Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Operating systems > Exam 2 (Ch. 4-6) > Flashcards

Exam 2 (Ch. 4-6) Flashcards

1
Q

What is an Allocation Block?

A

A division of hard disk data in the Mac file system.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is the Windows equivalent of the Mac Allocation Block?

A

Disk Cluster or Allocation Units

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How many allocation blocks are there in each Hierarchical Filing System (HFS) volume?

A

2^16

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is a Cluster?

A

In Windows filing systems, a logical block of information on a disk containing one or more sectors.

(Also known as an Allocation Unit)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is a Directory/Folder?

A

An organizational structure containing files and file attributes.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is File Allocation Table (FAT)?

A

FAT is a file management system that defines the way data is stored on a disk drive.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What information does FAT (File Allocation Table) store?

A

FAT stores information about a file’s size and physical location on a disk.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are File Attributes?

A

A type of metadata, they are file characteristics stored with the filename in the disk folder.

Hidden, Read-Only, and Archive are file attributes.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are Hidden, Read-Only and Archive examples of?

A

They are file attributes.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is a Hierarchical Structure?

A

An organizational structure where entities contain sub-entities within them.

Ex. Computer → Disk drives → Folders → subfolders → Files

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is the Hierarchical Filing System (HFS)?

A

An early Mac filing system storage method using a hierarchical structure of folders.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

When was Mac’s Hierarchical Filing System first released?

A

1986.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What is the filing system used in Mac OS X?

A

Hierarchical Filing System Extended, or HFS+.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is the Hierarchical Filing System Extended (HFS+)?

A

First introduced in 1998 (in Mac OS 8.1), it is the successor to the HFS and is used today in Mac OS X.

Each of its volumes contain 2^32 allocation blocks.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How many allocation blocks are there in each of HFS+’s volumes?

A

2^32

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is an Inode?

A

In Linux/UNIX, a system for storing key information about files. Each file and folder is assigned and identified by an inode number.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is Journaling?

NTFS

A

The ability of a file system or software (i.e. database software) to track file changes so if a system crashes, it is possible to reconstruct files or roll back changes with minimal to no damage.

Journaling is a feature of NTFS (Windows’ NT File System).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What happens when a file’s size does not exactly match a cluster’s length?

A

The operating system will write the file’s “extra bit” into a second cluster. However, since clusters are a fixed size, the second cluster will be mostly wasted unused space.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is a Linked List?

A

When a file is written to a disk, each cluster containing that file’s data has a pointer to the next cluster of data.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

In a FAT file system’s linked list, what happens when the file is completely written?

A

When a file is completely written, the FAT entry for the final cluster is filled with 1s, indicating the end of the file.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is a Logical Drive?

A

A software definition that divides a physical hard drive into multiple drives for file storage.

It is very useful for organizing file storage.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Why were logical drives necessary in older operating systems like MS-DOS and Windows 3.1?

A

This was necessary because these older operating systems did not recognize very large hard drives.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is the Master Boot Record (MBR)?

A

The Master Boot Record (MBR) is an area of a hard drive in MS-DOS and Windows that stores partition info about the disk.

It is not found on disks that do not support multiple partitions.

24
Q

In Windows Systems, how long can the Master Boot Record (MBR) be?

A

512 bytes.

25
Q 
The Master Boot Record (MBR) consists of four elements:
• Boot Program
• Disk Signature
• Partition Table
• End-of-MBR Marker

What does the Boot Program do?

A

Examines the partition table to determine the partition from which to boot (AKA the active partition).

Enables program code in the active partition’s start area to execute, then points to the code that starts the OS.

26
Q 
The Master Boot Record (MBR) consists of four elements:
• Boot Program
• Disk Signature
• Partition Table
• End-of-MBR Marker

What does the Disk Signature do?

A

Stores information about the disk and is used by management software like Windows Registry.

27
Q 
The Master Boot Record (MBR) consists of four elements:
• Boot Program
• Disk Signature
• Partition Table
• End-of-MBR Marker

What does the Partition Table do?

A

A table containing information about each partition on a disk, such as the partition’s type, size and location.

Also provides information to the computer about how to access the disk.

28
Q 
The Master Boot Record (MBR) consists of four elements:
• Boot Program
• Disk Signature
• Partition Table
• End-of-MBR Marker

What does the End-of-MBR Marker do?

A

The End-of-MBR Marker signifies where the MBR contents end on the disk.

29
Q

What is the Master File Table (MFT)?

NTFS

A

A storage organization system used with the NTFS file system.

When a file is created in the NTFS, a record of its metadata is added to the Master File Table (MFT).

It exists as a file on the file system, located at the beginning of the partition.

30
Q

What is Metadata?

A

Information that describes a file, but does not contain the actual file’s data.

