ISA343-A Test

1. The Banner system needs to be updated. What specific technical knowledge is needed to update the computer system. Organize your answer by UP discipline. A) Technical knowledge of computer hardware and system software is required to assess the degree to which user needs are being met, and to estimate the resources required to address needs. B) Technical knowledge of computer hardware and system software is most important for completing architectural activities. Selecting hardware and network components requires detailed knowledge of their capabilities and limitations. C) Requires relatively specific knowledge of hardware, networks, and system software, such as protocols, compatibility, and configuration steps. D) Technical knowledge of computer hardware and system software is needed to complete tasks such as installation and configuration.

1. Business modeling and requirements A 2. Design B 3. Implementation and testing C 4. Deployment D

1. ____ provide benefits only in the current fiscal year.

?

11. Compare storage area networks and network-attached storage. Which is more common in environments where many servers in the same location access the same data?

A SAN is a high-speed interconnection between general-purpose servers and a separate storage server that handles storage access requests from other servers. NAS uses a dedicated storage server (with its own OS and the hardware attributes of a complete computer) attached to a general-purpose network to handle storage access requests from other servers. Other comparisons include the following: A SAN device accepts low-level requests to locations in the storage subsystem's logical address space ("blockoriented access" or "sector-oriented access"). An NAS server accepts access requests to files, which can encompass many storage blocks (called "file-oriented access"). In NAS, a storage server OS manages one or more file systems shared by other servers or clients. In a SAN, a storage server provides a pool of physical storage locations used by other servers to store one or more file systems. NAS is more common when geographically dispersed servers need access to a common file system. A SAN is more common with many servers in the same location because of its higher performance, and because its highspeed interconnections would be prohibitively expensive over longer distances

9. What is a buffer? Why might one be used?

A buffer is an area of RAM implemented in a device controller, an I/O device, or a storage device. It's used to resolve differences in I/O unit size or speed of data production and consumption.

10. How can a cache be used to improve performance when reading data from and writing data to a storage device?

A cache controller attempts to guess what data will be requested next and prefetch this data into the cache. If the cache controller guesses correctly, data can be supplied more quickly. A cache controller confirms a write operation as soon as data is written to the cache but before it's written to the storage device. This improves the performance of a program waiting for write confirmation by reducing the interval between the write request and the write confirmation.

What functions does a device controller perform?

A device controller translates logical accesses into physical accesses and translates messages between the bus protocol and the protocols used to control attached devices. A device controller can also perform multiplexing (that is, allowing multiple devices to share a single bus port).

7. How is file deletion normally accomplished? What security problems might result from this method?

A file is normally deleted by marking its storage allocation units as free and its directory entry as unused. The data isn't actually overwritten until the physical storage locations are allocated to another file and write operations to these locations are performed. Security can be a problem for two reasons: Files can be undeleted by reconstructing directory and storage allocation table contents, and file content can be visible to intruders able to bypass the storage allocation table and read allocation units directly.

2. What's the difference between the logical and physical structure of a file? What are the advantages of not having an application program interact directly with the physical file structure?

A file's logical structure is composed of records and fields organized so that access by a program is as easy as possible. A file's physical structure depends on the method of physical storage allocation and the physical characteristics of devices containing the file. The two rarely match, so translation between them is necessary. Application programs are simplified because of their lack of interaction with the physical file structure. They need no knowledge of storage allocation issues and no programming that depends on them.

7. What is a thread? What resources does it share with other threads in the same process?

A thread is a subunit of a process that can be executed and scheduled independently. Threads share all resources allocated to their parent processes with other threads in the same process, including primary storage, files, and I/O devices.

2. Why does program execution speed generally increase as the number of general-purpose registers increases?

Access to data stored in registers is immediate, but access to data stored in memory locations generally incurs some delay. Most programs require a temporary storage area for intermediate results and frequently needed variables or constants. General-purpose registers serve this purpose. As the number of general-purpose registers increases, more of these items can be held in registers, reducing the need to access memory for these items. The memory accesses eliminated by using the additional registers reduce CPU memory access delays and, therefore, increase program execution speed.

The ____ transmits a memory address when primary storage is the sending or receiving device.

