IT FUNDAMENTALS FINAL EXAM

It is the user who initiates when and what a computer should do.

true

Which of the following types of files would come closest to about 1 MByte in size?

a. A textfile with 1 page of text

b. A long song stored in an mp3 file

c. A small black and white image file

d. A highly compressed movie

e. An uncompressed movie

A small black and white image file

You can store a number between 0 and 255 in 1 bit.

false

The system administrator is responsible for each of the following tasks except...

a. ... training users

b. ... troubleshooting hardware

c. ... installing software

d. ... updating the operating system

e. ... securing a website

... securing a website

Most people who work in IT have 4-year IT degrees.

false

Which of the following skills would an IT person employ to find and fix a problem with the operating system?

a. System security

b. Hardware troubleshooting

c. System level programming

d. System troubleshooting

e. Soft skills

System troubleshooting

If a device performs the IPOS cycle, we should consider it to be a computer no matter what the device is.

true

An IT person would probably be expected to study each of the following topics except for...

a. ... networking

b. ... programming

c. ... ethics

d. ... operating systems

e. The IT person would be expected to study them all.

The IT person would be expected to study them all.

System administrators should know more than one operating system.

true

As an IT person, one should be someone who enjoys learning on your own.

true

Detecting that a computer is running slowly because of a computer virus infection would be an example of which type of IT skill?

a. Troubleshooting

b. System security

c. Software installation

d. Knowledge of operating systems

e. System-level programming

Troubleshooting

The only difference between a handheld unit such as a tablet device or a smart phone differs from a laptop or desktop computer is that the laptop/desktop has full sized peripheral devices and the handheld unit uses touch screens.

false

System administrators will be expected to provide support in the form of documentation and training to the organization's users.

true

The system administrator of a company would not be responsible for installing software on individual employee's computers.

false

The concept of translating a program from a more readable language like Python or Java into the computer's native machine language is called...

a. ... compilation

b. ... input

c. ... assembly

d. ... storage

e. ... processing

compilation

Which of the following is the largest storage capacity?

a. 10,000 Kilobytes

b. 1,000,000 bits

c. 100 Megabytes

d. 3,000,000 bytes

e. 4 Gigabytes

4 Gigabytes

An IT person in general would not be expected to handle which of the following tasks?

a. Make recommendations on computer purchases

b. Be on call 24/7

c. All of the above are tasks that an IT person might be asked to perform.

d. Train other employees

e. Monitor employees' files and web browsing behavior to ensure compliance with organizational IT policies

Monitor employees' files and web browsing behavior to ensure compliance with organizational IT policies

Volatility is a property of which of the following?

a. Memory

b. All of the above

c. Hard disk storage

d. Processors

e. Users

Memory

Although an IT student may not learn a variety of programming languages, it is likely that the IT student will learn to program.

true

Web developers and web administrators share most the same tasks.

false

Organizations typically only have only one system administrator who will be responsible for all aspects of administering the computer systems.

false

The system unit houses the CPU and memory chips all placed on ...

a. ... a monitor

b. ... None of the above, the system unit houses the CPU but not the memory

c. ... a motherboard

d. ... an expansion slot

e. ... ROM

... a motherboard

A smart phone should not be considered a computer.

false

If users use passwords containing non-alphabetic characters or a combination of upper and lower case letters, this ...

a. ... promotes computer security

b. ... helps the system administrator with troubleshooting

c. ... helps users remember their passwords

d. ... ensures proper file protection

e. ... helps the system administrator track user access

... promotes computer security

Computers today are more easily identifiable than computers in the past.

false

Which of the following behaviors might be considered as unethical from the position of a system administrator?

a. Setting up backdoor accounts

b. Reading employees' emails

c. Changing data files in the organization's system for one's own gain

d. All of the above

e. Accessing other people's files

All of the above

A security administrator would be responsible for which of the following?

a. A firewall

b. A database server

c. A website

d. An operating system

e. A web server

A firewall

A computer system consists of the hardware, software and ...

a. ... users

b. ... network

c. ... peripheral devices

d. ... programs

e. All of the above

... users

As computer technology has improved and thus become more complex, the ability to use the computer has been made easier.

true

Which of the following could be called a peripheral device?

a. Power supply unit

b. Printer

c. CPU

d. Memory chips

e. Memory

Printer

If a process generates an address that is part of another process' area of memory, this is known as ...

a. ... a memory violation

b. ... a page fault

c. None of the above: this is not possible

d. ... an interrupt

e. ... a context switch

... a memory violation

Which of the following is true in (competitive) multitasking?

a. The CPU switches between processes at the user's request

b. The CPU switches between processes randomly

c. The CPU switches between processes when a timer forces a context switch

d. None of the above: the CPU does not switch between processes during multitasking

The CPU switches between processes when a timer forces a context switch

You can separately mount and unmount each individual partition.

true

Which form of processing would run one process at a time, but when that process requires I/O, the CPU would switch temporarily to another process?

a. Multiprogramming

b. Multiprocessing

c. Multitasking

d. Multithreading

e. Single tasking

Multitasking

We view the file system from a physical perspective while the operating system manipulates it from a logical perspective.

