Operating System Interview Questions

1. What is a process and process table?

A process is an instance of a program in execution. For example, a Web Browser is a process,

and a shell (or command prompt) is a process. The operating system is responsible for
managing all the processes that are running on a computer and allocates each process a
certain amount of time to use the processor. In addition, the operating system also allocates
various other resources that processes will need, such as computer memory or disks. To keep
track of the state of all the processes, the operating system maintains a table known as the
process table. Inside this table, every process is listed along with the resources the process is
using and the current state of the process.

2. What are the different states of the process?

Processes can be in one of three states: running, ready, or waiting. The running state means
that the process has all the resources it needs for execution and it has been given permission
by the operating system to use the processor. Only one process can be in the running state at
any given time. The remaining processes are either in a waiting state (i.e., waiting for some
external event to occur such as user input or disk access) or a ready state (i.e., waiting for
permission to use the processor). In a real operating system, the waiting and ready states are
implemented as queues that hold the processes in these states.

3. What is a Thread?

A thread is a single sequence stream within a process. Because threads have some of the
properties of processes, they are sometimes called lightweight processes. Threads are a
popular way to improve the application through parallelism. For example, in a browser,
multiple tabs can be different threads. MS Word uses multiple threads, one thread to format
the text, another thread to process inputs, etc.

4. What are the differences between process and thread?

A thread has its own program counter (PC), a register set, and a stack space. Threads are not
independent of one another, like processes. As a result, threads share with other threads their
code section, data section, and OS resources like open files and signals.

5. What are the benefits of multithreaded programming?

It makes the system more responsive and enables resource sharing. It leads to the use of
multiprocess architecture. It is more economical and preferred.

6. What is Thrashing?

Thrashing is a situation when the performance of a computer degrades or collapses.

Thrashing occurs when a system spends more time processing page faults than executing
transactions. While processing page faults is necessary in order to appreciate the benefits of
virtual memory, thrashing has a negative effect on the system. As the page fault rate
increases, more transactions need processing from the paging device. The queue at the paging
device increases, resulting in increased service time for a page fault.

7. What is Buffer?

A buffer is a memory area that stores data being transferred between two devices or between
a device and an application.

8. What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory creates an illusion that each user has one or more contiguous address spaces,
each beginning at address zero. The sizes of such virtual address spaces are generally very
high. The idea of virtual memory is to use disk space to extend the RAM. Running processes
don’t need to care whether the memory is from RAM or disk. The illusion of such a large
amount of memory is created by subdividing the virtual memory into smaller pieces, which
can be loaded into physical memory whenever they are needed by a process.

9. Explain the main purpose of an operating system?

An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer and computer
hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in which a user
can execute programs conveniently and efficiently.

An operating system is a software that manages computer hardware. The hardware must
provide appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation of the computer system and
to prevent user programs from interfering with the proper operation of the system.

10. What is demand paging?

The process of loading the page into memory on demand (whenever a page fault occurs) is
known as demand paging.

11. What is a kernel?

A kernel is the central component of an operating system that manages the operations of
computers and hardware. It basically manages operations of memory and CPU time. It is a
core component of an operating system. Kernel acts as a bridge between applications and
data processing performed at the hardware level using inter-process communication and
system calls.

12. What are the different scheduling algorithms?

First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) Scheduling.

Shortest-Job-Next (SJN) Scheduling.
Priority Scheduling.
Shortest Remaining Time.
Round Robin(RR) Scheduling.
Multiple-Level Queues Scheduling.
13. Describe the objective of multi-programming.

Multi-programming increases CPU utilization by organizing jobs (code and data) so that the
CPU always has one to execute. The main objective of multi-programming is to keep
multiple jobs in the main memory. If one job gets occupied with IO, the CPU can be assigned
to other jobs.

14. What is the time-sharing system?

Time-sharing is a logical extension of multiprogramming. The CPU performs many tasks by

switches that are so frequent that the user can interact with each program while it is running.
A time-shared operating system allows multiple users to share computers simultaneously.

15. What is a thread?

A thread is a path of execution within a process. A process can contain multiple threads.

