Distributed Systems Midterm Exam Review UPDATED ACTUAL Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers

Distributed Systems Midterm Exam Review
UPDATED ACTUAL Exam Questions and
CORRECT Answers
What is a distributed system? - CORRECT ANSWER - A collection of independent
computers that appears to its users as one single coherent system


What are the design goals of Distr Syst - CORRECT ANSWER - - Availability
- Transparency
- Openness
- Security & Privacy
- Scalability & performance


Difference between Supercomputer & Distr Computers - CORRECT ANSWER -
supercomputer has one singular OS, if it goes down the whole computer goes down. Distr
computers are collection of many computers with each their own OS, one goes down the whole
system is not compromised


Describe Openness in D.S - CORRECT ANSWER - A set of rules that describe syntax and
semantics
- Interface Definition Language
- Interoperability/portability


Describe Security in D.S - CORRECT ANSWER - Only authorized users should be able to
access data
- Access control
- Data integrity
- Data/service availability

, Describe Scalability in D.S - CORRECT ANSWER - A system should be scalable with
respect to size, geography and management


What are the challenges with Geographical scalability? - CORRECT ANSWER --
Synchronous communication
- Unreliable networks
- centralized components
- Multiple admin domains


What are some scalability techniques? - CORRECT ANSWER - - Hiding communication
latencies (async comms, reducing data transmition)
- Distribution
- Caching and replication
- Load balancing


What are the types of Distributed Systems? - CORRECT ANSWER - HPC Systems
- Cluster computing, Grid computing
- FOCUS on throughput
Distributed Info Systems
- Transaction processing systems, P-2-P Systems
- FOCUS on info distribution
Distributed Pervasive Systems:
- Mobile networks, Sensor networks


Cluster Computing vs Grid Computing - CORRECT ANSWER - Cluster Computing:
- Homogeneity amongst nodes
- Master-Slave architecture
- Similar OS