HW 7

HOMEWORK #7

Due 3 May (Saturday, 11:59 p.m. EDT)

(Instructions: Upload Answers to Assignments Folder)

1) (10 Points) What are the specific limitations of a computer system that provides no operating system? What must be done to load and execute programs?

2) (10 Points) What are the limitations of providing a BIOS in ROM?

3) (10 Points) Describe the two methods that are used to provide concurrent operation of multiple processes on a single CPU. What are the advantages of each method? What is the advantage of providing concurrent operation?

4) (10 Points) What is the difference between the logical description of a file and the physical description?

5) (10 Points) Nearly every operating system separates the file system from the I/O services. What is the advantage in doing so?

6) (10 Points) Early versions of Windows did not support true preemptive multitasking. Instead, the designers of Windows provided something they called ‘‘cooperative multitasking’’ in which each program was expected to give up control of the CPU at reasonable time intervals, so that the Windows dispatcher could provide execution time to another waiting program. Describe the disadvantages of this method.

7) (10 Points) Clearly explain the differences between multiprogramming, multiuser, and multiprocessing.

8) (10 Points) There are some capabilities that are easy to achieve with a GUI, but much more difficult with a CLI. Describe a few of these capabilities.

9) (10 Points) Explain piping. What additional capability does piping add to a command language?

10) (10 Points) When people describe client-server architecture, they are usually referring to a system in which a large server is serving a client on a PC. With X Window, the reverse is frequently the case. Explain.

11) (20 Points) You have noticed that loading the programs from your hard disk seems to take longer than it used to. A friend suggests copying the files from your disk, one at a time, to a different device, and back to your disk. You do so and discover that the programs load much faster now. What happened? What alternative approach would achieve a similar result more easily?

12) (20 Points) Explain why a MOVE operation from one device to another requires manipulation of the file itself, whereas a MOVE operation from one place to another on the same device involves manipulation only of the directory.

13) (15 Points) List a number of types of files that you would expect to be accessed sequentially. Do the same for files that you would expect would require random access.

14) (15 Points) What are the advantages of partitioning a disk, rather than using the entire disk as one partition?

15) (15 Points) What does it mean to mount a disk?

16) (15 Points) What is the purpose of the open and close operations?

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