MERU UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

P.O. Box 972-60200 – Meru-Kenya.

Tel: +254(0) 799 529 958, +254(0) 799 529 959, +254 (0)712 524 293
Website: www.must.ac.ke Email: info@mucst.ac.ke

University Examinations 2019/2020

THIRD YEAR, FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS FOR DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF

SCIENCE IN MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

CIT 3229: OPERATING SYSTEMS II

DATE: DECEMBER 2019 TIME: 2 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question ONE and any other TWO questions.

QUESTION ONE (30 MARKS)

a) Explain what a process migration is. (2 Marks)

b) Explain a remote procedure call (RPC) in relation to networked operating systems
design and operation. (4 Marks)
c) Discuss two distributed system models used in a networked operating system design
and implementation. (4 Marks)
d) Discuss four computer program threats in operating system environment (4 Marks)
e) Discuss the differences between a network operating system and a distributed
operating system. (4 Marks)
f) Discuss the two deadlock prevention mechanisms in a networked environment
(4 Marks)
g) Discuss the differences between Preemptive and Non-preemptive process transfers in
process migration. (4 Marks)
h) Discuss the two cache update policies in a distributed file system management
(4 Marks)
QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)

a) Discuss two naming schemes used in distributed file system management

(4 Marks)
b) Discuss the following file services in a distributed operating environment:
(i) Stateful file service (4 Marks)
(ii) Stateless file service (4 Marks)

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c) Discuss four reasons for process migration in distributed process management
(8 Marks)

QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)

a) Discuss time-stamping in relation to ordering of events in a distributed operating

system. (4 Marks)
b) Discuss four transparency requirements in a distributed file system (8 Marks)
c) A company intends to set up a distributed operating system for their service delivery
considerations. Discuss four problems the company is likely to contend with in this
task. (8 Marks)

QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)

a) Discuss token-passing approach in handling of events ordering in distributed

processing. (4 Marks)
b) Discuss the concept of file replication in distributed file systems (8 Marks)
c) Discuss four benefits accrued by implementing distributed shared memory operations
in a distributed operating environment. (8 Marks)

QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)

a) Discuss the centralized algorithm for mutual exclusion in distributed processes.

(4 Marks)
b) Discuss four algorithms used in distributed shared memory. (8 Marks)
c) A company wishes to design and implement a distributed system for their operations.
Discuss four problems the designers are likely to encounter in this endeavor(8 Marks)

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