OPERATING SYSTEM

UNIT-1

PART-A

1. Define Operating System.

Ans. Operating system can be defined as system software which acts as interface between user and
the system and manages the resources in efficient way.

2. What are the goals of Operating System.

Ans. Program Execution and Handling, Communications, Exception Detection and Handling.

3. Define Spooling.

Ans. Simultaneous Peripheral Operation On Line uses the disk as a large buffer to read ahead as
possible on input devices for storing output until output devices are available to accept them.

4. Define Buffering.

Ans. To handle the mismatch in speed between the CPU and I/O devices buffer is placed in the main
memory first the data from I/O devices go to the memory in buffer and it will transfer the data
with same speed of CPU.

5. List Various types of Operating Systems.

Ans. Multiprogramming and Time Sharing Operating System, Distributed Operating System, Real
Time Operating System, Multi Processor Operating System.

6. What are the advantages of Multiprogramming.

Ans. No memory wastage. Efficient memory utilization.

CPU is never idle, so the performance will increase.

7. Define the term Multiprogramming.

Ans. A multiprogramming Operating system is a system that allows more than one user program to
be stored in main memory simultaneously.

8. Define Multiprocessor Operating system.

Ans. Multi processor systems are also known as parallel systems or tightly coupled systems, have
more than one CPU working in close communication with one another.
9. What are the advantages of Multiprocessor Operating System.

Ans. Increased through put, less cost (Economical), Increased Reliability, Flexibility.

10. What are types of Real time systems.

Ans. Hard real time systems, Soft real time systems.

11. Define System call.

Ans. The mechanism used by an application program to request services from the OS. System calls

often use a special machine code instruction which causes the processor to change mode.

12. List various types of System calls.

Ans. File Manipulation system call, Process control system call, Device management system call.

13. List the services of OS.

Ans. Program Execution and Handling, I/O Operation, File Management, Communications,

Accounting, Protection, Resource Management.

14. List the Components of OS.

Ans. Process Management, Main Memory Management, File Management, I/O Management,

Security System, Network Support System, Protection System, Secondary Memory

Management.

15. What do you mean by Batch OS.

Ans. In this OS the jobs are executed in batches. In a batch OS environment users submit jobs to a

central place where these jobs are collected into a batch and placed on a input queue at

computer where they will run.

16. What are the Disadvantages of Batch OS.

Ans. Time consuming

17. What is main objective of Timesharing.

Ans. Time sharing as the name suggests, causes the CPU time to be shared among many users. Thus,

multiple users can be connected to a computer and OS moves from one user to another in
 quick succession.

PART-B

1. Distinguish between Multiprogramming and Time sharing.

Ans. Multiprogramming:- A Multiprogramming OS is a system that allows more than one user
program to be stored in main memory simultaneously. In multi programming no of processes reside
in main memory at a time. The OS picks up and begins to executes one of the jobs in the main
memory.

Time Sharing: Time sharing technique is generally used in multi user or multi tasking systems. Time
sharing as the name suggests, causes the CPU time to be shared among many users. Thus, multiple
users can be connected to a computer and the OS moves from one user to another in quick
succession. The turn around time is so short that every user gets a feeling that he is the only user
connected to the system at that time.

2. Explain about multiprocessor OS and give its advantages.

Ans. Multi processor systems are also known as parallel systems or tightly coupled systems, have
more than one CPU working in close communication with one another. Generally these multiple
processors they share bus, clock , memory and peripherals.

Advantages:

Increased throughput more work will be done in less time.

Economical less cost

Increased Reliability

Flexibility

Functional Specialization

3. Explain about Distributed Operating system.

Ans. A distributed computer system is a collection of autonomous computer systems capable of

communication and cooperation with their hardware and software interconnections. Distributed
computer systems developed from computer network.

Distributed system makes the whole network transparent to the users. The database, files, printers
and other resources are shared among a number of user actually working on different machines. It
allows a program can be divided into different tasks which can run on different machines.

