Operating System Test

1.

2 points

Which of the following statements best describes the difference between a process and a program

a process is a non-running program

a program is a running process, they are synonyms

a process is a running program

a program is a running process

2.

2 points

Which of the following is non a content of the Process Control Block (PCB)

Register values

Process number

Program Counter

Process state

List of closed files

3.

2 points

The hardware consists of

the central processing unit (CPU), the memory, and the input/output devices.

the central processing unit (CPU), cache memory, and the programmers.

the central processing unit (CPU), the memory, and the application programs.

all of the above

4.

2 points

Which of the following statements is true?

Shared memory is typically faster than message passing.

Message passing is most useful for exchanging large amounts of data.

Message passing is typically faster than shared memory.

Shared memory is far more common in operating systems than message passing.

5.

2 points

An operating system is said to provide a set of services to the user, which of the following is NOT a user service?

Accounting

Program execution

Error detection

File-system manipulation

User interface

6.

2 points

Which of the following statements concerning open source OSes is true?

Solaris is open source.

All open source operating systems share the same goals.

They are more secure than commercial, closed systems.

Source code is freely available.

7.

2 points

A command interpreter is

provided by the kernel in UNIX/Linux

is provided by the OS as a special program in Windows XP/Vista

provided by the kernel in Windows XP/Vista

provided by a special program in UNIX/Linux

a and b

c and d

8.

2 points

Which of these is not one of the major categories of system calls.

Communication

Process control

Security

Protection

9.

2 points

A process as it executes changes state. These five possible states are

New, Working, Waiting, Ready, and Terminated

New, Running, Waiting, Ready, and Terminated

New, Running, Stalled, Ready, and Terminated

New, Running, Waiting, Ready, and Input Bound

10.

2 points

What is NOT an example of a benefit of virtual machines.

Protects the host system from guest operating systems.

The ability to run several different operating systems that all share the same hardware.

The ability to concurrently run several different operating systems.

Uses less physical memory than an actual operating system.

11.

2 points

Open source operating systems allow

the code to be viewed by interested parties

the code to be distributed in binary code format only

any users to correct bugs in the software

users to purchase the OS at a low cost

a, b, and c

a and c

none of the above

all of the above

12.

2 points

The process control block

determines which process is to be executed next

is an example of a process queue

includes information on the process's state

stores the address of the next instruction to be processed by a different process

13.

2 points

A microkernel is a kernel

that is compiled to produce the smallest size possible when stored to disk

that is stripped of all nonessential components

containing many components that are optimized to reduce resident memory size

that is compressed before loading in order to reduce its resident memory size

14.

2 points

The list of processes waiting for the CPU is called the

device queue

ready queue

standby queue

transporter queue

15.

2 points

Multiprogramming increases CPU utilization by

always selecting compute bound processes for execution

always scheduling multiple jobs

always running multiple jobs

organizing jobs (code and data) so that the CPU always has one to execute

16.

2 points

When a child process is created, which of the following is a possibility in terms of the execution or address space of the child process?

The child process runs concurrently with the parent.

The child process has a new program loaded into it.

The child is a duplicate of the parent.

All of the above.

17.

2 points

Which of the following best describes the system view of the computer

The main task of the OS is as a resource allocator and system logger

The main task of the OS is as a resource allocator and secondary task is as a control program

The main task of the OS is as a control program.

None of the above.

18.

2 points

As processes enter the system, they are put into a job queue, which consists of

all processes in the system

all waiting jobs in the system

all running jobs in the system

none of the above

all of the above

19.

2 points

The six major categories of system calls can be grouped as

process control, file manipulation, device manipulation, information maintenance, communication, and user interface manipulation.

process control, file manipulation, device manipulation, user creation, communication, and protection.

process control, file manipulation, device manipulation, information maintenance, communication, and protection.

process control, file manipulation, device manipulation, information maintenance, debugging, and protection.

20.

2 points

Which of the following best describes the user view of the computer

The user's view of the computer is fixed and cannot be modified.

The user's view of the computer varies according to the interface used.

The user's view of the computer can always be modified.

The user's view of the computer is the same on all computers.

21.

