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

What inference does recovery in distributed systems, Q. Consider a distrib...

Q. Consider a distributed system with two sites A and B. Consider whether site A can distinguish among the following: a. B goes down. b. The link between A and B goes down.

Define a daemon process , A daemon is a process that removes itself from t...

A daemon is a process that removes itself from the terminal and disconnected, executes, in the background, waiting for requests and responding to them. It may also be described as

What is the use of inter process communication, What is the use of inter pr...

What is the use of inter process communication. Inter process communication gives a mechanism to allow the co-operating process to communicate with each other and synchronies t

What are the different thread levels?, What are the different thread levels...

What are the different thread levels? There are two broad type of thread implementation: User-Level Threads -- Thread Libraries. Kernel-level Threads -- System Calls.

Interprocess communication, Now we consider the following questions: how ca...

Now we consider the following questions: how can the parent process communicate with its child? Or how can children processes communicate with other children? The exact answer depe

What is an effector process, What is an effector process? The effector ...

What is an effector process? The effector process is a method that verifies itself.The effector process exists in particular criteria.

Operation management, #question After working for 30 years, Ramjee Somjee D...

#question After working for 30 years, Ramjee Somjee Dutt opted for VRS and started a courier company and did very well in the first four years. He was now looking for expansion of

What is multiprogramming, What is Multiprogramming? Multiprogramming is...

What is Multiprogramming? Multiprogramming is the capability of am operating system to support multiple applications running concurrently. Multiprogramming simply means that an

Explain micro-kernel, Operating Systems 1. Explain Micro-kernel? Specif...

Operating Systems 1. Explain Micro-kernel? Specify the benefits of Micro-kernel? 2. Describe seven state process models used for OS with necessary diagram. Differentiate bet

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