Address bus

4. What is an interrupt? How is an interrupt generated? How is it processed?

An interrupt is a signal to the OS that a request or event has occurred that requires its attention. Interrupts are numeric codes and can be generated by peripheral devices, an explicit software instruction, or the CPU. Peripheral device interrupts are sent over the system bus, detected by the CPU, and placed in an interrupt register. Software and CPU-generated interrupts are placed in the interrupt register by the CPU. The CPU detects an interrupt by checking the interrupt register's contents after each execution cycle. If an interrupt is present, the CPU suspends the current program by performing a push operation. It then branches to the supervisor, which looks up the interrupt code in a table and calls the interrupt handler address it finds there. When the interrupt handler returns to the supervisor, a pop operation is performed, which activates the program that was running when the interrupt was detected.

Describe the function of each layer of the TCP/IP model.

Application layer—Roughly corresponds to the OSI Application and Presentation layers and includes many protocols, such as HTTP, SMTP, DNS, and DHCP. Supports applications such as e-mail programs and Web browsers. Transport layer—Roughly equivalent to the OSI Session and Transport layers and includes TCP and UDP. Provides reliable additional services beyond the Internet layer, including error detection and correction and guaranteed delivery of IP packets. Internet layer—Roughly corresponds to the OSI Network layer. IP is the primary protocol, although other protocols, such as ICMP, ARP, and RARP, play a supporting role. Handles basic transport of messages without error detection or delivery guarantees. Network Interface layer—Roughly equivalent to the OSI Data Link layer. This layer connects Internet protocols to underlying network protocols in the Physical layer and converts network addresses and packet formats as needed. Physical layer—Roughly equivalent to the OSI Physical layer. This layer contains physical network protocols, such as Ethernet and ATM, and physically transports messages from sender to receiver.

1. A(n) ____ is a program in which different sets of instructions are applied to different data input values. formula algorithm processor condition

B

A(n) ____ program performs specific tasks that can be counted or measured.

Benchmark

12. Binary numbers are well suited to computer processing because they correspond directly with values in ____ logic.

Boolean

In what way(s) is/are SSDs an improvement over magnetic disk drives? In what way(s) isn't/aren't they an improvement over magnetic disk drives?

By avoiding all mechanical delays in accessing storage locations, SSDs yield a significant performance improvement compared to magnetic disk drives. However, their lifetime, as measured in write cycles, is significantly less than magnetic disk drives. Also, their cost per unit of storage is generally higher than for magnetic disk drives

The ____ is responsible for all computers, networks and software owned and operated by an organization

CIO

1. A(n) ____ uses the communication interface to request resources, and the server responds to these requests.

Client

1. Describe client/server, three-layer, and n-layer architecture. What are the differences between a client and a server? What is the function of each layer in a three-layer application? Why might more than three layers be used?

Client/server architecture is a method of organizing software to provide and access distributed information and computing resources. It divides software into two classes: client and server. A server manages resources and provides access to them through a communication interface, and a client uses the communication interface to request resources. Three-layer architecture divides an application into data, business logic, and view layers. The data layer manages stored data. The business logic layer carries out the rules and procedures of business processing. The view layer accepts user input and formats and displays processing results. When processing requirements or data resources are complex, n-layer architectures can be used that enable splitting functions of the data, business logic, or view layer across multiple layers.

. The term ____ has been coined to summarize new approaches to distributing and accessing software and hardware services across the Internet

Cloud Computing

1. The ____, sometimes called the shell, is the user interface to the OS.

Command layer

The ____ translates some source code instructions into executable code and others into library calls, which are further processed by the link editor.

Compiler

8. How many bits are in an IP address? What is a TCP or UDP port? What is a TCP or UDP socket?

Currently, IPv4 addresses are 32 bits. IPv6 will increase the address length to 128 bits. A port is a TCP connection with a unique integer number, and many ports are standardized to specific Internet services. A socket is the combination of an IP address and a port number; it's written as the IP address followed by a colon and the port number—129.24.8.1:53, for example.

