GATE Operating Systems Flashcards
6 cards from real GATE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 GATE Operating Systems flashcards as text
In Unix, which system call creates a new process?
Answer: fork()
The fork() system call creates a child process that is a copy of the parent process's address space.
Which disk scheduling algorithm minimizes seek time by serving the closest request first?
Answer: SSTF (Shortest Seek Time First)
SSTF selects the pending request closest to the current disk head position, minimizing individual seek times but potentially causing starvation.
What is the key difference between a process and a thread?
Answer: Processes have their own address space; threads share it within a process
Each process has its own independent address space, while threads within a process share the same address space and resources.
Which memory allocation strategy leads to external fragmentation?
Answer: Segmentation
Segmentation allocates variable-sized memory chunks, leading to external fragmentation as free memory becomes scattered in non-contiguous holes.
In the Banker's algorithm, a state is considered safe if:
Answer: There exists a sequence in which all processes can complete
A safe state has at least one safe sequence where every process can eventually obtain its maximum needed resources and finish.
Which of the following is an example of a real-time operating system (RTOS)?
Answer: VxWorks
VxWorks is a widely-used real-time operating system designed for embedded systems where deterministic timing guarantees are critical.