16. Give some benefits of multithreaded programming?

A thread is also known as a lightweight process. The idea is to achieve parallelism by

dividing a process into multiple threads. Threads within the same process run in shared
memory space,

17. Briefly explain FCFS.

FCFS stands for First Come First served. In the FCFS scheduling algorithm, the job that
arrived first in the ready queue is allocated to the CPU and then the job that came second and
so on. FCFS is a non-preemptive scheduling algorithm as a process that holds the CPU until
it either terminates or performs I/O. Thus, if a longer job has been assigned to the CPU then
many shorter jobs after it will have to wait.

18. What is the RR scheduling algorithm?

A round-robin scheduling algorithm is used to schedule the process fairly for each job in a
time slot or quantum and interrupting the job if it is not completed by then the job comes after
the other job which is arrived in the quantum time makes these scheduling fairly.

 Round-robin is cyclic in nature, so starvation doesn’t occur

 Round-robin is a variant of first-come, first-served scheduling

 No priority or special importance is given to any process or task

 RR scheduling is also known as Time slicing scheduling

19. Enumerate the different RAID levels?

A redundant array of independent disks is a set of several physical disk drives that the
operating system sees as a single logical unit. It played a significant role in narrowing the gap
between increasingly fast processors and slow disk drives. RAID has different levels:

 Level-0

 Level-1

 Level-2

 Level-3

 Level-4

 Level-5

 Level-6

20. What is Banker’s algorithm?

The banker’s algorithm is a resource allocation and deadlock avoidance algorithm that tests
for safety by simulating the allocation for the predetermined maximum possible amounts of
all resources, then makes an “s-state” check to test for possible activities, before deciding
whether allocation should be allowed to continue.

21. State the main difference between logical and physical address space?

Parameter LOGICAL ADDRESS PHYSICAL ADDRESS

Basic generated by the CPU. location in a memory unit.
Logical Address Space is a set of all Physical Address is a set of all physical
Address
logical addresses generated by the CPU addresses mapped to the corresponding
Space
in reference to a program. logical addresses.
Users can view the logical address of a Users can never view the physical
Visibility
program. address of the program.
Generation generated by the CPU. Computed by MMU.
The user can use the logical address to The user can indirectly access physical
Access
access the physical address. addresses but not directly.

22. How does dynamic loading aid in better memory space utilization?

With dynamic loading, a routine is not loaded until it is called. This method is especially
useful when large amounts of code are needed in order to handle infrequently occurring cases
such as error routines.
23. What are overlays?

The concept of overlays is that whenever a process is running it will not use the complete
program at the same time, it will use only some part of it. Then overlay concept says that
whatever part you required, you load it and once the part is done, then you just unload it,
which means just pull it back and get the new part you required and run it. Formally, “The
process of transferring a block of program code or other data into internal memory, replacing
what is already stored”.

24. What is fragmentation?

Processes are stored and removed from memory, which makes free memory space, which is
too little to even consider utilizing by different processes. Suppose, that process is not ready
to dispense to memory blocks since its little size and memory hinder consistently staying
unused is called fragmentation. This kind of issue occurs during a dynamic memory allotment
framework when free blocks are small, so it can’t satisfy any request.

25. What is the basic function of paging?

Paging is a method or technique which is used for non-contiguous memory allocation. It is a

fixed-size partitioning theme (scheme). In paging, both main memory and secondary memory
are divided into equal fixed-size partitions. The partitions of the secondary memory area unit
and the main memory area unit are known as pages and frames respectively.

Paging is a memory management method accustomed fetch processes from the secondary
memory into the main memory in the form of pages. in paging, each process is split into parts
wherever the size of every part is the same as the page size. The size of the last half could
also be but the page size. The pages of the process area unit hold on within the frames of
main memory relying upon their accessibility

26. How does swapping result in better memory management?

Swapping is a simple memory/process management technique used by the operating

system(os) to increase the utilization of the processor by moving some blocked processes
from the main memory to the secondary memory thus forming a queue of the temporarily
suspended processes and the execution continues with the newly arrived process. During
regular intervals that are set by the operating system, processes can be copied from the main
memory to a backing store and then copied back later. Swapping allows more processes to be
run that can fit into memory at one time

27. Write a name of classic synchronization problems?

 Bounded-buffer

 Readers-writers

 Dining philosophers

 Sleeping barber
28. What is the Direct Access Method?

The direct Access method is based on a disk model of a file, such that it is viewed as a
numbered sequence of blocks or records. It allows arbitrary blocks to be read or written.
Direct access is advantageous when accessing large amounts of information. Direct memory
access (DMA) is a method that allows an input/output (I/O) device to send or receive data
directly to or from the main memory, bypassing the CPU to speed up memory operations.
The process is managed by a chip known as a DMA controller (DMAC).

29. When does thrashing occur?

Thrashing occurs when processes on the system frequently access pages, not available
memory.

30. What is the best page size when designing an operating system?

The best paging size varies from system to system, so there is no single best when it comes to
page size. There are different factors to consider in order to come up with a suitable page
size, such as page table, paging time, and its effect on the overall efficiency of the operating
system.

31. What is multitasking?

Multitasking is a logical extension of a multiprogramming system that supports multiple

programs to run concurrently. In multitasking, more than one task is executed at the same
time. In this technique, the multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common
processing resources such as a CPU.

32. What is caching?

The cache is a smaller and faster memory that stores copies of the data from frequently used
main memory locations. There are various different independent caches in a CPU, which
store instructions and data. Cache memory is used to reduce the average time to access data
from the Main memory.

33. What is spooling?

Spooling refers to simultaneous peripheral operations online, spooling refers to putting jobs
in a buffer, a special area in memory, or on a disk where a device can access them when it is
ready. Spooling is useful because devices access data at different rates.

34. What is the functionality of an Assembler?

The Assembler is used to translate the program written in Assembly language into machine
code. The source program is an input of an assembler that contains assembly language
instructions. The output generated by the assembler is the object code or machine code
understandable by the computer.
35. What are interrupts?

The interrupts are a signal emitted by hardware or software when a process or an event needs
immediate attention. It alerts the processor to a high-priority process requiring interruption of
the current working process. In I/O devices one of the bus control lines is dedicated to this
purpose and is called the Interrupt Service Routine (ISR).

36. What is GUI?

GUI is short for Graphical User Interface. It provides users with an interface wherein actions
can be performed by interacting with icons and graphical symbols.

37. What is preemptive multitasking?

Preemptive multitasking is a type of multitasking that allows computer programs to share

operating systems (OS) and underlying hardware resources. It divides the overall operating
and computing time between processes, and the switching of resources between different
processes occurs through predefined criteria.

38. What is a pipe and when is it used?

A Pipe is a technique used for inter-process communication. A pipe is a mechanism by which

the output of one process is directed into the input of another process. Thus it provides a one-
way flow of data between two related processes.

39. What are the advantages of semaphores?

 They are machine-independent.

 Easy to implement.

 Correctness is easy to determine.

 Can have many different critical sections with different semaphores.

 Semaphores acquire many resources simultaneously.

 No waste of resources due to busy waiting.

40. What is a bootstrap program in the OS?

Bootstrapping is the process of loading a set of instructions when a computer is first turned
on or booted. During the startup process, diagnostic tests are performed, such as the power-on
self-test (POST), which set or checks configurations for devices and implements routine
testing for the connection of peripherals, hardware, and external memory devices. The
bootloader or bootstrap program is then loaded to initialize the OS.

41. What is IPC?

Inter-process communication (IPC) is a mechanism that allows processes to communicate
with each other and synchronize their actions. The communication between these processes
can be seen as a method of cooperation between them.

42. What are the different IPC mechanisms?

These are the methods in IPC:

 Pipes (Same Process): This allows a flow of data in one direction only. Analogous to
simplex systems (Keyboard). Data from the output is usually buffered until the input
process receives it which must have a common origin.

 Named Pipes (Different Processes): This is a pipe with a specific name it can be
used in processes that don’t have a shared common process origin. E.g. FIFO where
the details written to a pipe are first named.

 Message Queuing: This allows messages to be passed between processes using either
a single queue or several message queues. This is managed by the system kernel these
messages are coordinated using an API.

 Semaphores: This is used in solving problems associated with synchronization and

avoiding race conditions. These are integer values that are greater than or equal to 0.

 Shared Memory: This allows the interchange of data through a defined area of
memory. Semaphore values have to be obtained before data can get access to shared
memory.

 Sockets: This method is mostly used to communicate over a network between a client
and a server. It allows for a standard connection which is computer and OS
independent

43. What is the difference between preemptive and non-preemptive

scheduling?

 In preemptive scheduling, the CPU is allocated to the processes for a limited time
whereas, in Non-preemptive scheduling, the CPU is allocated to the process till it
terminates or switches to waiting for the state.

 The executing process in preemptive scheduling is interrupted in the middle of

execution when a higher priority one comes whereas, the executing process in non-
preemptive scheduling is not interrupted in the middle of execution and waits till its
execution.

 In Preemptive Scheduling, there is the overhead of switching the process from the
ready state to the running state, vice-verse, and maintaining the ready queue. Whereas
the case of non-preemptive scheduling has no overhead of switching the process from
running state to ready state.

 In preemptive scheduling, if a high-priority process frequently arrives in the ready

queue then the process with low priority has to wait for a long, and it may have to
 starve. On the other hand, in non-preemptive scheduling, if CPU is allocated to the
process having a larger burst time then the processes with a small burst time may have
to starve.

 Preemptive scheduling attains flexibility by allowing the critical processes to access

the CPU as they arrive in the ready queue, no matter what process is executing
currently. Non-preemptive scheduling is called rigid as even if a critical process
enters the ready queue the process running CPU is not disturbed.

 Preemptive Scheduling has to maintain the integrity of shared data that’s why it is
cost associative which is not the case with Non-preemptive Scheduling.

44. What is the zombie process?

A process that has finished the execution but still has an entry in the process table to report to
its parent process is known as a zombie process. A child process always first becomes a
zombie before being removed from the process table. The parent process reads the exit status
of the child process which reaps off the child process entry from the process table.

45. What are orphan processes?

A process whose parent process no more exists i.e. either finished or terminated without
waiting for its child process to terminate is called an orphan process.

46. What are starvation and aging in OS?

Starvation: Starvation is a resource management problem where a process does not get the
resources it needs for a long time because the resources are being allocated to other
processes.

Aging: Aging is a technique to avoid starvation in a scheduling system. It works by adding an

aging factor to the priority of each request. The aging factor must increase the priority of the
request as time passes and must ensure that a request will eventually be the highest priority
request

47. Write about monolithic kernel?

Apart from microkernel, Monolithic Kernel is another classification of Kernel. Like

microkernel, this one also manages system resources between application and hardware, but
user services and kernel services are implemented under the same address space. It increases
the size of the kernel, thus increasing the size of an operating system as well. This kernel
provides CPU scheduling, memory management, file management, and other operating
system functions through system calls. As both services are implemented under the same
address space, this makes operating system execution faster.

48. What is Context Switching?

Switching of CPU to another process means saving the state of the old process and loading
the saved state for the new process. In Context Switching the process is stored in the Process
Control Block to serve the new process so that the old process can be resumed from the same
part it was left.

49. What is the difference between the Operating system and kernel?

Operating System Kernel

The kernel is system software that is part of the
Operating System is system software.
Microkerneloperating system.
Operating System provides an interface b/w The kernel provides an interface b/w the
the user and the hardware. application and hardware.
Its main purpose is memory management, disk
It also provides protection and security. management, process management and task
management.
All system needs a real-time operating real-
All operating system needs a kernel to run.
time, and Microkernel system to run.
Type of operating system includes single
Type of kernel includes Monolithic and
and multiuser OS, multiprocessor OS, real-
Microkernel.
time OS, Distributed OS.
It is the first program to load when the It is the first program to load when the
computer boots up. operating system loads

50. What is the difference between process and thread?

S.NO Process Thread

Process means any program is in
1. Thread means a segment of a process.
execution.
The process is less efficient in terms of Thread is more efficient in terms of
2.
communication. communication.
3. The process is isolated. Threads share memory.
The process is called heavyweight the
4. Thread is called lightweight process.
process.
Thread switching does not require to call an
Process switching uses, another
5. operating system and cause an interrupt to the
process interface in operating system.
kernel.
If one process is blocked then it will
The second, thread in the same task could not
6. not affect the execution of other
run, while one server thread is blocked.
process
The process has its own Process Thread has Parents’ PCB, its own Thread
7. Control Block, Stack and Address Control Block and Stack and common Address
Space. space.

51. What is PCB?

the process control block (PCB) is a block that is used to track the process’s execution status.
A process control block (PCB) contains information about the process, i.e. registers,
quantum, priority, etc. The process table is an array of PCBs, that means logically contains a
PCB for all of the current processes in the system.

52. When is a system in a safe state?

The set of dispatchable processes is in a safe state if there exists at least one temporal order in
which all processes can be run to completion without resulting in a deadlock.

53. What is Cycle Stealing?

cycle stealing is a method of accessing computer memory (RAM) or bus without interfering
with the CPU. It is similar to direct memory access (DMA) for allowing I/O controllers to
read or write RAM without CPU intervention.

54. What are a Trap and Trapdoor?

A trap is a software interrupt, usually the result of an error condition, and is also a non-
maskable interrupt and has the highest priority Trapdoor is a secret undocumented entry point
into a program used to grant access without normal methods of access authentication.

55. Write a difference between process and program?

S.NO Program Process

Program contains a set of instructions Process is an instance of an executing
1.
designed to complete a specific task. program.
Process is anThe process active entity as it
Program is a passive entity as it resides in
2. is created during execution and loaded into
the secondary memory.
the main memory.
Process exists for a limited span of time as
The program exists in a single place and
3. it gets terminated after the completion of a
continues to exist until it is deleted.
task.
4. A program is a static entity. The process is a dynamic entity.
Program does not have any resource Process has a high resource requirement, it
5. requirement, it only requires memory needs resources like CPU, memory address,
space for storing the instructions. and I/O during its lifetime.
The program does not have any control
block. The process has its own control block called
6.
Process Control Block.

56. What is a dispatcher?

The dispatcher is the module that gives process control over the CPU after it has been
selected by the short-term scheduler. This function involves the following:

 Switching context

 Switching to user mode

  Jumping to the proper location in the user program to restart that program

57. Define the term dispatch latency?

Dispatch latency can be described as the amount of time it takes for a system to respond to a
request for a process to begin operation. With a scheduler written specifically to honor
application priorities, real-time applications can be developed with a bounded dispatch
latency.

58. What are the goals of CPU scheduling?

 Max CPU utilization [Keep CPU as busy as possible]Fair allocation of CPU.

 Max throughput [Number of processes that complete their execution per time unit]

 Min turnaround time [Time taken by a process to finish execution]

 Min waiting time [Time a process waits in ready queue]

 Min response time [Time when a process produces the first response]

59. What is a critical- section?

When more than one processes access the same code segment that segment is known as the
critical section. The critical section contains shared variables or resources which are needed
to be synchronized to maintain the consistency of data variables. In simple terms, a critical
section is a group of instructions/statements or regions of code that need to be executed
atomically such as accessing a resource (file, input or output port, global data, etc.).

60. Write the name of synchronization techniques?

 Mutexes

 Condition variables

 Semaphores

 File locks

Intermediate OS Interview Questions

61. Write a difference between a user-level thread and a kernel-level thread?

User-level thread Kernel level thread

User threads are implemented by users. kernel threads are implemented by OS.
OS doesn’t recognize user-level threads. Kernel threads are recognized by OS.
Implementation of the perform kernel thread is
Implementation of User threads is easy.
complicated.
User-level thread Kernel level thread
Context switch time is less. Context switch time is more.
Context switch requires no hardware
Hardware support is needed.
support.
If one user-level thread performs a blocking If one kernel thread perform a the blocking
operation then entire process will be operation then another thread can continue
blocked. execution.
User-level threads are designed as dependent Kernel level threads are designed as
threads. independent threads.

62. Write down the advantages of multithreading?

Some of the most important benefits of MT are:

 Improved throughput. Many concurrent compute operations and I/O requests within a
single process.

 Simultaneous and fully symmetric use of multiple processors for computation and
I/O.

 Superior application responsiveness. If a request can be launched on its own thread,

applications do not freeze or show the “hourglass”. An entire application will not
block or otherwise wait, pending the completion of another request.

 Improved server responsiveness. Large or complex requests or slow clients don’t

block other requests for service. The overall throughput of the server is much greater.

 Minimized system resource usage. Threads impose minimal impact on system

resources. Threads require less overhead to create, maintain, and manage than a
traditional process.

 Program structure simplification. Threads can be used to simplify the structure of

complex applications, such as server-class and multimedia applications. Simple
routines can be written for each activity, making complex programs easier to design
and code, and more adaptive to a wide variation in user demands.