2 points

An operating system is said to run in a dual-mode, this means

The operating system always executes user mode instructions first.

The operating system cycles between user mode and kernel mode on every clock tick.

The operating system randomly selects user mode and kernel mode instructions.

The operating system always executes kernel mode instructions first.

The operating system cycles between user mode and kernel mode based on the mode bit.

22.

2 points

Virtual machines were developed by

Apple in the 1980's

Microsoft in the 1990's

IBM in the 1970's

Xerox in the 1960's

23.

2 points

The ____ refers to the number of processes in memory.

CPU scheduler

degree of multiprogramming

long-term scheduler

process count

24.

2 points

Which of the following is a property of peer-to-peer systems?

Separate machines act as either the client of the server but not both.

Clients and servers are not distinguished from one another.

They suffer from actions as the bottleneck in performance.

They do not offer any advantages over traditional client-server systems.

25.

2 points

A boot block

is composed of multiple disk blocks

typically is sophisticated enough to load the operating system and begin its execution

is composed of multiple disk cylinders

typically only knows the location and length of the rest of the bootstrap program

26.

2 points

In a virtual machine, each program believes that it has

another "virtual" computer to assist in its operations

multiple processors

its own memory

more memory than is physically available on the machine

27.

2 points

What does Policy do?

determines how to do something

determines what will be done

is not likely to change across places

is not likely to change over time

28.

2 points

Which of the following ranks storage from slowest access time to fastest access time

magnetic tape, magnetic disk, main memory, and cache.

magnetic tape, cache, registers, and main memory.

registers, cache, main memory, magnetic disk.

registers, main memory, cache, magnetic disk.

29.

2 points

Which of the following best describes the difference between a trap and an interrupt

a trap is a software generated interrupt and an interrupt is generated by software only

an interrupt is a trap, but a trap is not always an interrupt

a trap is a software generated interrupt and hardware can generate interrupts

a trap is a software generated interrupt and an interrupt is generated by a user

30.

2 points

Which of the following would lead you to believe that a given system is an SMP-type systems?

Each processor is assigned a specific task

There is a master-slave relationship between the processors.

Each processor performs all tasks within the operating system.

None of the above.

31.

2 points

A message-passing model is

A network protocol and does not apply to operating systems

Easier to implement than a shared memory model for intercomputer communication.

Faster than the shared memory model

Only useful for small simple operating systems.

32.

2 points

Which of the following statements is true?

Named pipes can only be used by communicating processes on the same machine.

Named pipes do not allow bi-directional communication.

Reading and writing to ordinary pipes on both UNIX and Windows systems can be performed like ordinary file I/O.

Only the parent and child processes can use named pipes for communication.

33.

2 points

Most modern operating systems use a layered approach, this means

layer 3 is the user interface, layer 2 could be user/application programs, layer 1 system programs, layer 0 the hardware

layer 0 is the user interface, layer 1 could be user/application programs, layer 2 system programs, layer 3 the hardware

layer 3 is the hardware, layer 2 is the user interface, and layer 0 is the programs

layer 3 is the user interface, layer 2 could be device controllers, layer 1 system programs, layer 0 the hardware

34.

2 points

One important principle is the separation of policy and mechanism. Which of the following best describes this concept.

The separation of policy and mechanism is important for flexibility.

Policies are unlikely to change over time.

Microkernel-based operating systems take the separation of mechanism and policy to one extreme by implementing a basic set of building blocks.

All of the above

a and b

a and c

b and c

35.

2 points

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

An operating system provides an environment for the execution of programs.

Operating systems provide both command line as well as graphical user interfaces.

Operating systems must provide both protection and security.

An operating system manages system resources.

36.

2 points

System calls are provided by the Operating System to user programs by

special routines that are written in C and/or assembly with a predefined interface

special routines that are accessed by mouse clicks in the user interface.

special routines that must be memorized before they can be used

special routines that are written by user programs to interface hardware devices

37.

2 points

A computer system can be divided into the following four components:

hardware, software, users, and manuals

hardware, systems programs, application programs, and the users

hardware, software, the operating systems, and the manuals

hardware, systems programs, application programs, manuals