4. Explain the Services of OS.

Ans. Program Execution and Handling: Starting of programs, managing their execution and
communicating their results.

I/O Operation: Mechanism for initiating and managing I/O operation.

File System Management: Creating, maintaining and manipulating files.

Communications: Between process of the same user, between different users.

Exception Detection and Handling: Protection related issues Safety in the case of power failures via
backups.

Resources Allocation: Includes processor and I/O scheduling memory management.

Accounting: To track users usage of resources for billing and statistical reasons.

Protection: One process must be protected from another.

Command Interpretation: User entered commands will be interpreted and appropriate action wil be
performed.

5. Explain the Layered Structure O.S.

Ans. The main advantage of this approach is modularity. All the benefits of modular programming
can be achieved with this architecture. The components of layered OS are organized into modules
and layers them one on top of the other. Each module provide a set of functions that other module
can call. Interface functions at any particular level can invoke services provided by lower layers but
not the other way around.

Example: VAX/VMS, Multics, UNIX.

6. What are the activities performed in Process Management.

Ans. A program can be defined as a program in execution. If more than one program in executing at
the same time on the computer, then it is the responsibility of the OS to allocate CPU and other
resources to the process so that they can execute properly. OS has to keep track of all processes and
ensure that the execution of one of them does not alter the other process.

7. What are the activities performed in Main memory management.

Ans. The Operating system has to allocate the main memory to the Various programs which are
executing.

8. What are the activities performed in Secondary memory management.

Ans. This module is responsible for management of secondary memory. The tasks of this module
are: free space management, storage allocation and disk scheduling.

9. What are the activities performed by I/O System Management.

Ans. The OS performs the coordination between various input/output devices, such as keyboard,
mouse, screen, printer etc., and the programs that are running.

10. What are the activities performed in File Management system.

Ans. The responsibility of file management system includes: creation and deletion of files, creating
and deletion of directories, storing files on secondary media, facilities for backup of file. It also helps
in the copy/movement of files from the one disk to another.

11. Explain process control system call.

Ans. System call can be defined as a method by which a program makes a request to the OS. There
can be system calls for process control. These can be like abort, execute, create process, terminate a
process, allocate and free memory for a process etc.

12. Explain File Manipulation system call.

Ans. File manipulation system calls for example are open, close, read, write etc . These are used to
open a file or close a file or read a file or write a file which is required by the process.

13. Explain Device Management System call.

Ans. In Device Management System the system calls that can be there are request device, release
device, read, write, reposition, get and set device attributes etc.

14. Explain Information Maintenance System call.

Ans. For managing the information, the system calls that can be there are get and set time,

Get and set file or device attributes etc.

 PART-C

1. Explain the OS services.

Ans. Program Execution and Handling: Starting of programs, managing their execution and
communicating their results.

I/O Operation: Mechanism for initiating and managing I/O operation.

File System Management: Creating, maintaining and manipulating files.

Communications: Between process of the same user, between different users.

Exception Detection and Handling: Protection related issues Safety in the case of power failures via
backups.

Resources Allocation: Includes processor and I/O scheduling memory management.

Accounting: To track users usage of resources for billing and statistical reasons.

Protection: One process must be protected from another.

Command Interpretation: User entered commands will be interpreted and appropriate action wil be
performed.

2. Explain the OS Components.

Ans. Operating system is a large and complex program. It has the following components.

a. Process Management: A program can be defined as a program in execution. If more than one
program in executing at the same time on the computer, then it is the responsibility of the OS to
allocate CPU and other resources to the process so that they can execute properly. OS has to
keep track of all processes and ensure that the execution of one of them does not alter the
other process.
b. Main Memory Management: The Operating system has to allocate the main memory to the
Various programs which are executing.
c. Secondary Memory Management: This module is responsible for management of secondary
memory. The tasks of this module are: free space management, storage allocation and disk
scheduling.
d. I/O Management System: The OS performs the coordination between various input/output
devices, such as keyboard, mouse, screen, printer etc., and the programs that are running.
e. File Management System: The responsibility of file management system includes: creation and
deletion of files, creating and deletion of directories, storing files on secondary media, facilities
for backup of file. It also helps in the copy/movement of files from the one disk to another.