Examples:
• File attributes (hidden, read-only, archive)
• File size
• File type
• Date and time of file creation
• Whether the file is compressed/encrypted or not.

31
Q

What is NTFS (New Technology File System/NT File System)?

A

The file storage system native in Windows versions starting with the Windows NT family.

Uses a Master File Table (MFT) and features Journaling.

Provides the ability to compress files and can be scaled to accommodate very large files.

32
Q

What is Partitioning?

A

Blocking a group of tracks and sectors to be used by a particular file system, such as FATS or NTFS.

Permits the installation of multiple file systems on a single disk, or the configuration of multiple logical hard drives that use the same file system on a single physical hard drive.

33
Q

What is a Raw Device?

Linux/Unix

A

In the Linux/UNIX file system, a device that had not yet been divided into logical blocks.

Opposite of a Block Device.

34
Q

What is a Block Device?

Linux/UNIX

A

In Linux/UNIX file system, a device that is divided/configured into logical blocks.

Opposite of a Raw Device.

35
Q

What is the Root/Root Folder?

A

The highest-level folder in the structure of files and folders in a file system

36
Q

What are Sectors?

A

Equally-sized portions of a disk track. Data is stored in them.

37
Q

What are Tracks?

A

Concentric rings that cover an entire disk like rings on an old music record. Each is divided into Sectors.

38
Q

What is the Super Block?

Linux/UNIX

A

A special data block containing info about the layout of blocks, sectors and cylinders on the file system. It should never change.

39
Q

What is a Volume?

A

A portion of the disk that has the file system installed and is ready to be accessed for data storage and retrieval.

(One of them recently failed on my computer)

40
Q

What is Backup?

A

The process of copying files from a computer system to another medium, such as a CD/DVD, another hard drive, or cloud storage.

Done to ensure safety of the files in case of a crash or the like.

41
Q

What is a Clean Installation?

A

An OS installation on a computer that either has no existing OS, or an OS that is overwritten by the installation.

42
Q

What are the benefits of a Clean Installation?

A

You can start fresh by reformatting the hard disk used by the OS, allowing disk problems to be identified and remedied.

43
Q

When might you need to perform a Clean Installation (as opposed to an upgrade)?

A

When the new OS version does not support your old hardware (not meeting the new OS’s minimum requirements)

In this case, a Clean Installation on new hardware would be required.

44
Q

What is Migration?

A

Migration refers to moving from one OS to another, which may or may not involve implementing new hardware.

45
Q

What is an In-Place Upgrade?

A

An OS upgrade that overwrites your current OS and maintains your applications, settings and data.

46
Q

What is an Upgrade Installation?

A

An OS installation on a computer with an earlier version of the OS.

Replaces the earlier version with the new OS, often with the option to retain some/all of the original settings, user accounts, applications, data files and other existing user files.

47
Q

What is the “Lowest Common Denominator”?

A

The “worst” of the computers that you are planning to upgrade in terms of amount of memory, CPU speed, size of hard drive, and any connected devices.

This is the best computer to perform a test migration on.

48
Q

What is the Device Manager?

A

A program through which you can manage your devices. This includes:
• Determining the location of device driver files
• Checking to make sure a device is working properly
• Determining if there is a resource conflict for a device
• Installing + updating drivers

49
Q

What are Device Special Files?

A

A file used by UNIX/ Linux for managing I/O devices. The file can be a Block Special File or a Characters Special File.

50
Q

What is a Block Special File?

A

In Linux/UNIX, a file used to manage random access devices that handle blocks of data, such as CD/DVD drives, hard disk drives and tape drives.

51
Q

What is a Character Special File?

A

An I/O management file in UNIX/Linux used to handle byte-by-byte streams of data, such as via a USB connection, like printers and network communications.

52
Q

What is Driver Roll-Back?

A

Reverting a driver to an earlier version, can be done through the Device Manager.

53
Q

What is IEEE 1394 (1394a)?

A

The original specification for a high speed digital interface that supports data communication at 100, 200 and 400 megabits per second.

Succeeded by the 1394b, which enables communication at 800 mbps, 1.6 gbps and 3.2 gbps.

54
Q

What is the P CIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect express)?

A

A display adapter that enables high-performance graphics capabilities, is the current standard for add-on cards.

55
Q

What is static discharge?

A

When static electricity jumps between objects/people, can cause harm to circuit boards during installation.
To avoid this:
• Leave the card in its case until you are ready to install
• Disconnect all power to the computer
• Remove computer’s case and any slot covers you will use
• Touch a grounded part of the computer to discharge static, keep hand there to open card.

56
Q

What is a USB (Universal Serial Bus)?

A

A serial bus designed to support up to 127 discrete devices with data transfer speeds up to 5 gigabits per second.

Operating systems (1 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions