Computer Knowledge

Computer Memory and Storage

2,477 Questions

Computer memory and storage questions test foundational knowledge of hardware, cache mapping, and data transfer mechanisms. Key areas include Direct Memory Access, analog recording, and RAID levels. This section is essential for candidates preparing for banking and government computer proficiency tests.

Cache memory mappingDirect memory accessRAID storage levelsHard disk technologyOptical media storageMemory addresses

Computer Memory and Storage Questions

Multiple choice

In UNIX, cached disk blocks are referred to as ______.

  1. cache

  2. disk cache

  3. buffer cache

  4. none of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In UNIX, the kernel maintains a portion of memory to cache disk blocks to reduce disk access frequency; this mechanism is specifically called the buffer cache.

Multiple choice

The main function of shared memory is

  1. to use primary memory efficiently

  2. to do inter-process communication

  3. to do intra-process communication

  4. to control disk scheduling
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Shared memory is a method used in operating systems to allow multiple processes to access the same memory space for inter-process communication (IPC).

Multiple choice

The size of virtual memory depends on

  1. size of address bus

  2. size of main memory

  3. size of data bus

  4. none of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The virtual address space size is determined by the number of bits in the address bus of the processor. For example, a 32-bit address bus supports 2^32 bytes of virtual memory.

Multiple choice

Aging is

  1. increasing the priority of jobs to ensure termination in finite time

  2. keeping track of cache contents

  3. keeping track of page references

  4. keeping track of pages in main memory at a time
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Aging is a technique used in CPU scheduling to prevent starvation. By gradually increasing the priority of processes that have been waiting in the system for a long time, it ensures that even low-priority jobs will eventually be executed.

Multiple choice

DMA stands for

  1. Direct Memory Access

  2. Direct Memory Accelerator

  3. Directional Memory Access

  4. Deemed Memory Accelerator
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

DMA stands for Direct Memory Access. It is a feature that allows hardware subsystems to access main system memory independently of the central processing unit.

Multiple choice

Dirty bit is used to show

  1. page with corrupted data

  2. wrong page in memory

  3. page modified after being loaded in cache memory

  4. page that is less frequently accessed
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

A dirty bit is a flag associated with a block of memory (like a page) that indicates whether the data has been modified since it was loaded into memory. If the bit is set, the page must be written back to disk before being replaced.

Multiple choice

Disk scheduling decides

  1. which disk should be accessed next

  2. the order in which disk access requests must be served

  3. physical location of files on disk

  4. none of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Disk scheduling algorithms are used by the operating system to determine the order in which pending I/O requests to the disk are processed to optimize performance, such as reducing seek time.

Multiple choice

A pointer is

  1. the address of a variable

  2. the data type of an address variable

  3. a variable for storing address

  4. an indication of variable to be accessed next
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

A pointer in C/C++ is a variable that stores the memory address of another variable. It does not store the data itself, but rather the location where the data resides.

Multiple choice

Manipulators are used to

  1. allocate memory

  2. free allocated memory

  3. resolve scope of variable

  4. formats data display
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Manipulators (like setw, setprecision, endl) are used in C++ input/output streams to format the way data is displayed or read.