Process & Memory Management Flashcards

What condition is NOT required for deadlock to occur?

Answer: Preemption allowed

Deadlock requires mutual exclusion, hold-and-wait, no preemption, and circular wait; allowing preemption prevents deadlock.

In segmentation-based memory management, what does each segment descriptor typically contain?

Answer: A base address and limit (length)

A segment descriptor stores the base (starting physical address) and limit (size) of the segment.

Which scheduling metric measures the total time from process submission to completion?

Answer: Turnaround time

Turnaround time is the elapsed time from job submission to job completion, including waiting and execution.

What is the primary advantage of using a multi-level page table over a single-level page table?

Answer: Reduced memory overhead for sparse address spaces

Multi-level page tables avoid allocating page table entries for unmapped regions, saving memory for sparse address spaces.

What does the term 'working set' refer to in virtual memory management?

Answer: The set of pages a process actively uses during a time window

The working set is the collection of pages a process has referenced within a recent time window, used to guide page replacement.

Which IPC mechanism is best suited for passing large amounts of data between processes with minimal copying?

Answer: Shared memory

Shared memory allows processes to read and write the same memory region directly, avoiding data copying overhead.

What is the purpose of the Banker's Algorithm?

Answer: To avoid deadlock by ensuring the system stays in a safe state

The Banker's Algorithm is a deadlock avoidance technique that grants resources only if the resulting state is safe.