Multiple Choice Questions

Which of the following algorithms is used for distributed mutual exclusion?

A. Bully Algorithm

B. Ricart-Agrawala Algorithm

C. Dijkstra's Algorithm

D. ALOHA Protocol

→ Correct Answer: B

In the Bully algorithm, who initiates the election?

A. The lowest ID process

B. The coordinator

C. Any process detecting coordinator failure

D. A random process

→ Correct Answer: C

Which of the following is NOT a requirement of mutual exclusion in distributed systems?

A. Safety

B. Fairness

C. Fault Tolerance

D. Liveness

→ Correct Answer: C

In multicast communication, the message is sent to:

A. A single destination

B. All nodes

C. A specific group of nodes

D. Random nodes

→ Correct Answer: C
The FLP Impossibility result states that:

A. Consensus is always achievable in distributed systems

B. Mutual exclusion is impossible in faulty systems

C. Consensus cannot be achieved in an asynchronous system with one faulty process

D. Elections are always successful

→ Correct Answer: C

Which property ensures that a transaction's operations are indivisible?

A. Consistency

B. Isolation

C. Atomicity

D. Durability

→ Correct Answer: C

Which concurrency control technique avoids locking altogether?

A. Two-Phase Locking

B. Timestamp Ordering

C. Optimistic Concurrency Control

D. Strict Locking

→ Correct Answer: C

Nested transactions allow:

A. Only one operation per transaction

B. Transactions within transactions

C. Transactions to abort only fully

D. Transactions without logs

→ Correct Answer: B
Which of the following is a pessimistic concurrency control method?

A. Versioning

B. Timestamp ordering

C. Optimistic concurrency control

D. Lock-based protocol

→ Correct Answer: D

Which protocol is used to ensure atomic commitment in distributed transactions?

A. Two-Phase Locking

B. Two-Phase Commit

C. Wait-Die

D. Timeouts

→ Correct Answer: B

The main drawback of the Two-Phase Commit protocol is:

A. It is not atomic

B. It allows deadlocks

C. It may block in case of failures

D. It does not support nested transactions

→ Correct Answer: C

Which of the following can lead to a distributed deadlock?

A. Timestamp ordering

B. Lock contention across sites

C. Optimistic concurrency control

D. Atomic commit protocols

→ Correct Answer: B
Which property of transactions ensures that once committed, changes are not lost?

A. Atomicity

B. Consistency

C. Durability

D. Isolation

→ Correct Answer: C

Flat distributed transactions differ from nested transactions in that they:

A. Have sub-transactions

B. Can be rolled back independently

C. Are not broken into sub-transactions

D. Allow partial commits

→ Correct Answer: C

Which of the following is used for concurrency control in timestamp ordering?

A. Logical clocks

B. Physical clocks

C. Transaction timestamps

D. Wait-for graphs

→ Correct Answer: C

What is the main goal of replication in distributed systems?

A. Reduce memory usage

B. Increase computation speed

C. Improve availability and fault tolerance

D. Ensure real-time response

→ Correct Answer: C
Which of the following ensures that a replicated system continues functioning despite some
failures?

A. Load balancing

B. Fault tolerance

C. Caching

D. Encryption

→ Correct Answer: B

In active replication, all replicas:

A. Are passive until needed

B. Share load equally

C. Receive and process the same requests

D. Use a shared memory

→ Correct Answer: C

Group communication is used in replication to:

A. Compress data

B. Allocate memory

C. Deliver messages consistently to multiple replicas

D. Randomly select a leader

→ Correct Answer: C

Which consistency model requires all processes to see memory operations in the same order?

A. Weak consistency

B. Causal consistency

C. Strict consistency

D. Eventual consistency

→ Correct Answer: C
Which of the following is not a design issue in Distributed Shared Memory?

A. Transparency

B. Memory allocation

C. Message formatting

D. Consistency maintenance

→ Correct Answer: C

Which type of replication updates one replica and then propagates the update to others?

A. Synchronous

B. Asynchronous

C. Broadcast

D. Round-robin

→ Correct Answer: B

What is the function of consistency models in DSM?

A. They determine CPU scheduling

B. They define rules for memory access visibility

C. They compress memory pages

D. They encrypt shared data

→ Correct Answer: B

In primary-backup replication, the backup servers:

A. Process requests simultaneously

B. Wait for failure of the primary

C. Always vote for primary

D. Ignore state updates

→ Correct Answer: B
Which of the following is true about transactions on replicated data?

A. Only one replica can be used

B. All updates must be consistent across replicas

C. Conflicts are resolved manually

D. Transactions do not support replication

→ Correct Answer: B

Fill in the blanks

The ________ algorithm allows processes to request permission from all others before entering
the critical section.

→ Ricart-Agrawala

In the ________ algorithm, the process with the highest ID is selected as the coordinator.

→ Bully

________ communication involves sending a message to a specific set of processes in a group.

→ Multicast

The problem of reaching agreement among distributed processes is known as the ________
problem.

→ Consensus

________ ensures that only one process is allowed to access a critical section at a time in a
distributed system.

→ Mutual exclusion

A transaction must follow the ________ properties to ensure database correctness.

→ ACID
In ________ concurrency control, transactions proceed without restrictions and are validated
before commit.

→ Optimistic

A ________ transaction contains other transactions within it.

→ Nested

The ________ protocol is commonly used to ensure atomicity in distributed transactions.

→ Two-Phase Commit

Locks that allow multiple transactions to read a data item simultaneously are called ________
locks

→ Shared

________ ordering assigns each transaction a unique timestamp to manage concurrency.

→ Timestamp

A ________ occurs when two or more transactions wait indefinitely for one another to release
locks.

→ Deadlock

In distributed systems, ________ deadlocks involve transactions waiting on resources across

→ Distributed

________ control ensures multiple transactions can occur without interfering with each other.

→ Concurrency

________ is the process of restoring a database to a consistent state after a failure.

→ Recovery
Replication improves system ________ by maintaining copies of data across nodes.

→ Availability

________ replication ensures all replicas execute operations in the same order.

→ Active

________ consistency is the strongest consistency model in DSM.

→ Strict

Group communication supports ________ delivery of messages to all members.

→ Reliable

In distributed systems, ________ services can continue operating correctly even when some
components fail.

→ Fault-tolerant

________ consistency allows updates to be eventually seen by all replicas.

→ Eventual

A key implementation issue in DSM is managing ________, which keeps memory state
synchronized across nodes.

→ Consistency

________ replication may result in delayed consistency among replicas.

→ Asynchronous

________ memory in DSM appears as a single memory space to all processes, though it's
distributed.

→ Shared

Transactions on replicated data must follow ________ control rules to maintain database
integrity.

→ Concurrency