Question 1

Why is it more important today than decades ago to evaluate the performance of software?

Accepted Answer

A)  Hardware is so fast that the real limiting factor in a computer is the software. 
B)  Hardware is becoming increasingly similar, even between systems constructed by different vendors, so the software affects performance the most. 
C)  Software is becoming increasingly complex so it is harder for programmers to determine if their code is efficient by just looking at the code. 
D)  Software is becoming increasingly complex and often hides the hardware from the user, creating a virtual machine. Cumbersome software can cause a system to execute slowly, even with the most powerful hardware. 
A)  Hardware is so fast that the real limiting factor in a computer is the software. 
B)  Hardware is becoming increasingly similar, even between systems constructed by different vendors, so the software affects performance the most. 
C)  Software is becoming increasingly complex so it is harder for programmers to determine if their code is efficient by just looking at the code. 
D)  Software is becoming increasingly complex and often hides the hardware from the user, creating a virtual machine. Cumbersome software can cause a system to execute slowly, even with the most powerful hardware.

Question 2

Which of the following is not a recent trend affecting performance evaluation?

Accepted Answer

A)  Software complexity is increasing. 
B)  The computing community is approaching a consensus on the validity of various standard performance evaluation tools and methods. 
C)  Raw and potentially misleading measures, such as processor clock speed, have become influential in the consumer market. 
D)  Industry-standard benchmarks and synthetic programs are emerging. 
A)  Software complexity is increasing. 
B)  The computing community is approaching a consensus on the validity of various standard performance evaluation tools and methods. 
C)  Raw and potentially misleading measures, such as processor clock speed, have become influential in the consumer market. 
D)  Industry-standard benchmarks and synthetic programs are emerging.

Question 3

CISC ISAs do not __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  incorporate single instructions that perform complex functions 
B)  take the same amount of time to execute most or all instructions 
C)  contain variable-sized instructions 
D)  contain a small number of registers 
A)  incorporate single instructions that perform complex functions 
B)  take the same amount of time to execute most or all instructions 
C)  contain variable-sized instructions 
D)  contain a small number of registers

Question 4

An application-specific evaluation is designed to enable evaluators to __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  determine which applications a system executes the best 
B)  determine which system will execute an application (or group of applications) the best, regardless of how well the system executes other tasks 
C)  compare the overall performance of two different systems 
D)  both a and c 
A)  determine which applications a system executes the best 
B)  determine which system will execute an application (or group of applications) the best, regardless of how well the system executes other tasks 
C)  compare the overall performance of two different systems 
D)  both a and c

Question 5

All of the following are common measures of performance except __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  throughput 
B)  reliability 
C)  processor utilization 
D)  ease of use 
A)  throughput 
B)  reliability 
C)  processor utilization 
D)  ease of use

Question 6

Today's CISC processors are similar to RISC processors in that they include __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  multiple execution units for superscalar execution 
B)  on-chip floating-point and vector coprocessors 
C)  an optimized core subset of simple instructions to which all complex instructions are decoded 
D)  infrequently used instructions 
A)  multiple execution units for superscalar execution 
B)  on-chip floating-point and vector coprocessors 
C)  an optimized core subset of simple instructions to which all complex instructions are decoded 
D)  infrequently used instructions

Question 7

Why has little progress been made in developing industry-standard traces?

Accepted Answer

A)  Traces are typically proprietary and they rarely are distributed to vendors or to the research community. 
B)  Trace data is not portable between installations because even small differences in user activity can affect the validity of a trace. 
C)  For many users, such as those who use personal computers, traces do not yield meaningful performance evaluations. 
D)  all of the above 
A)  Traces are typically proprietary and they rarely are distributed to vendors or to the research community. 
B)  Trace data is not portable between installations because even small differences in user activity can affect the validity of a trace. 
C)  For many users, such as those who use personal computers, traces do not yield meaningful performance evaluations. 
D)  all of the above

Question 8

A bottleneck occurs when a __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  system is operating below peak performance 
B)  resource hinders the progress of the system because it cannot do its job efficiently 
C)  process interferes with another process because it is competing for a shared resource 
D)  resource's service rate is higher than its arrival rate 
A)  system is operating below peak performance 
B)  resource hinders the progress of the system because it cannot do its job efficiently 
C)  process interferes with another process because it is competing for a shared resource 
D)  resource's service rate is higher than its arrival rate

Question 9

Which of the following is not generally a characteristic of a well-designed benchmark?

Accepted Answer

A)  Multiple iterations of the benchmark on the same system should produce nearly the same results. 
B)  The benchmark should be able to test for "what-if" scenarios, such as how adding a new Web site will affect a Web server's performance. 
C)  The benchmark should accurately reflect the types of applications that are intended to run on the given system for which the benchmark is being used to evaluate. 
D)  The benchmark should be widely used to provide a good basis of comparison. 
A)  Multiple iterations of the benchmark on the same system should produce nearly the same results. 
B)  The benchmark should be able to test for "what-if" scenarios, such as how adding a new Web site will affect a Web server's performance. 
C)  The benchmark should accurately reflect the types of applications that are intended to run on the given system for which the benchmark is being used to evaluate. 
D)  The benchmark should be widely used to provide a good basis of comparison.

Question 10

Variance in response times measures __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  the typical response time the user expects 
B)  the range of response times in the system 
C)  predictability-how response times differ from the mean response time 
D)  how the response time changes based on changes in the system's workload 
A)  the typical response time the user expects 
B)  the range of response times in the system 
C)  predictability-how response times differ from the mean response time 
D)  how the response time changes based on changes in the system's workload

Question 11

RISC processors __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  contain a small instruction set 
B)  exhibit a uniform execution time for most or all instructions 
C)  contain fixed-size instructions 
D)  decode instructions using microcode 
A)  contain a small instruction set 
B)  exhibit a uniform execution time for most or all instructions 
C)  contain fixed-size instructions 
D)  decode instructions using microcode

Question 12

Performance projection would be useful for __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  deciding whether to purchase a particular computer system 
B)  system tuning 
C)  estimating the performance of a system that does not yet exist 
D)  finding bottlenecks in a system 
A)  deciding whether to purchase a particular computer system 
B)  system tuning 
C)  estimating the performance of a system that does not yet exist 
D)  finding bottlenecks in a system

Question 13

A simulation is most effective for __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  deciding whether it is advisable to build a proposed system 
B)  evaluating the performance of a system available for customers to purchase 
C)  determining which of two systems executes a particular application or group of applications most efficiently 
D)  system tuning 
A)  deciding whether it is advisable to build a proposed system 
B)  evaluating the performance of a system available for customers to purchase 
C)  determining which of two systems executes a particular application or group of applications most efficiently 
D)  system tuning

Question 14

In what ways are today's CISC and RISC processor designs divergent?

Accepted Answer

A)  RISC processor instruction sets still only contain fixed-length instructions that generally execute in one cycle, whereas CISC processors do not. 
B)  RISC processor instruction sets still are smaller than CISC instruction sets. 
C)  RISC processors still contain simple hardware, whereas CISC processors contain complex hardware. 
D)  Although many processors that are labeled "RISC" actually have adopted typical CISC features, there are still many other processors that remain true to the original RISC characteristics. 
A)  RISC processor instruction sets still only contain fixed-length instructions that generally execute in one cycle, whereas CISC processors do not. 
B)  RISC processor instruction sets still are smaller than CISC instruction sets. 
C)  RISC processors still contain simple hardware, whereas CISC processors contain complex hardware. 
D)  Although many processors that are labeled "RISC" actually have adopted typical CISC features, there are still many other processors that remain true to the original RISC characteristics.

Why is it more important today than decades ago to evaluate the performance of software?

Which of the following is not a recent trend affecting performance evaluation?

CISC ISAs do not __________.

An application-specific evaluation is designed to enable evaluators to __________.

All of the following are common measures of performance except __________.

Today's CISC processors are similar to RISC processors in that they include __________.

Why has little progress been made in developing industry-standard traces?

A bottleneck occurs when a __________.

Which of the following is not generally a characteristic of a well-designed benchmark?

Variance in response times measures __________.

RISC processors __________.

Performance projection would be useful for __________.

A simulation is most effective for __________.

In what ways are today's CISC and RISC processor designs divergent?

Exploring Operating Systems and Distributed Computing: a Comprehensive Overview

Understanding Computer Systems and Programming Concepts

Understanding Processes and Threads in Operating Systems

Exploring Semaphores and Multithreading in Operating Systems

Exploring Thread Synchronization and Mutual Exclusion in Java

Concurrency and Deadlock in Database Systems: Exploring Monitor Implementation and Thread Synchronization in Java

Operating System Scheduling and Deadlock Prevention: a Comprehensive Guide

Understanding Processor Scheduling and Memory Management in Operating Systems

Memory Management in Operating Systems: Segmentation, Paging, and Strategies for Efficiency

Memory Management and Address Translation in Operating Systems

Memory Management and Page Replacement Strategies in Operating Systems

Disk Storage and Raid Technology

Understanding File Systems and Database Systems: a Comprehensive Overview

Understanding Multiprocessor Organizations and System Performance

Understanding the Layers of the TCP/IP Protocol Stack

Understanding Distributed Systems and Operating Systems

Exploring Distributed File Systems and Grid Computing With NFS, AFS, Coda, and JXTA

Security Threats and Solutions in Cryptography and Access Control

Exploring the Linux Operating Systems Features and Functionality

In-Depth Analysis of Windows XP

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Exam 14: Exploring Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking in Computer Systems

Why is it more important today than decades ago to evaluate the performance of software?

Which of the following is not a recent trend affecting performance evaluation?

CISC ISAs do not __________.

An application-specific evaluation is designed to enable evaluators to __________.

All of the following are common measures of performance except __________.

Today's CISC processors are similar to RISC processors in that they include __________.

Why has little progress been made in developing industry-standard traces?

A bottleneck occurs when a __________.

Which of the following is not generally a characteristic of a well-designed benchmark?

Variance in response times measures __________.

RISC processors __________.

Performance projection would be useful for __________.

A simulation is most effective for __________.

In what ways are today's CISC and RISC processor designs divergent?

Exploring Operating Systems and Distributed Computing: a Comprehensive Overview

Understanding Computer Systems and Programming Concepts

Understanding Processes and Threads in Operating Systems

Exploring Semaphores and Multithreading in Operating Systems

Exploring Thread Synchronization and Mutual Exclusion in Java

Concurrency and Deadlock in Database Systems: Exploring Monitor Implementation and Thread Synchronization in Java

Operating System Scheduling and Deadlock Prevention: a Comprehensive Guide

Understanding Processor Scheduling and Memory Management in Operating Systems

Memory Management in Operating Systems: Segmentation, Paging, and Strategies for Efficiency

Memory Management and Address Translation in Operating Systems

Memory Management and Page Replacement Strategies in Operating Systems

Disk Storage and Raid Technology

Understanding File Systems and Database Systems: a Comprehensive Overview

Understanding Multiprocessor Organizations and System Performance

Understanding the Layers of the TCP/IP Protocol Stack

Understanding Distributed Systems and Operating Systems

Exploring Distributed File Systems and Grid Computing With NFS, AFS, Coda, and JXTA

Security Threats and Solutions in Cryptography and Access Control

Exploring the Linux Operating Systems Features and Functionality

In-Depth Analysis of Windows XP

Filters