Bbt2103:Computer Operating Systems Question Paper
Bbt2103:Computer Operating Systems
Course:Bachelor Of Business Information Technology
Institution: Meru University Of Science And Technology question papers
Exam Year:2012
(a) Briefly describe the following operating system design structures.
(i) Monolithic (2 Marks)
(ii) Client-server. (2 Marks)
(b) Distinguish between:
(i) I/O bound and CPU bound processes
(ii) Swapping and virtual memory. (4 Marks)
(c) State and briefly explain the two types of computer resources. (4 Marks)
(d) Briefly describe the following considerations in deciding a good CPU scheduling
algorithm:
(i) Throughput (2 Marks)
(ii) Fairness (2 Marks)
(e) Define:
(i) File (2 Marks)
(ii) Device controller (2 Marks)
(iii) Deadlock (2 Marks)
(f) State and briefly explain the two options, for breaking deadlock, during deadlock
recovery. (4 Marks)
(g) State two responsibilities of the operating system with regard to file management.
(2 Marks)
(h) Briefly describe the function of a device driver. (2 Marks)
QUESTION TWO – (20 MARKS)
(a) Directories can be implemented in two main ways. Briefly describe the pointers
implementation of the directory hierarchy. What is the alternative implementation?
(4 Marks)
(b) State and briefly explain the two types of I/O devices. (4 Marks)
(c) State two I/O software design issues. (2 Marks)
(d) Briefly describe memory compaction. (2 Marks)
(e) Briefly describe the next-fit algorithm used in memory management with linked lists.
(4 Marks)
(f) State the four circumstances under which CPU scheduling decisions may take place.
(4 Marks)
QUESTION THREE – (20 MARKS)
(a) With reference to operating system concepts, define a process. (2 Marks)
(b) Threads can be implemented either in user space or in kernel space. State two advantages
of kernel space threads. (2 Marks)
(c) Distinguish between deadlock avoidance and deadlock prevention. (2 Marks)
(d) State two methods of achieving mutual exclusion by busy waiting. (2 Marks)
(e) Briefly explain the seek operation as used in file management. (2 Marks)
(f) Briefly describe how the base and limit registers are used to solve the relocation and
protection problems. (4 Marks)
(g) Briefly explain the sleep and wakeup algorithms for mutual exclusion, as used in the
producer-consumer problem. (2 Marks)
(h) State and briefly explain any two common file structures. (4 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR – (20 MARKS)
(a) Define operating system, stating its main functions. (2 Marks)
(b) With reference to process management, what is a thread? (2 Marks)
(c) For each of CPU scheduling algorithms below, briefly describe to what extent each meets
the qualities of a good scheduling algorithm.
(i) Shortest job first (2 Marks)
(ii) Round robin (2 Marks)
(iii)FIFO (2 Marks)
(d) State the two possibilities that exist, in terms of process execution, when a process creates
a new process. (2 Marks)
(e) Briefly describe a page fault. (3 Marks)
(f) Briefly describe the relocation and protection problem in memory management.
(3 Marks)
(g) State two page replacement algorithms. (2 Marks)
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