 Better communication. Thread synchronization functions can be used to provide

enhanced process-to-process communication. In addition, sharing large amounts of
data through separate threads of execution within the same address space provides
extremely high-bandwidth, low-latency communication between separate tasks within
an application

63. Difference between Multithreading and Multitasking?

S.No Multi-threading Multi-tasking

Multiple threads are executing at the
1. same time at the same or different part of Several programs are executed concurrently.
the program.
S.No Multi-threading Multi-tasking
CPU switches between multiple tasks and
2. CPU switches between multiple threads.
processes.
3. It is the process of a lightweight part. It is a heavyweight process.
4. It is a feature of the process. It is a feature of the OS.
Multi-threading is sharing of computing Multitasking is sharing of computing
5. resources among threads of a single resources(CPU, memory, devices, etc.)
process. among processes.

64. What are the drawbacks of semaphores?

 Priority Inversion is a big limitation of semaphores.

 Their use is not enforced but is by convention only.

 The programmer has to keep track of all calls to wait and signal the semaphore.

 With improper use, a process may block indefinitely. Such a situation is called
Deadlock.

65. What is Peterson’s approach?

It is a concurrent programming algorithm. It is used to synchronize two processes that

maintain the mutual exclusion for the shared resource. It uses two variables, a bool array flag
of size 2 and an int variable turn to accomplish it.

66. Define the term Bounded waiting?

A system is said to follow bounded waiting conditions if a process wants to enter into a
critical section will enter in some finite time.

67. What are the solutions to the critical section problem?

There are three solutions to the critical section problem:

 Software solutions

 Hardware solutions

 Semaphores

68. What is a Banker’s algorithm?

The banker’s algorithm is a resource allocation and deadlock avoidance algorithm that tests
for safety by simulating the allocation for the predetermined maximum possible amounts of
all resources, then makes an “s-state” check to test for possible activities, before deciding
whether allocation should be allowed to continue.
69. What is concurrency?

A state in which a process exists simultaneously with another process than those it is said to
be concurrent.

70. Write a drawback of concurrency?

 It is required to protect multiple applications from one another.

 It is required to coordinate multiple applications through additional mechanisms.

 Additional performance overheads and complexities in operating systems are required

for switching among applications.

 Sometimes running too many applications concurrently leads to severely degraded

performance.

71. What are the necessary conditions which can lead to a deadlock in a
system?

Mutual Exclusion: There is a resource that cannot be shared.

Hold and Wait: A process is holding at least one resource and waiting for another resource,
which is with some other process.
No Preemption: The operating system is not allowed to take a resource back from a process
until the process gives it back.
Circular Wait: A set of processes waiting for each other in circular form.

72. What are the issues related to concurrency?

 Non-atomic: Operations that are non-atomic but interruptible by multiple processes

can cause problems.

 Race conditions: A race condition occurs of the outcome depends on which of

several processes gets to a point first.

 Blocking: Processes can block waiting for resources. A process could be blocked for
a long period of time waiting for input from a terminal. If the process is required to
periodically update some data, this would be very undesirable.

 Starvation: It occurs when a process does not obtain service to progress.

 Deadlock: It occurs when two processes are blocked and hence neither can proceed to
execute

73. Why do we use precedence graphs?

A precedence graph is a directed acyclic graph that is used to show the execution level of
several processes in the operating system. It has the following properties also:
  Nodes of graphs correspond to individual statements of program code.

 An edge between two nodes represents the execution order.

 A directed edge from node A to node B shows that statement A executes first and then
Statement B executes

74. Explain the resource allocation graph?

The resource allocation graph is explained to us what is the state of the system in terms of
processes and resources. One of the advantages of having a diagram is, sometimes it is
possible to see a deadlock directly by using RAG.

75. What is a deadlock?

Deadlock is a situation when two or more processes wait for each other to finish and none of
them ever finish. Consider an example when two trains are coming toward each other on the
same track and there is only one track, none of the trains can move once they are in front of
each other. A similar situation occurs in operating systems when there are two or more
processes that hold some resources and wait for resources held by other(s).