false

In Linux, devices like the disk drives, USB drives, network devices and monitor are treated as files. These "files" are stored under which directory?

a. /dev

b. /etc

c. /mnt

d. /bin

e. /sbin

/dev

A multithreaded operating system is more efficient than a multitasking operating system when executing threads.

true

If two processes are deadlocked, what is your best move to free them from deadlock?

a. Reboot all of the resources

b. Reboot the computer

c. Kill all of the processes

d. Kill one of the processes

e. Wait until the deadlock resolves itself, which should only take a few seconds

Kill one of those processes

Under which Linux top-level directory would you find most of the configuration files?

a. /etc

b. /home

c. /usr

d. /var

e. /bin

/etc

In DOS, which of the following symbols is used to denote a directory in a path?

a. \

b. ..

c. ~

d. /

e. C:

\

With virtual memory, only portions of the running program are stored in memory.

true

In Linux, every top-level directory is located in its own partition whereas in Windows, all of the top-level directories are on the same partition.

false

The portion of the operating system that must be resident in memory at all times is ...

a. ... system utilities

b. ... the device drivers

c. ... the kernel

d. ... the GUI

e. ... virtual machines

... the kernel

The file system for Windows and Linux are "shapes" like a ...

a. ... window

b. ... tree

c. ... disk

d. ... well

e. ... building

... tree

Which of the following forms of process management did MS-DOS use?

a. Multitasking

b. Single tasking

c. Double tasking

d. Batch

e. Multiprogramming

Single tasking

Which of the following files stores the currently mounted file systems (partitions) in Linux?

a. /etc/motd

b. /etc/sudoers

c. /etc/mtab

d. /etc/resolv.conf

e. /etc/fstab

/etc/mtab

Two threads will always share the same ...

a. ... program code

b. ... register values

c. All of the above

d. ... path through the program code

e. ... data

... program code

When the CPU moves from one process to another in multitasking, this is known as ...

a. ... interprocess communication

b. ... a context switch

c. ... stack access

d. ... timer interrupt

e. ... synchronization

... a context switch

The foreground process is the one that the user can directly interact with.

true

Which of the following forms of scheduling will cause processes to wait the minimum amount of time?

a. Round robin

b. First come first serve

c. Shortest job first

d. Priority

e. Longest job first

Shortest job first

In file compression, lossy compression ...

a. ... reduces the file size but requires uncompression the file before its contents can be viewed/used

b. ... increases the file size by uncompression portions of it

c. ... reduces the file size by eliminating unnecessary content

d. ... increases the file size by inserting additional data

e. ... reduces the file size by discarding some of the data

... reduces the file size by discarding some of the data

In Linux, the system administrator's home directory is stored under ...

a. /root

b. /home

c. /sbin

d. /sys

e. /bin

/root

In Linux, you would expect to find many of the system administrator programs stored under ...

a. /bin

b. /root

c. /sbin

d. /var

e. /boot

/sbin

All files have names although the extension is not required.

true

Concurrent processing means that the operating system executes processes in an overlapped fashion, which of the following is not a form of concurrent processing?

a. All of the above are forms of concurrent processing

b. multiprogramming

c. batch processing

d. multiprocessing

e. multitasking

batch processing

Which of these hardware devices can force the processer to move from one process to another in multitasking?

a. ready queue

b. timer

c. status flags

d. program counter

e. stack pointer

program counter

File name extensions are primarily used ...

a. ... by the user to know whether the file can be executed or not

b. ... by the user to know how recent the file is

c. ... by the operating system to know what software to use to open the file

d. All of the above

e. ... by the system administrator to ensure the file is properly protected

... by the operating system to know what software to use to open the file

In Windows, the Programs top level directory stores applications software. In Linux, the equivalent directory is ...

a. /etc

b. /usr

c. /var

d. /bin

e. /home

/usr

Which of the following tasks would not be possible for a system administrator to do on the file system?

a. Encrypt portions of the file system

b. All of the above are possible

c. Add remote storage to be accessed over network

d. Mount and unmount specific partitions

e. Establish disk quotas

All of the above are possible

During a context switch, what is being switched?

a. one process' priority for another

b. one process' pages for another

c. one process' register values for another

d. one process' data for another

e. all of the above

all of the above

If an entry in a page table is listed as not valid, then accessing that page will cause ...

a. ... the system to reboot

b. ... a logical error

c. ... a run-time error

d. ... a page fault

e. ... a core file to be generated

... a page fault

Which of the following Linux commands is like the DOS command dir?

a. car

b. mv

c. dir

d. ls

e. rm

ls

To determine where a given page is stored in memory, the operating system uses ...

a. ... the page table

b. ... device drivers

c. ... synchronization

d. ... cache

e. ... the file allocation table

... the page table

What does an interrupt interrupt?

a. the CPU during its fetch-execute cycle

b. any type of storage or input/output operation

c. the operating system

d. a memory access

e. It could interrupt any of the above

the CPU during its fetch-execute cycle

In order for the operating system to be able to communicate with a specific piece of hardware, one must install the appropriate ...