A ____ develops system software, such as operating systems, compilers, database management systems, Web servers, and network security monitors. network administrator systems analyst systems designer systems programmer

D

13. Why should you defragment magnetic disk drives? Why should you avoid defragmenting SSDs?

Defragmenting a disk drive reorganizes physical storage so that sectors of the same file are stored in a way that minimizes rotational delay and head movement during sequential read operations. In most cases, this significant improves read performance. Although SSDs emulate the sector-oriented architecture of a disk drive, they use a fundamentally different physical architecture that imposes no read performance penalty for accessing sectors scattered throughout the device. Thus, defragmentation provides no performance improvement. Further, SSDs have a limited number of write cycles. Defragmentation, which consumes many write cycles over many storage locations, contributes to premature drive failure.

1. A(n) ____ contains information about files and other directories.

Directory

13. What are directory services? What types of information might be made available through directory services? Describe the LDAP standard.

Directory services are middleware and provide a database of information about distributed resources and services and a means to access and search this database. Network directories typically store information about registered users and their access permissions, shared hardware resources, shared files, computer systems, and specialized hardware devices (network storage appliances, for example). LDAP is a widely used standard for directory services. Each shareable resource and user is stored as an object, and each object is an instance of an objectclass, which defines the attributes common to all member objects. Objects can be organized into hierarchical structures with standard container objects, such as country, organization, and organizational unit.

3. ____ planning is particularly critical in online systems and systems in which extended downtime causes extreme economic impact

Disaster

____ is a fault-tolerance technique in which all disk write operations are made simultaneously or concurrently to two storage devices.

Disk Mirroring

8. Describe the factors that contribute to a disk drive's average access time. Which of these factors is improved if spin rate is increased? Which is improved if areal density is increased?

Disk average access time is a combination of rotational delay, track-to-track seek time (head movement), and head-to-head switching time. Rotational delay is reduced if spin rate is increased. If areal density is increased, TTT seek time is improved because tracks are narrower and packed together more tightly (more tracks per same unit of distance traveled by the read/write head).

2. Decimal and binary notations are alternative forms of Boolean logic.

False

3. In numbering systems other than the decimal numbering system, the term radix point is used for the period or comma.

False

4. The number of digits needed to represent a value decreases as the numbering system's base decreases.

False

A systems analyst performs activities in the design discipline and sometimes the deployment discipline

False

The hardware and software for large and small computer systems has the same level of complexity.

False

True or False: An inclusive OR (OR) instruction generates the value true if either (but not both) data input is true.

False

True or False: Variable-length instructions simplify the instruction-fetching process in the control unit.

False

List two things that the control unit does during the fetch cycle.

Fetches an instruction from primary storage Increments a pointer to the location of the next instruction Separates the instruction into components—the instruction code (or number) and the data inputs to the instruction Stores each component in a separate register

8. What levels of access rights can exist for a file?

File access rights include read (viewing a file's contents), write (altering file contents or deleting a file), and execute (run an executable file). Rights can be denied to all but the file owner, extended to other members of a group, extended to all users, and even revoked for the file owner (to prevent accidental deletion, for example).

____ is a companion protocol to HTML and XML that specifies the language by which clients request documents and how servers respond to those requests.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

How does a message from one LAN node find its way to a recipient on the same LAN? How does a message find its way to a recipient on another LAN?

If the sender and recipient are on the same LAN, a central node forwards the message from sender to receiver or connects sender and receiver directly during message transmission. If the message destination is on a different LAN from the sender, a central node, such as a hub, router, or switch, forwards the message to another central node based on its internal forwarding tables. Typically, messages are forwarded up a chain of default central nodes until a node is found that knows a route to the destination LAN. The message is then forwarded to the destination LAN's central node and finally to the recipient.

11. How does multiprocessing improve a computer's efficiency?

In short, it enables a computer to perform multiple processing tasks in parallel. Parallelism can be applied to instructions or instruction sequences in a single program or multiple programs, and the result is that more work is accomplished in the same time period.

16. When discussing computer processing, ____ refers to executing processor instructions, such as addition, subtraction, and equality comparisons, and "ease" refers to machine efficiency.

Manipulation

____ refers to protecting memory allocated to one program from unauthorized access by another program.

Memory Protection

What is middleware?

Middleware is system software that "glues" together parts of a client/server or multitier application. It includes software such as Web servers that support embedded client-side programs, database servers that support stored procedures, and network OSs that share files among clients on multiple computers.

The first group of bits represents the instruction's unique binary number, commonly called the ____.

OP Code

17. ____ occurs when the absolute value of a computational result contains too many bits to fit into a fixed-width data format.

Overflow

3. Virtual memory management divides a program into partitions called ____.

Pages

10. How does pipelining improve CPU efficiency? What's the potential effect on pipelining's efficiency when executing a conditional BRANCH instruction? What techniques can be used to make pipelining more efficient when executing conditional BRANCH instructions?

Pipelining increases the rate at which instructions can be executed by overlapping their execution in multiple stages. However, pipelining efficiencies are achieved only when the CPU can supply a continuous stream of instructions. When the instruction sequence is altered by a conditional BRANCH instruction, the CPU empties the pipeline's content and starts over with the first instruction of a new sequence. This problem can be minimized or eliminated by using branch prediction or speculative execution.

10. Describe the levels of RAID. What are their comparative advantages and disadvantages?

RAID level Description 0 Data striping without redundancy 1 Mirroring 2 Data bit striping with multiple error checksums 3 Data byte striping with parity check data stored on a separate disk 4 Data block striping with parity check data stored on a separate disk 5 Data block striping with parity check data stored on multiple disks 6 Data block striping with two sets of parity check data stored on multiple disks 10 Data striping combined with mirroring

9. What complexities are introduced by real-time scheduling requirements?

Real-time scheduling requires the OS to know the maximum CPU time needed to complete one thread cycle and the frequency of cycles. Whenever it makes a scheduling decision, the scheduler must check the timer, CPU time used and time remaining before the deadline is reached, and maximum thread cycle time to ensure that the thread completes its cycle before the timer expires. This method can quickly consume available CPU resources.

1. The CPU contains a few internal storage locations called ____.

Registers

4. What are the differences between static and dynamic connections to remote resources? Which connection type requires a resource registry? Where should the resource registry be located?

Resource access consists of two layers: the resource locator and service provider. The resource locator maintains a local resource registry containing the names and locations of known resources and services. Static connections to resources remain unchanged after being configured by a user or system administrator. When resources are added, moved, renamed, or deleted, all users' resource registries must be updated to reflect the changes. Dynamic connections are created as needed and discarded when they're no longer being used. With this type of connection, a resource user asks for a resource, and if it isn't found in the local resource registry, the resource locator searches for it in external resource registries.

A(n) ____ is a reserved area of main memory accessed on a last-in, first-out (LIFO) basis.

Stack

When the CPU detects an interrupt, it executes a master interrupt handler program called the ____.

Supervisor

____ provide the detail needed to develop a system that meets users' needs.

System requirements models

Lower-level hardware personnel usually have ____ degrees.

Technical

What are special-purpose registers? Give three examples of special-purpose registers and explain how each is used.

The CPU designer designates the content and use of special-purpose registers. Their content is controlled by the control unit and can't be accessed directly by programs. Three types of special-purpose registers are the instruction register, instruction pointer, and program status word. When the control unit fetches an instruction from memory, it stores it in the instruction register. The instruction pointer stores the address of the next instruction the control unit retrieves at the start of the next fetch cycle. The program status word contains data describing the CPU status and the currently executing program

1. Describe the functions of the kernel, service, and command layers of an OS.

The kernel manages hardware resources and interacts directly with hardware. It includes a resource allocation layer and interface programs called device drivers for each hardware device. The service layer is an interface to components that provide functions called from applications, ranging from file and folder manipulation to accessing I/O devices, starting and stopping programs, allocating memory, and creating, moving, and resizing GUI windows. The command layer provides a user interface to the OS for managing hardware and software resources.

2. What are the differences between static and dynamic RAM?

The most important differences are speed and cost. Static RAM is 5 to 10 times faster and approximately 10 times more expensive than dynamic RAM. Static RAM is composed entirely of transistors, and dynamic RAM is composed of transistors and capacitors. Capacitors require frequent recharging, which slows access time.

What is a stack? Why is it needed?

The stack is an area of memory that holds register values of suspended processes. It's needed because register values represent a suspended program's state. These values must be restored to CPU registers to allow a program to resume execution at the point it was suspended. Multiple sets of register values must be stored when interrupts of higher priority cause lower-priority interrupt handlers to be suspended and placed on the stack.

1. Computer input devices convert external data into an internal representation that can be carried to and manipulated by processing circuitry.

