Tutorial Week 10

Questions

Q1: It has been suggested that the first part of each UNIX file be kept in the same disk block as its i-node. What good would this do?

Q2: Describe why log-structured file systems are more robust than an i-node-based file system.

Q3: In what aspect of file system performance do log-structured file systems out perform i-node-based file systems? Why?

Q4:A device driver issues a request for a disk block to the disk controller. The required disk block is not yet available to the driver, what does a device driver typically do in this scenario?

Q5:Why might a system use interrupt driven I/O to manage a single serial port, but polling I/O to manage a front-end processor, such as a multiport serial card?

Q6: How might buffering improve disk write performance?