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Distributed Systems Exam Guide

This document contains four questions related to distributed systems. Question one defines key terms like distributed systems, remote procedure calls, and distributed system components. It also lists applications, differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous systems, elements of distributed operating systems, and challenges. Question two discusses distributed operating system characteristics, transaction activities, group communication types, message ordering techniques, and RPC systems. Question three covers election algorithms, describing the function and conducting one. It also explains the steps in a remote procedure call. Question four defines process synchronization, lists approaches and protocols, discusses distributed transaction properties and characteristics that make a system transparent. It describes hardware interconnections and lists five advantages and disadvantages of distributed systems.

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20 views3 pages

Distributed Systems Exam Guide

This document contains four questions related to distributed systems. Question one defines key terms like distributed systems, remote procedure calls, and distributed system components. It also lists applications, differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous systems, elements of distributed operating systems, and challenges. Question two discusses distributed operating system characteristics, transaction activities, group communication types, message ordering techniques, and RPC systems. Question three covers election algorithms, describing the function and conducting one. It also explains the steps in a remote procedure call. Question four defines process synchronization, lists approaches and protocols, discusses distributed transaction properties and characteristics that make a system transparent. It describes hardware interconnections and lists five advantages and disadvantages of distributed systems.

Uploaded by

fionkans
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INSTRUCTIONS: ANSWER ANY TWO QUESTIONS

QUESTION ONE (30 MARKS)


a) Distinguish between a distributed system and a centralized system. (4mks)
b) Define the term remote procedure call. (1mk)
c) Identify the components of a call message. (4mks)
d) Identify 4 applications of distributed systems stating 3 common platforms of
deployment. (4mks)
e) Differentiate between a homogeneous and a heterogeneous distributed system.
(3mks)
f) Describe 4 elements of a distributed operating system. (4mks)
g) List and explain 6 challenges of Distributed Systems. (6mks)
h) Mention and explain a few real-time examples of Distributed Systems. (4mks)

QUESTION TWO (30 MARKS)


a) Discuss 2 characteristics of a distributed operating system. (4mks)
b) Identify 4 typical activities of a transaction. (4mks)
c) Define group communication and discuss any 3 types. (4mks)
d) Identify 4 group management functions. (4mks)
e) Describe 4 message-ordering techniques. (4mks)
i) Discuss any elements of an RPC system. (5mks)
j) List at least 3 characteristics of distributed systems. (3mks)
k) When is an object considered to be garbage? (2mks)

QUESTION THREE (30 MARKS)


a) Describe the function of an election algorithm and state when it should be created.
(4mks)
Election algorithm basically determines where a new copy of coordinator should be
restarted. Election algorithm assumes that every active process in the system has a
unique priority number. The process with highest priority will be chosen as a new
coordinator.
b) Write a typical algorithm for conducting an election. Use diagrams as necessary.
(9mks)
c) Describe the steps in conducting a remote procedure call.
(7mks)The client calls the client stub. The call is a local procedure call
with parameters pushed onto the stack in the normal way.
The client stub packs the procedure parameters into a message and makes a
system call to send the message. The packing of the procedure parameters is
called marshalling.
The client's local OS sends the message from the client machine to the remote
server machine.
The server OS passes the incoming packets to the server stub.
The server stub unpacks the parameters -- called unmarshalling -- from the
message.
When the server procedure is finished, it returns to the server stub, which
marshals the return values into a message. The server stub then hands the
message to the transport layer.
The transport layer sends the resulting message back to the client transport
layer, which hands the message back to the client stub.
The client stub unmarshalls the return parameters, and execution returns to the
caller.
d) Assuming you are designing an enterprise system for JKUAT. Discuss 5 critical
design goals of the project. Suggest any potential pitfalls of your design. (5mks)
e) Write and explain the following in detail:
(i) HTTP
(ii) HTML
(iii) URL
(iv) XML
(v) CORBA
Write and explain the following in detail:
HTTP
HTML
URL
XML
CORBA

HTTP:
HTTP is the short form of Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It is the
protocol through which data is transferred from one place to
another on the World Wide Web. It is the standard that defines
how web pages are accessed and how data is transmitted
between the web server and the web browser.

HTML:
HTML is the short form of Hypertext Markup Language. It is
the standard markup language used for creating web pages and
web applications. HTML is used to structure the content of a
web page and to add multimedia content, such as images,
video, and audio.

URL:
URL is the short form of Uniform Resource Locator. It is the
address of a web page on the World Wide Web. A URL
consists of a protocol, such as HTTP or HTTPS, followed by
the domain name of the web page.

XML:
XML is the short form of Extensible Markup Language. It is a
markup language that is used for storing and transporting data.
XML is used to create documents that are self-describing and
platform-independent.

CORBA:
CORBA is the short form of Common Object Request Broker
Architecture. It is a middleware that is used to facilitate
communication between software components
(5mks)

QUESTION FOUR (30 MARKS)


a) Define the term process synchronization. (1mk)
b) Identify 4 general approaches to process synchronization. (4mks)
c) Discuss 4 protocols used to attain concurrency control in distributed systems.
(4mks)
d) Discuss 4 properties of a distributed system transaction. (4mks)
e) List 3 characteristics that make a distributed transparently. (3mks)
f) Describe 4 types of hardware interconnection of distributed systems. (4mks)
g) What are the disadvantages and advantages of Distributed Systems? List and
explain 5 of each. (10mks)

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