Teach Computer Science

Reliability in
computer systems

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Quiz
1. Which of the following is a security critical system?
A. Military system
B. Unmanned train system
C. Stock-trading system

2. Which of the following location is NOT suitable for storing

backup disk?
A. Administrator’s personal computer
B. Separate server
C. Over the internet using cloud technology

3. What is disaster recovery?

A. The process of duplicating critical parts of a computer
system.
B. The process of saving back-up in a fire proof location.
C. The process of getting back lost data from backup after a
system failure

4. What is the best time for an online airline ticketing system to

backup its files?
A. At lunchtime when many customers access the website.
B. Every morning when the customers start accessing.
C. Late at night when very few customers access the system.

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5. Which of the following explains the function of RAID?
A. Redundant hardware to store redundant data.
B. Redundant software
C. Redundant power supply

6. Why do programmers use conservative technique to model

critical systems?
A. The strength and weakness of the technique is known.
B. The response of system is unpredictable.
C. Higher efficiency.

7. Why is it important to backup often? For example: every day

rather than every week
A. It will cost more to backup every week.
B. The more the time interval between the backups, the more
the data is lost.
C. It is ok to miss a few backups if they are done more
frequently.

8. What is a fault tolerant system?

A. A system that avoids all occurrences of failures.
B. A system that operates properly even if it undergoes one or
more failures.
C. A system that may fail completely in case of a failure.

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9. Which of the following describes a system that fails gracefully?
A. A computer that shuts down abruptly.
B. A word document creates a recovery emergency copy as it
crashes.
C. A presentation crashes while a user is on operation but does
not create a restore document.

10. What steps are taken to prevent software failure of a system?

A. Software is installed in a drive occupying less memory.
B. Redundant software is installed.
C. In case of failure, software is uninstalled and installed again.

11. Which of the following is true about data backup?

A. Backup takes place whenever a new data is entered.
B. Back-up is accessible in internet by all employees.
C. Backup is useful when the data is accidentally overwritten.

12. What is the function of extra checks added in case of defensive

programming?
A. Warns the user in case the program is not working in the
desired manner.
B. Stores a redundant program that is used in case of failure of
current program.
C. Even though the program works correctly, it warns the user if
it is inefficient.

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13. What is the difference between hardware and software?
A. Hardware is tangible, but software is intangible.
B. Hardware is permanent, but software is temporary.
C. Hardware is reliable, but software is unreliable.

14. How is the reliability factor, percentage of time calculated?

A. Calculating amount of time the system has operated without
reporting any problems.
B. Calculating percentage of time for which the system spends
out of action.
C. Calculating percentage of time for which the service was
available and operational during a particular month.

15. How is the mean of numbers calculated?

A. Add all the numbers.
B. Add up all the numbers, then divide by how many numbers
there are.
C. Add up all the numbers, then multiply by how many
numbers there are.

16. Which of the following represents the time duration in which the
system is expected to continue its operation before shutting
down due to a failure?
A. Mean time between failures.
B. Downtime
C. Mean time to failure

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17. Which of the following represents the amount of time the
system has operated without reporting any problems?
A. Percentage of time
B. Mean time between failures
C. Number of hours

18. What is a life critical system?

A. A system whose failure will result severe damage to
equipment
B. A system whose failure will result in death
C. A system whose failure will result in loss
D. All of the above

19. How can you improve reliability of a system?

A. Thorough design adhering to the standards
B. By connecting the system to internet
C. By coding in Python
D. Using a variety of software applications

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Answers
Question Question
Answer Answer
Number Number

1 A 14 C

2 A 15 B

3 C 16 C

4 C 17 C

5 A 18 D

6 A 19 A

7 B

8 B

9 B

10 B

11 C

12 A

13 A

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