3. Explain various System Calls.

Ans. a. Process Control System Call: System call can be defined as a method by which a program
makes a request to the OS. There can be system calls for process control. These can be like abort,
execute, create process, terminate a process, allocate and free memory for a process etc.

b. File Manipulation System call: File manipulation system calls for example are open, close, read,
write etc . These are used to open a file or close a file or read a file or write a file which is required
by the process.

c. Device Management System call: In Device Management System the system calls that can be
there are request device, release device, read, write, reposition, get and set device attributes etc.

d. Information Maintenance System call: For managing the information, the system calls that can
be there are get and set time, get and set file or device attributes etc.

4. Explain Simple Structure OS.

Ans. System software purpose is to improve the performance of the system. Ex for system software
are OS, compiler, interpreters, loaders etc. The purpose of these software is to ease the task of
computing. Generally these programs are not developed by the user. Application programs will be
written by users. Let us assume that you are writing a C program, the compiler you are using to run
this program is an example for system software. The most important system software is OS, which is
present in all computers. OS is the first software we see turn on the computer and the last software
we see when we turn off the computer. A modern computer consists of one or more processors
some main memory, disks, printers, network cards, and other I/O devices. If it is the responsibility of
the programmer to control the working of hardware then task of programming will become
complex. So system designers thought of protecting the programmer from the complexity of the
hardware. The way that was evolved is to put a layer of software on top of hardware to manage all
parts of system. This layer of software is Operating system.

5. Explain Layered Structure Operating System.

Ans. The main advantage of this approach is modularity. All the benefits of modular programming
can be achieved with this architecture. The components of layered OS are organized into modules
and layers them one on top of the other. Each module provide a set of functions that other module
can call. Interface functions at any particular level can invoke services provided by lower layers but
not the other way around.

6. Explain about Real time Systems.

Ans. Real time operating systems are used to control machinery, scientific instruments, industrial
system and used in special applications like air port traffic control, space shuttle etc. The
applications expects an immediate response from the computer. In this type of situation general OS
are not suitable because they take some time to respond for use r actions. A important part of an
RTOS is managing the resource of the computer so that a particular Operation executes in precisely
the same amount of time every time it occurs.
7. Explain about multiprogramming OS.

Ans. A Multiprogramming OS is a system that allows more than one user program to be stored in
main memory simultaneously. In multi programming no of processes reside in main memory at a
time. The OS picks up and begins to executes one of the jobs in the main memory. The CPU executes
one by one. In multiprogramming system, the CPU can execute only one program at a time, if the
running program waiting for any I/O the CPU becomes idle, so it will effect on the performance of
the CPU. In multi programming systems, any program waiting for I/O the CPU switches to another
waiting program.

8. Explain about Distributed Operating System.

Ans. A distributed computer system is a collection of autonomous computer systems capable of

communication and cooperation with their hardware and software interconnections. Distributed
computer systems developed from computer network.

Distributed system makes the whole network transparent to the users. The database, files, printers
and other resources are shared among a number of user actually working on different machines. It
allows a program can be divided into different tasks which can run on different machines.
Distributed systems provide high levels of fault tolerance. So that one computer is down, the OS
could schedule the task to other computers. They are also known as coupled systems.

9. Explain about Time sharing system.

Ans. Time sharing technique is generally used in multi user or multi tasking systems. Time sharing as
the name suggests, causes the CPU time to be shared among many users. Thus, multiple users can
be connected to a computer and the OS moves from one user to another in quick succession. The
turn around time is so short that every user gets a feeling that he is the only user connected to the
system at that time.