Question 1

Define a distributed system and state its main characteristics.

Accepted Answer

A distributed system is a massive collection of physically independent, networked computers that mathematically appear to the user as a single, perfectly unified computing entity.

Question 2

What is transparency in distributed systems? List two types.

Accepted Answer

Transparency is the architectural concealment of distributed complexity, mathematically hiding the separation of components. Two primary types are Location Transparency and Failure Transparency.

Question 3

Differentiate between multiprocessor and multicomputer systems.

Accepted Answer

A multiprocessor architecture shares a single massive physical RAM module, whereas a multicomputer architecture assigns strictly independent, private RAM to every single processor.

Question 4

Explain the concept of RPC (Remote Procedure Call).

Accepted Answer

RPC is a highly complex middleware architecture allowing a computer to mathematically execute a subroutine physically located on a completely different, remote network server.

Question 5

What are physical and logical clocks?

Accepted Answer

Physical clocks mathematically track exact, real-world time, whereas Logical clocks strictly track the mathematical causality and exact chronological order of events without absolute time.

Question 6

Define mutual exclusion in the context of distributed systems.

Accepted Answer

Mutual exclusion is the absolute mathematical guarantee that only one node in the entire distributed network can physically access a shared resource simultaneously.

Question 7

What is the Bully algorithm used for?

Accepted Answer

The Bully Algorithm is an aggressive, decentralized mathematical protocol used to instantly elect a new coordinator node when the current master catastrophically crashes.

Question 8

Explain strict consistency in distributed shared memory.

Accepted Answer

Strict consistency is the absolute, mathematically flawless synchronization model where any read operation instantly returns the result of the most recent write operation.

Question 9

What is an orphan process in fault tolerance?

Accepted Answer

An orphan process is a catastrophic distributed anomaly where a remote subroutine continues to physically execute consuming CPU after the caller node has crashed.

Question 10

Define a stateless server in distributed file systems.

Accepted Answer

A stateless server is a highly resilient file system architecture that mathematically refuses to store any historical client session data between network requests.

Question 11

Discuss the various design issues and challenges in building a distributed sy…

Accepted Answer

An exhaustive review of the architectural design challenges in Distributed Systems, violently detailing the catastrophic problems of network latency, clock synchronization, fault tolerance, and absolute security.

Question 12

Explain the working of Lamport's Logical Clock with a suitable example.

Accepted Answer

A rigorous mathematical exposition of Lamport's Logical Clock, detailing how software counters and the "happens-before" relationship guarantee chronological sanity without requiring physical time synchronization.

Question 13

Describe the Token Ring algorithm for mutual exclusion in distributed systems.

Accepted Answer

A detailed architectural review of the Token Ring algorithm, explaining how physically passing a unique logical token prevents race conditions and mathematically guarantees fair distributed mutual exclusion.

Question 14

What is replication? Discuss the reasons for replicating data in distributed …

Accepted Answer

An advanced theoretical exploration of Data Replication, detailing how duplicating massive datasets across geographically diverse servers mathematically enhances read performance while violently increasing the complexity of write-consistency.

Question 15

Differentiate between centralized and distributed mutual exclusion algorithms.

Accepted Answer

A definitive comparison of Mutual Exclusion algorithms, contrasting the extreme speed and single-point-of-failure of Centralized servers against the massive message overhead and resilience of Distributed peer-to-peer protocols.

Question 16

Explain the two-phase commit protocol for distributed transactions.

Accepted Answer

A rigorous architectural breakdown of the Two-Phase Commit (2PC) protocol, detailing the strict Voting and Execution phases that mathematically guarantee absolute distributed transaction atomicity across multiple databases.

Question 17

Discuss the architecture of the Sun Network File System (NFS).

Accepted Answer

An architectural review of the Sun Network File System (NFS), explaining its use of VFS abstraction, strict Stateless server design, and RPC communication to mathematically project remote hard drives onto local mount points.

Question 18

What is Clock Synchronization? Explain Berkeley and Cristian's algorithms for…

Accepted Answer

An exhaustive mathematical exposition on Clock Synchronization. Violently details the physical impossibility of perfect global time, contrasting Cristian's active server querying against Berkeley's aggressive master-averaging daemon architecture.

Question 19

Explain the Bully and Ring election algorithms in detail with examples. Discu…

Accepted Answer

A massive theoretical breakdown of Distributed Election Algorithms. Violently contrasts the aggressive, ID-based hierarchy of the Bully Algorithm against the structured, token-passing efficiency of the Ring Algorithm, analyzing their exact network message complexities.

Question 20

Describe the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) mechanism in detail. Explain the rol…

Accepted Answer

A massive architectural dissection of the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) middleware. Violently explains the illusion of local execution, the absolute necessity of Client and Server Stubs for mathematical data marshalling, and the step-by-step TCP/IP execution trace.

Question 21

Discuss fault tolerance in distributed systems. Explain the Byzantine General…

Accepted Answer

A definitive theoretical exposition on Distributed Fault Tolerance. Analyzes hardware redundancy, and violently breaks down the catastrophic Byzantine Generals Problem, mathematically proving the limits of achieving distributed consensus among malicious traitor nodes.

Question 22

What are consistency models? Explain Data-centric consistency models in detail.

Accepted Answer

A massive architectural review of Data-Centric Consistency Models. Violently contrasts the mathematically impossible Strict Consistency against Sequential, Causal, and the highly scalable Eventual Consistency utilized in modern Hyperscale NoSQL databases.