SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS CS 690 TEST 1

Multiple Choice Choose the best answer.

1. Which of the following statements is true?

a. An available computer system is also highly reliable

b. An available computer system may not be highly reliable

c. An available computer system is one that has a high mean time between failure

d. Both a) and c) are true

2. System calls are used to

a. save time, by avoiding mode switches when accessing kernel resources

b. save memory, by allowing multiple processes to share the same code

c. ask the operating system to perform some protected action for a user process

d. all of the above

2. The small-kernel operating system architecture targeted at hosting multiple untrusted applications that require little data sharing is a(n)

a. microkernel

b. extensible kernel

c. minimal kernel

d. isolation kernel

3. When a semaphore is used to enforce mutual exclusion, it should be initialized to

a. zero

b. one

c. n, where n is the number of processes sharing the resource

d. Can’t tell without knowing more about the problem

4. In the three state model, a process leaving the Blocked state will next go to

a. the Run state

b. the Ready state

c. the Ready or Run state

d. There’s no way to tell.

5. A computer configuration that supports high-performance computing across a network (usually the Internet), using resources that are not subject to centralized control is

a. A network of workstations (NOW)

b. A cluster computer

c. A grid computer

d. A massively parallel processor (MPP)

Fill In The Blank

1. In the OSI reference model for network protocols, routing is a function of the ________________ layer.

2. A distributed system architecture in which all nodes share responsibility for managing part of the data set is a _________________ architecture.

Short Answers Choose THREE of the following five questions and answer briefly. If you answer more than three, I will grade the first THREE only, so be sure to mark out the answers you do not want me to grade. If a question has two parts you must answer both parts to get full credit.

1. What is a virtual machine monitor, (a virtual machine operating system)? What advantages are provided by this kind of operating system architecture?

2. Define system call, mode switch, and context switch. Explain the roles these three concepts play in computer systems. (In other words, why are they needed; what problem do they solve?)

3. Give a major difference between a client-server system and a peer-to-peer system?

Discussion: Suppose you have a parallel multithreaded application consisting of several kernel-level threads that periodically synchronize and exchange information. What advantage would there be in having the application execute on a shared memory multiprocessor instead of a distributed system?

Would the application derive the same advantage if the threads were user-level instead of kernel-level? Justify your answer.