Explain the circumstances under which os use mutexes, Operating System

Assignment Help:

Q. Give the reasons why Windows XP, Solaris and Linux implement multiple locking mechanisms. Explain the circumstances under which they use mutexes, spinlocks, semaphores, adaptive mutexes and condition variables. In every case explain why the mechanism is needed.

Answer: These operating systems offer different locking mechanisms depending on the application developers' needs. Spinlocks are helpful for multiprocessor systems where a thread can run in a busy-loop (for a short period of time) rather than incurring the overhead of being put in a sleep queue. Mutexes are valuable for locking resources. Solaris 2 utilizes adaptive mutexes meaning that the mutex is implemented with a spin lock on multiprocessor machines. Semaphores as well as condition variables are more appropriate tools for synchronization when a resource should be held for a long period of time, since spinning is inefficient for a long duration.


Related Discussions:- Explain the circumstances under which os use mutexes

Explain file structure, File structure Certain files must conform to a ...

File structure Certain files must conform to a needed structure that is understood by the operating system. The operating system may consist that an executable file has a parti

Define ufd and mfd, Define UFD and MFD. In the two-level directory stru...

Define UFD and MFD. In the two-level directory structure, every user has her own user file directory (UFD). Every UFD has a similar structure, but lists only the files of a one

Explain User-level threads (ult), USER-LEVEL THREADS (ULT) In this lev...

USER-LEVEL THREADS (ULT) In this level the kernel isn't aware of the existence of threads -- All thread management is complete by the application by using a thread library. Th

Explain deadlock, Explain Deadlock Every process in a set of processes ...

Explain Deadlock Every process in a set of processes is waiting for an event which only a process in the set can cause.

Define state that process must obtain all resources it needs, Before procee...

Before proceeding with its execution, every process must obtain all the resources it needs is called Hold and wait

Explain hierarchical paging, Hierarchical paging Single way is to use a...

Hierarchical paging Single way is to use a two-level paging algorithm, in which the page table itself is also paged. A logical address is separated into a page number and a pag

Explain concept of synchronization, Synchronization In communication am...

Synchronization In communication among processes messages passed may be blocking or nonblocking - also called as synchronous and asynchronous. Blocking send : The sending pr

Explain the sequence of messages in rpc mechanism, Q. Once more considering...

Q. Once more considering the RPC mechanism consider the exactly once semantic. Does the algorithm for implementing this semantic implement correctly even if the ACK message back to

Determine the requiring variables on the scope of a thread, Determine the R...

Determine the Requiring Variables on the Scope of a Thread It is very common in server application programs to require variables on the scope of a thread. To provide such a sco

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd