Operating Systems Assignment Block
Unit 1 Introduction
1. Explain why an operating system can be viewed as a resource allocator.
2. Describe some requirements, or goals, when designing an operating system.
3. List and explain the five functions which an Operating System should accomplish
4. Explain briefly eight types of Operating Systems.
5. What are the desirable qualities of an effective operating system
Unit 2 Processes
1. Explain the difference between a process and a thread.
2. Using a diagram, name and describe the different states that a process can exist in at any
given time.
3. Explain the main differences between a short-term and long-term scheduler.
4. Using examples, compare and contrast preemptive and non-preemptive scheduling as used in
process management.
5. Explain the difference between response time and turnaround time. These times are both used
to measure the effectiveness of scheduling schemes.
Unit 3 Inter process Management
1. Explain the purpose of Inter process Communication (IPC)
2. What is the purpose of semaphores?
3. What are race conditions? How race conditions occur in Operating Systems?
4. What is a critical section? Explain.
Unit 4 Deadlocks
1. Describe the four conditions that must hold simultaneously in a system if a deadlock is to occur.
2. What are the three general ways that a deadlock can be handled?
3. What is the difference between deadlock prevention and deadlock avoidance?
4. Describe two protocols to ensure that the hold-and-wait condition never occurs in a system.
5. Describe two ways to recover from the deadlock situation.
Unit 5 Memory Management
1. When does external fragmentation occur?
2. What is meant by swapping?
3. Distinguish between internal and external fragmentation.
4. Briefly explain:
a. Single-partition system
b. Multiple-partition system
5. Explain the basic method for implementing paging.
Unit 6 Virtual Memory
1. Describe the differences between physical, virtual, and logical memory.
2. Describe virtual memory and explain its advantages in operating systems.
3. Explain 5 page replacement policies of virtual memory.
4. What is demand paging?
Unit 7 File Management
1. One of the major functions of an Operating System is File Management. Explain the
techniques that can be used for the protection of user files.
Unit 8 Protection and Security
1. Discuss the mechanisms which can be used to implement security policies in a computer
system.
2. Explain how digital signatures work.