True

1. True or False: A storage allocation table is a data structure that records which allocation units are free and which belong to files.

True

1. True or False: The storage I/O control layer is the part of the kernel that accesses storage locations and manages data movement between storage devices and memory.

True

10. The advantage of using an index lies in the efficiency of record insertion, deletion, and retrieval.

True

5. With any fixed-width data storage format, it's possible that the result of a computation will be too large to fit in the format.

True

6. Whether implemented in system or application software, almost all data structures make extensive use of pointers and addresses.

True

7. More storage locations are required for a linked list than for an array with equivalent content because both data and pointers must be stored.

True

8. Linked lists are easier to expand or shrink than arrays are.

True

9. In a sequential file, records are stored in contiguous storage locations.

True

Containers running on a single machine all share the same operating system kernel, so they start instantly and make more efficient use of RAM.

True

The knowledge required to purchase and configure technically complex devices is far greater than the knowledge required to use them effectively.

True

True or False: A database administrator is responsible for helping the organization realize the potential benefits of its investment in stored data.

True

True or False: An incremental backup archives only files that have been modified since the previous incremental or full backup.

True

True or False: An integrated development environment (IDE) is a collection of automated support tools to speed development and testing.

True

True or False: Applications for parallel processing include data mining and scientific applications.

True

True or False: Primary storage is also referred to as main memory.

True

True or False: The control unit handles executing instructions to move data to memory, I/O devices, or secondary storage.

True

True or False: The process of designing and constructing software translates users' information processing needs into CPU instructions that, when executed, address these needs.

True

True or False: The starting point for determining hardware requirements is the application software that will run on the hardware platform.

True

True or False: The term middleware describes software that "glues" together parts of a client/server or multitier application.

True

True or False: Virtual Machines - Each virtual machine includes the application, the necessary binaries and libraries, and an entire guest operating system - All of which may be tens of GBs in size.

True

3. What file types does a file management system usually support?

Typical file types include text or unformatted binary data, executable programs, and OS commands

1. A user might be able to recover a deleted file by performing a(n) ____ operation.

Undelete

In a process called ____, a file's original version is archived automatically whenever the file is modified.

Versioning

10. Describe the operation of virtual memory management.

Virtual memory management uses a portion of secondary storage to expand primary storage's capacity. Programs and memory are divided into portions called pages, and each memory page is called a page frame. During program execution, one or more pages are allocated to page frames, and the rest are held in secondary storage. As pages in secondary storage are needed for current processing, the OS copies them into page frames. If necessary, pages currently in memory are written to secondary storage to make room for pages being loaded. Each memory reference is checked to see whether the page it refers to is currently in memory. A reference to a page held in memory is called a page hit, and a reference to a page held in secondary storage is called a page fault. The OS maintains page tables to store information about page locations, allocated page frames, status of pages, and secondary storage space.

1. On a desktop or laptop computer, a(n) ____ is usually an entire physical disk, a partition of the disk, or a removable storage medium, such as a DVD or flash drive.

Volume

Define "word size." What are the advantages and disadvantages of increasing word size?

Word size is the number of bits the CPU processes simultaneously. It also describes the size of a single register. If the data to be processed is in larger units than the CPU's word size, the CPU must execute multiple instructions to perform what's logically a single operation. In addition, inefficiencies are compounded as the operation's complexity increases. Therefore, increasing word size increases the capability to process larger units of data. The disadvantages of increased word size are increased CPU, bus, and memory complexity and, therefore, cost. This complexity increases at a faster rate than the increase in word size. (That is, doubling word size more than doubles complexity.)

14. The multiplier that describes the difference between one position and the next is the ____ of the numbering system.

base

11. In a ____, each digit can have only one of two possible values: 0 or 1.

c. binary number

15. In the decimal numbering system, the period or comma is called a ____.

decimal point

A(n) ____ is a microchip containing all the circuits and connections that implement a CPU.

microprocessor

2. OS support for running multiple programs simultaneously is called ____.

multitasking

The ____ is a digital circuit that generates timing pulses, or signals, and transmits the pulses to other devices in the computer

system clock

13. In the decimal or binary notations, the symbol used to represent a digit and the digit's position in a string determines its ____.

value