UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2014/2015
ORDINARY EXAMINATION FOR THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BIT 2303 DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: APRIL, 2015 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question ONE and any other TWO
QUESTION ONE – COMPULSORY (TOTAL MARKS: 30)
(a) Explain the following terms:
a) distributed operating system [2 Marks]
b) Middleware [2 Marks]
(b) List and explain two types of services provided by a distributed file system.
[4 Marks]
(c) Define distributed transparency [2 Marks]
(d) Explain three transparencies required for any distributed system [6 Marks]
(e) Differentiate between the following terms as used with distributed systems
i). Loosely coupled systems and tightly coupled systems [2 Marks]
ii). Synchronous systems and asynchronous systems [2 Marks]
(f) Describe four distribution transparencies that should be considered when
designing distributed systems. [8 Marks]
(g) Define binding. [2 Marks]
QUESTION TWO – (TOTAL MARKS: 20)
(a) Explain three (3) advantages of distributed systems [6 Marks]
(b) Differentiate between dynamic and static binding. [4 Marks]
(c) Describe the three (3) main causes of change in distributed systems. [6 Marks]
(d) Define fault tolerance. [2 Marks]
(e) List the two (2) approaches used in fault tolerance [2 Marks]
QUESTION THREE – (TOTAL MARKS: 20)
(a) Explain briefly the following types of faults [6 Marks]
a) Transient faults
b) An intermittent fault
c) A permanent fault
(b) Why is synchronization important in any distributed systems [2 Marks]
(c) Explain the following terms as used in distributed system [6 Marks]
a) Iterative name resolution
b) Recursive name resolution
c) A name
(d) Why is RPC popular for developing distributed systems? What role does it play in
distributed systems? [6 Marks]
QUESTION FOUR – (TOTAL MARKS: 20)
(a) Differentiate between Network Operating Systems and Distributed Operating
System. [4 Marks]
(b) Describe properties of distributed transactions [8 Marks]
(c) What is middleware? Using diagrams indicate where it falls in OSI communication
model [4 Marks]
(d) What is fault tolerance, how is it enhanced in distributed system [4 Marks]
QUESTION FIVE – (TOTAL MARKS: 20)
(a) Define the term Distributed systems [2 Marks]
(b) Discuss the four main strategies for handling deadlocks [8 Marks]
(c) Describe any four features of a good Distributed File System [8 Marks]
