheduling algorithm

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
First Come First Serve, Round-Robin
Round-Robin, First Come First Serve (pg 91)
Round-Robin, Round-Robin
First Come First Serve, First Come First Serve
5. Time from submission to completion of process is called ------------
Response Time (pg 83)
Throughput
Waiting Time
Turnaround Time:
6. The creating process is called a--------------- process while the new processes are called
the -------------- of that process
None of the given options
Parent, children (pg 38)
Zombie, single
Children, parent
7. Taking the CPU from one process and giving the cpu to another process is termed as
Context Switching (pg 34)
Dispatching
Swapping
Tracking
8. Using _________system call, we can create a new process in Unix.
Fork (pg 39)
exec
wait
exit
9. Which type of operating system guarantees that critical tasks must be completed on
time?
Timesharing system
Multitasking system
Batch system
Realtime system (pg 10)
10. Which of the following is used to show the end of file in unix?
Ctrl+D
Ctrl+A
Ctrl+O
Ctrl+E
11. In a multithreaded model, Which one of the following provides true concurrency?
Many-to-one
One-to-one (pg 74)
Many-to-many
One-to-many
7 12. “No resource can be forcibly removed from a process holding it” best describes which
one of the following conditions?
Mutual Exclusion Repeated
Hold and wait
Starvation

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
No preemption
13. The __________ view is a program that acts as an intermediary between a user of a
computer and the computer hardware, and makes the computer system convenient to use.

Top-down (pg 6)
Bottom-up
External
Internal
14. ___________ and __________ CPU registers are specifically designed to provide memory
protection by limiting access to a process with in its address space.
Counter, add
Base, limit (pg13)
Program counter, accumulator
Buffer, data register
15. A time interval when a process uses I/O devices only is called __________.
CPU burst
I/O burst (Not sure)
Scheduling
Context switching
16. Under _________scheduling, once the CPU has been allocated to a process, the process
keeps the CPU until either it switches to the waiting state, finishes its CPU burst, or
terminates.
Short-term scheduler
Preemptive
Non-preemptive (pg 82)
Both preemptive and non- preemptive
17. The non-critical section code in any critical section problem is termed as ____________.
Critical Section
Entry Section
Leave/Exit Section
Remainder Section (pg 101)
18. N-process critical section problem can be solved by using ______________.
The bakery algorithm (page 105)
Deterministic modeling
Analytic Evaluation
TestAndSet instruction
19. In direct communication, link is associated with exactly_______pair(s) of communicating
processes.
Four
Two (pg 47)
One
8 Three
20. In Unix/Linux client server process communication, server process runs in the
background by terminating its command line with --------------.
& (pg 65)
@

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
%
$
CS604 Operating Systems
1.Preemptive ----------------scheduling is sometimes called shortest-remaining-time-first
scheduling.
First-Come-First-Served (FCFS)
Round-Robin
Sorted Job First (SJF) (pg 85)
Priority
2. The priorities of processes in the ----------Group remain fixed whereas the priorities of
processes in the -----------Group are recalculated every second.
Kernel, Kernel
User, Kernel
User, User
Kernel, User (pg 93)
3. Each thread has its own ---------------
Process ID (PID)
Address space
Thread ID (TID) (page 70)
Open file descriptors
5. Files that start with a -------- in UNIX/Linux directory structure are known as hidden files
.
. (dot) (pg 28)
# ( hash )
/ (slash)
~ (tilt)
6. You can compile yours program in a UNIX/LINUX system by the ----------- command
$rm
$cp
$mv
Gcc (page 31)
7. A process terminates by calling the -----------system call.
Wait
Fork
exec
exit (pg 39)
8. __________ scheduler selects the process from the job pool and put them in main memory.
Long term (pg 36)
Short term
Medium term
Swapper
9 9. Which of the following command is used to read data from file named academics?
con < academics
cat < academics (Repeated)
socket > academics
ran > academics

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
10. Semaphore can be used for solving __________.
Wait & signal
Deadlock
Synchronization (page 111)
Priority
11. In ________________, user does not get to interact with his/her jobs and jobs having similar
needs are executed in groups at the same time, one after the other.
Batch systems (page 7)
Multi programmed systems
Single-user system
Time-sharing systems
12. In __________ model, many user-level threads are supported per kernel thread.
One-to-one
Many –to-one
Many-to-many (pg73)
One-to-many
13. Command-line interpreter is also called __________ in some operating systems.
Kernel
Shell (pg 16)
Signal
API
14. A time interval when a process uses CPU only is called _____________.
Scheduling
I/O burst
CPU burst
Dispatch latency
15. A time interval when a process uses I/O devices only is called __________.
CPU burst
I/O burst
Scheduling
Context switching
16. The process that satisfies all three requirements of critical section problem is called
_________.
Algorithm 1
Algorithm 2
Algorithm 3 (page 104)
Algorithm N
17. The TSL (TestAndSet instruction) which is the hardware solution to synchronization
problem does not satisfy the ________ condition, hence not considered to be a good solution.
Progress
Bounded waiting (page 109)
10 Mutual exclusion
No preemption
18.The Swap instruction which is the hardware solution to synchronization problem does
not satisfy the ________ condition, hence not considered to be a good solution.
Progress

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
Bounded waiting (page 109)
Mutual exclusion
No preemption

19. A ---------process is a process that has terminated but whose exit status has not yet been
received by its parent process or by init.
Parent
Zombie (page 42)
Child
Fork
20. Blocking is considered ___________ and Non-blocking is considered _____________ .
Synchronous , Asynchronous (pg 47)
Asynchronous , Synchronous
Direct , Indirect
Zero capacity , Bounded capacity

21. Differentiate Entry section and Remainder section.02

Answer: The section of code implementing this request is called the entry section. The
remaining code is the remainder section.
When a process executes code that manipulates shared data (or resource), we say that the
process is in its critical section (for that shared data). The execution of critical sections
must be mutually exclusive: at any time, only one process is allowed to execute in its
critical section (even with multiple processors). So each process must first request
permission to enter its critical section. The section of code implementing this request is
called the entry section. The remaining code is the remainder section.
22. Suppose there is a thread mapping model used to map user-level threads to
kernel-level threads. Here in this model, there exist many kernel-level threads that
support a number of user-level threads and concurrencies in between these threads.
Suggest the name of the model described above. 02
Answer: One-to-One: In this model, there is a kernel thread for every user thread Thus,
this model provides true concurrency. This means that a process does not block when a
thread makes a system call. The main disadvantage of this model is the overhead of
creating a kernel thread per user thread. Examples of these threads are WindowsNT,
Windows 2000, and OS/2.

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
23. Threads play impotant role during the exection of processes. You have to identify
how does a thread operate in the same way as that of a process? Mention at least 2
similarities between a thread and a process.03
Answer: Similarities between thread and process.
• Share cpu
• sequential execution
• create child
• If one thread is blocked then the next will be start to run like process
21. Process can run either as background process or as foreground process. If there
is a process which is in the suspended state and working in background, you wanted
to display the status of suspended and background process in a UNIX/LINUX shell.
Which command will you use?02
Answer:
Moving a process into foreground: fg [%job_id]
where, job_id is the job ID (not process ID) of the suspended or background process. If
%job_id is omitted, the current job is assumed.
Moving a process into background: bg [%job_id]
If %job_id is omitted the current job is assumed. (pg 68)

22. Give at least two real world example that illustrate critical section problem.02
Answer: Critical Section
A piece of code in a cooperating process in which the process may update shared data
(variable, file, database, etc.).
Concurrent transactions in a bank or in an airline reservation (or travel agent) office are a
couple of other examples that illustrates the critical section problem.

23. With respect to UNIX System V scheduling algorithm, Sort the Kernel group
activities in decreasing order of priority as given below:
• Character I/O device control processes
• File manipulation
• Swapper
• User processes
• Block I/O device control processes03
Answer:
• Swapper
• Block I/O device control processes
• File manipulation
• Character I/O device control processes
• User processes
24. Process can run either as background process or as foreground process. If the
12 process is running in background and you wanted to resume a process in a
UNIX/LINUX shell. Which command will you use for it? Write its syntax used in
UNIX/LINUX and explains each part of it.03
Answer:
Moving a process into foreground: fg [%job_id]

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
where, job_id is the job ID (not process ID) of the suspended or background process. If
%job_id is omitted, the current job is assumed.
Moving a process into background: bg [%job_id]
If %job_id is omitted the current job is assumed. (pg 68)

25. Let us consider a situation in which we want to communicate between unrelated

processes on the same system (not on different systems). In UNIX/Linux, which IPC
tool will be used in this situation and why?05
Answer:
Named pipe (FIFO): FIFOs (also known as named pipes) are used for communication
between related or unrelated processes on a UNIX/Linux system.
We continue to discuss the API for using FIFOs for IPC between UNIX/Linux processes. We
call these processes client and server. The server process creates two FIFOs, FIFO1 and
FIFO2, and opens FIFO1 for reading and FIFO2 for writing. The client process opens FIFO1
for writing and FIFO2 for reading. The client process writes a message to the server
process and waits for a response from the server process. The server process reads the
message sent by the client process and displays it on the monitor screen. It then sends a
message to the client through FIFO2, which the client reads and displays on the monitor
screen. The server process then closes the two FIFOs and terminates. The client, after
displaying server’s message, deletes the two FIFOs and terminates.