a. ... interpreter

b. ... kernel

c. ... cache

d. ... shell

e. ... device driver

... device driver

Which of the following forms of processing does not provide any form of interaction with the user but instead requires I/O be handled before/after program execution?

a. Multithreading

b. Multiprogramming

c. Multitasking

d. Batch

e. Single tasking

Multiprogramming

Where is swap space located?

a. SRAM

b. DRAM

c. flash drive

d. CPU

e. hard disk

hard disk

User passwords are not actually stored in the /etc/passwd file.

true

Mounting ...

a. ... converts a soft link to a hard link

b. ... removes a partition

c. ... makes a partition available

d. ... moves a directory from one location to another

e. ... alters a file's location in the file system

... makes a partition available

With file blocks distributed across the file system instead of being stored in consecutive disk blocks, accessing the file requires traversing the blocks creating what one might call a ...

a. ... directory/subdirectory structure

b. ... track trail

c. ... partition

d. ... linked list

e. ... breadcrumb trail

... linked list

The zip and tar programs can be used to create ...

a. ... copies of files

b. ... partitions

c. ... archives

d. ... lossy compressed files

e. ... directories

... archives

Which portion of the operating system can be personalized by the user.

a. the kernel

b. the shell

c. None of the above: the user is unable to personalize any part of the operating system

d. the device drivers

e. system utilities

the shell

The use of permissions to control who can and who cannot access resources is part of which of these operating system roles?

a. Security

b. Protection

c. Process management

d. Resource management

e. Memory management

Protection

The GUI is both easier to use and provides the user with greater flexibility in issuing instructions while the command line provides the user with the opportunity to write more detailed commands and so is more powerful.

false

Under which Linux top-level directory would you find the user directories?

a. /etc

b. /bin

c. /var

d. /home

e. /usr

/home

Files are broken into fixed sized units called ...

a. ... pages

b. ... partitions

c. ... breaks

d. ... blocks

e. ... printers

... blocks

Disk access time is slower than memory access time.

true

When two threads need to "meet up" in order to share data, this is known as ...

a. ... a deadlock

b. ... synchronization event

c. ... rendezvous

d. ... an interrupt

e. ... interval

... rendezvous

To create a directory, both Linux and DOS use mkdir.

true

Bourne is an example of a Linux ...

a. ... GUI

b. ... device driver

c. ... shell

d. ... kernel

e. ... utility program

... shell

In a linked list, to reach the 5th block, how many links do you have to follow?

a. 0

b. 2

c. 4

d. 5

e. 1

4

The process and the program are the same; the two terms can be used interchangeably.

false

In Linux, the administrator account is called ...

a. ... general account

b. ... root

c. ... administrator

d. ... #

e. ... main account

... root

Cooperative multitasking and competitive multitasking are the same thing.

false

If a hard disk contains 4 platters, how many read/write heads will the hard disk contain?

a. 2

b. 16

c. 8

d. 4

e. 1

8

In Linux, you have one inode for every file and directory in your file system.

true

The operating system is software.

true

Which of the following files stores user account information?

a. /etc/shell

b. /etc/sudoers

c. /etc/users

d. /etc/passwd

e. /etc/shadow

/etc/passwd

While any device can issue an interrupt, is it the operate system that handles interrupts.

true

In both Windows and Linux, partitions are denoted by using different letters as in C: and D:

false

The time it takes the read/write head to move across the disk to the proper track is called ...

a. ... rotational delay (or rotational latency)

b. ... seek time

c. ... traversal time

d. ... transfer time

e. ... access time

... seek time

In order to determine which directory you are currently in, which commands would you use respectively in Windows and Linux?

a. ls in Windows and pwd in Linux

b. pwd in Windows and nothing in Linux

c. pwd in both

d. nothing in Windows, and pwd in Linux

e. where in Windows and pwd in Linux

nothing in Windows and pwd in Linux

GRUB is an example of ...

a. ... a BIOS

b. ... an operating system

c. ... an operating system kernel

d. ... a boot loader program

e. ... initialization script

... a boot loader program

A hard link in a file system points at the file while a soft link points at a file's directory entry.

true

In Linux, a soft link is called ...

a. None of the above: Linux does not have soft links, it only has hard links

b. an alias

c. a pointer

d. a shortcut icon

e. a symbolic link

a symbolic link

The process of swapping is triggered under which circumstance?

a. a process resumes from waiting for I/O

b. a page fault

c. an interrupt

d. a context switch

e. a cache miss

a page fault

In a batch processing system, the operating system would have to schedule the next process to execute.

true

The surface of a hard disk is broken into which types of regions?

a. tracks and sectors

b. blocks (only)

c. blocks and partitions

d. sectors and blocks

e. tracks and segments

tracks and sectors

The /proc top level directory is different from most other Linux top level directories because it ...

a. ... is not stored on disk but instead stored in memory

b. ... never changes so it never has to be backed up

c. ... is writeable by both root and all users

d. ... is only used if your computer has multiple processors

e. None of the above: there is nothing different about /proc from other top-level directories

... is not stored on disk but instead stored in memory

A virtual machine is hardware.

false