76. What is the goal and functionality of memory management?

The goal and functionality of memory management are as follows;

 Relocation

 Protection

 Sharing

 Logical organization

 Physical organization

77. Write a difference between physical address and logical address?

S.NO. Parameters Logical address Physical Address

It is the virtual address generated The physical address is a location in a
1. Basic
by CPU. memory unit.
Set of all logical addresses
Set of all physical addresses mapped
generated by the CPU in reference
2. Address to the corresponding logical addresses
to a program is referred to as
is referred to as a Physical Address.
Logical Address Space.
The user can view the logical The user can never view the physical
3. Visibility
address of a program. address of the program
The user uses the logical address to The user can not directly access the
4. Access
access the physical address. physical address
S.NO. Parameters Logical address Physical Address
The Logical Address is generated Physical Address is Computed by
5. Generation
by the CPU MMU

78. Explain address binding?

The Association of program instruction and data to the actual physical memory locations is
called Address Binding.

79. Write different types of address binding?

Address Binding is divided into three types as follows.

 Compile-time Address Binding

 Load time Address Binding

 Execution time Address Binding

80. Write an advantage of dynamic allocation algorithms?

 When we do not know how much amount of memory would be needed for the
program beforehand.

 When we want data structures without any upper limit of memory space.

 When you want to use your memory space more efficiently.

 Dynamically created lists insertions and deletions can be done very easily just by the
manipulation of addresses whereas in the case of statically allocated memory
insertions and deletions lead to more movements and wastage of memory.

 When you want to use the concept of structures and linked lists in programming,
dynamic memory allocation is a must

81. Write a difference between internal fragmentation and external

fragmentation?

S.NO Internal fragmentation External fragmentation

In internal fragmentation fixed-sized In external fragmentation, variable-sized
1. memory, blocks square measure memory blocks square measure appointed to the
appointed to process. method.
Internal fragmentation happens when
External fragmentation happens when the
2. the method or process is smaller than
method or process is removed.
the memory allocated to it.
The solution to internal fragmentation Solution for external fragmentation is
3.
is the best-fit block. compaction, paging and segmentation.
4. Internal fragmentation occurs when External fragmentation occurs when memory is
S.NO Internal fragmentation External fragmentation
memory is divided into fixed-sized divided into variable-size partitions based on the
partitions. size of processes.
The difference between memory The unused spaces formed between non-
allocated and required space or contiguous memory fragments are too small to
5.
memory is called Internal serve a new process, which is called External
fragmentation. fragmentation.

82. Define the Compaction?

The process of collecting fragments of available memory space into contiguous blocks by
moving programs and data in a computer’s memory or disk.

83. Write about the advantages and disadvantages of a hashed-page table?

Advantages

 The main advantage is synchronization.

 In many situations, hash tables turn out to be more efficient than search trees or any
other table lookup structure. For this reason, they are widely used in many kinds of
computer software, particularly for associative arrays, database indexing, caches, and
sets.

Disadvantages

 Hash collisions are practically unavoidable. when hashing a random subset of a large
set of possible keys.

 Hash tables become quite inefficient when there are many collisions.

 Hash table does not allow null values, like a hash map.

 Define Compaction.

84. Write a difference between paging and segmentation?

S.NO Paging Segmentation

In paging, program is divided into In segmentation, the program is divided into
1.
fixed or mounted-size pages. variable-size sections.
For the paging operating system is
2. For segmentation compiler is accountable.
accountable.
3. Page size is determined by hardware. Here, the section size is given by the user.
It is faster in comparison of
4. Segmentation is slow.
segmentation.
Paging could result in internal Segmentation could result in external
5.
fragmentation. fragmentation.
S.NO Paging Segmentation
In paging, logical address is split into Here, logical address is split into section number
6.
that page number and page offset. and section offset.
Paging comprises a page table which While segmentation also comprises the segment
7. encloses the base address of every table which encloses the segment number and
page. segment offset.
A page table is employed to keep up
8. Section Table maintains the section data.
the page data.
In paging, operating system must In segmentation, the operating system maintains
9.
maintain a free frame list. a list of holes in the main memory.
10. Paging is invisible to the user. Segmentation is visible to the user.
In paging, processor needs page
In segmentation, the processor uses segment
11. number, offset to calculate the
number, and offset to calculate the full address.
absolute address.

85. Write a definition of Associative Memory and Cache Memory?

S.No. Associative Memory Cache Memory

A memory unit accessed by content is Fast and small memory is called cache
1
called associative memory. memory.
It reduces the time required to find the item It reduces the average memory access
2
stored in memory. time.
3 Here data is accessed by its content. Here, data are accessed by their address.
It is used when a particular group of data
4 It is used where search time is very short.
is accessed repeatedly.
Its basic characteristic is its logic circuit for
5 Its basic characteristic is its fast access
matching its content.

86. What is “Locality of reference”?

The locality of reference refers to a phenomenon in which a computer program tends to

access the same set of memory locations for a particular time period. In other words, Locality
of Reference refers to the tendency of the computer program to access instructions whose
addresses are near one another.

87. Write down the advantages of virtual memory?

 A higher degree of multiprogramming.

 Allocating memory is easy and cheap

 Eliminates external fragmentation

 Data (page frames) can be scattered all over the PM

 Pages are mapped appropriately anyway

  Large programs can be written, as the virtual space available is huge compared to
physical memory.

 Less I/O required leads to faster and easy swapping of processes.

 More physical memory is available, as programs are stored on virtual memory, so

they occupy very less space on actual physical memory.

 More efficient swapping

88. How to calculate performance in virtual memory?

The performance of virtual memory of a virtual memory management system depends on the
total number of page faults, which depend on “paging policies” and “frame allocation”.

Effective access time = (1-p) x Memory access time + p x page fault time

89. Write down the basic concept of the file system?

A file is a collection of related information that is recorded on secondary storage. Or file is a

collection of logically related entities. From the user’s perspective, a file is the smallest
allotment of logical secondary storage.

90. Write the names of different operations on file?

Operation on file:

 Create

 Open

 Read

 Write

 Rename

 Delete

 Append

 Truncate

 Close
91. Define the term Bit-Vector?

A Bitmap or Bit Vector is a series or collection of bits where each bit corresponds to a disk
block. The bit can take two values: 0 and 1: 0 indicates that the block is allocated and 1
indicates a free block.

92. What is a File allocation table?

FAT stands for File Allocation Table and this is called so because it allocates different files
and folders using tables. This was originally designed to handle small file systems and disks.
A file allocation table (FAT) is a table that an operating system maintains on a hard disk that
provides a map of the cluster (the basic units of logical storage on a hard disk) that a file has
been stored in.

93. What is rotational latency?

Rotational Latency: Rotational Latency is the time taken by the desired sector of the disgeek
to rotate into a position so that it can access the read/write heads. So the disk scheduling
algorithm that gives minimum rotational latency is better.

94. What is seek time?

Seek Time: Seek time is the time taken to locate the disk arm to a specified track where the
data is to be read or written. So the disk scheduling algorithm that gives a minimum average
seek time is better.

Advanced OS Interview Questions

95. What is Belady’s Anomaly?

Bélády’s anomaly is an anomaly with some page replacement policies increasing the number
of page frames resulting in an increase in the number of page faults. It occurs when the First
In First Out page replacement is used.

96. What happens if a non-recursive mutex is locked more than once?

Deadlock. If a thread that had already locked a mutex, tries to lock the mutex again, it will
enter into the waiting list of that mutex, which results in a deadlock. It is because no other
thread can unlock the mutex. An operating system implementer can exercise care in
identifying the owner of the mutex and return it if it is already locked by the same thread to
prevent deadlocks.

97. What are the advantages of a multiprocessor system?

There are some main advantages of a multiprocessor system:

 Enhanced performance.
  Multiple applications.

 Multi-tasking inside an application.

 High throughput and responsiveness.

 Hardware sharing among CPUs.

98. What are real-time systems?

A real-time system means that the system is subjected to real-time, i.e., the response should
be guaranteed within a specified timing constraint or the system should meet the specified
deadline.

99. How to recover from a deadlock?

We can recover from a deadlock by following methods:

 Process termination
o Abort all the deadlock processes
o Abort one process at a time until the deadlock is eliminated

 Resource preemption
o Rollback
o Selecting a victim

100. What factors determine whether a detection algorithm must be utilized in

a deadlock avoidance system?

One is that it depends on how often a deadlock is likely to occur under the implementation of
this algorithm. The other has to do with how many processes will be affected by deadlock
when this algorithm is applied.

101. Explain the resource allocation graph?

The resource allocation graph is explained to us what is the state of the system in terms of
processes and resources. One of the advantages of having a diagram is, sometimes it is
possible to see a deadlock directly by using RAG.

Source: www.geeksforgeeks.org