26. What do you think that which “critical section problem” is actually depicting and
in how many ways its solution can be categorized?05
Answer: When a process executes code that manipulates shared data (or resource), we say
that the process is in its critical section (for that shared data). The execution of critical
sections must be mutually exclusive: at any time, only one process is allowed to execute in
its critical section (even with multiple processors). So each process must first request
permission to enter its critical section.
There can be three kinds of solution to the critical section problem:
• Software based solutions
• Hardware based solutions
Operating system based solution

21. Which term is best suited for a situation in which a process is in its critical
section, any other process that tries to enter its critical section must loop
continuously in the entry code?02
Answer: This continual looping is clearly a problem in a real multiprogramming system,
where a single CPU is shared among many processes. Busy waiting wastes CPU cycles that
some other process may be able to use productively. This type of semaphore is also called a
spinlock (because the process spins while waiting for the lock).
22.Write the name of threads where OS is fully aware of its creation and mapping
13 methods and also give an example of OS that support these threads.02
Answer: Kernel threads are supported directly by the operating system. The kernel
performs the scheduling, creation, and management in kernel space; the kernel level
threads are hence slower to create and manage, compared to user level threads. However
since the kernel is managing threads, if a thread performs a blocking system call, the kernel

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CS604 Operating Systems 2013
can schedule another thread in the application for execution. Windows NT, Windowss
2000, Solaris, BeOS and Tru64 UNIX support kernel threads.
23. Let us consider a situation in which we can perform a same task either by
creating a thread or a child process. Out of thread and a child process, which one you
will choose to perform a task if you don’t have sufficient main memory and you don’t
want context switch to take place? Give reason to support your answer.03
Answer: I will Choose Thread to perform a task.
By default, threads share the memory and the resources of the process to which they
belong. Code sharing allows an application to have several different threads of activity all
within the same address space.
24. Hardware solution to critical section involves use of swap instruction. Write the
code that specifies implementation of mutual exclusion using swap instruction.03
Answer: boolean Swap(boolean &a, boolean &b)
{
boolean temp=a;
a=b;
b=temp; }

26. Many solutions to critical section problem are given. One of them is the use of
hardware instructions. Can you specify such type of instructions? Name them and
also tell which of the requirements of critical sections are satisfied by these
instructions and which are not.05
Answer:
These instructions are TestAndSet (also known as TestAndSetLock; TSL) and Swap.
• If the machine supports TestAndSet instruction, then we can implement mutual
exclusion by declaring a Boolean variable lock, initialized to false.
• TSL-based solution is not good because even though mutual exclusion and progress
are satisfied, bounded waiting is not.
• Swap-based solution is not good because even though mutual exclusion and
progress are satisfied, bounded waiting is not.

21. There are two assumptions given below: 1) each process executes at a nonzero
speed. 2) No assumption can be made regarding the relative speeds of the N
processes. You have to identify the problem that can be solved by using these
instructions.02
Answer: These Assumption made while formulating a solution to the critical section
problem

22. Suppose there is a thread mapping model used to map user-level threads to
kernel-level threads. Here in this model, there exist many kernel-level threads that
14 support a number of user-level threads and concurrencies in between these threads.
Suggest the name of the model described above. 02
Answer: One-to-One: In this model, there is a kernel thread for every user thread Thus,
this model provides true concurrency. This means that a process does not block when a
thread makes a system call. The main disadvantage of this model is the overhead of

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 Midterm
CS604 Operating Systems 2013
creating a kernel thread per user thread. Examples of these threads are WindowsNT,
Windows 2000, and OS/2.
25. Critical section problem have different hardware and software based solution.
There is given below a hardware TestAndSet instruction solution for critical section
problem. You have to identify the shortcoming of this solution?
do
{while (TestAndSet(lock)) ;
Critical section
lock=false;
Remainder section
} while(1);
05
Answer: The above Swap-based solution is not good because even though mutual
exclusion and progress are satisfied, bounded waiting is not.

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