Distributed Systems: Two Mark Questions and Answers
Unit-1: Basics of Distributed Systems
Define distributed system
A distributed system is a network of independent computers that work together as a single
system to achieve a common goal.
List out the motivations of distributed system
Resource sharing, scalability, fault tolerance, and improved performance.
Difference between message passing and shared memory systems
- Message passing: Communication via sending and receiving messages.
- Shared memory: Communication via shared variables in memory.
Differentiate synchronous and asynchronous execution
- Synchronous: Processes execute in fixed time intervals.
- Asynchronous: Processes execute without a fixed time dependency.
Define global state of distributed system
The combined state of all processes and communication channels in the system at a
particular time.
Unit-2: Clocks and Ordering
What is physical clock and logical clock
- Physical clock: Real-world time representation (e.g., wall-clock).
- Logical clock: A counter to track event ordering in distributed systems.
Define scalar time and vector time
- Scalar time: Single integer to track logical time.
- Vector time: Array of integers to maintain causal relationship.
What is group communication
Communication involving multiple participants in a distributed system.
What is message ordering
Ensuring messages are delivered in a specific sequence.
Define causal order, total order
- Causal order: Preserves cause-effect relationships.
- Total order: All messages are delivered in the same order to all processes.
Unit-3: Coordination and Deadlocks
What is distributed mutual exclusion algorithm
Algorithms to ensure mutual exclusion in distributed systems.
What are the conditions for deadlock
Mutual exclusion, hold and wait, no preemption, and circular wait.
What is wait-die
Older processes wait; younger ones die and restart if resource conflict occurs.
What is wound-wait
Older process preempts the younger; younger waits for the resource.
What is Token based algorithm
Mutual exclusion is achieved using a unique token passed among processes.
Unit-4: Fault Tolerance and Recovery
What is consensus and agreement algorithm
Algorithms to ensure all processes agree on a common value in distributed systems.
What is the use of rollback recovery
Restores the system to a consistent state after a failure.
What is the use of checkpoints
Save system state periodically to enable recovery from failures.
What is domino effect
Chain reaction of rollbacks causing earlier checkpoints to become invalid.
What is consistent cut
A snapshot of a distributed system ensuring no causal inconsistencies.
Unit-5: Cloud Computing
Define cloud computing
Delivery of computing resources and services over the internet on demand.
List out the characteristics of cloud computing
On-demand self-service, scalability, resource pooling, and pay-as-you-go pricing.
Define load balancing
Distributing workload across multiple servers to optimize resource use and performance.
What is cloud replication
Storing data or resources in multiple locations for reliability and availability.
What is cloud monitoring
Tracking and managing cloud resources to ensure performance and availability.
