What is the main purpose of load sharing in scheduling?

Load sharing dynamically distributes jobs across all available processors, preventing some from being overloaded while others are left idle.

How does feedback control improve scheduling?

Feedback control improves responsiveness and resource usage by dynamically modifying scheduling policies based on runtime metrics (such as waiting time and queue length).

What is the difference between homogeneous and heterogeneous multiprocessor scheduling?

• Homogeneous systems: All processors are identical, and any task can run on any processor.
• Heterogeneous systems: Processors have different capabilities, so tasks are matched to specific processors based on requirements.

How does virtualization affect process scheduling?

Since the hypervisor is responsible for managing the virtual CPUs (vCPUs) for numerous virtual machines, virtualization introduces an additional layer of scheduling. The OS scheduler and the hypervisor scheduler must coordinate for this to happen.

What are the challenges of process scheduling in cloud computing?

• Dynamic workloads: Processes may arrive unpredictably.
• Resource constraints: Limited CPU, memory, and storage must be efficiently allocated.
• Scalability: Scheduling must handle large-scale distributed systems.

What is gang scheduling?

Systems using parallel processing make advantage of gang scheduling. It minimizes synchronization costs by scheduling all of a parallel application’s threads or processes to operate concurrently on several CPUs.

How does a hybrid scheduling algorithm work?

A hybrid algorithm balances trade-offs by combining several scheduling strategies. Multilevel Feedback Queue Scheduling, for instance, blends non-preemptive and preemptive techniques.

What is the impact of starvation on system performance?

Because low-priority processes remain idle, starvation results in poor resource consumption and may impede the advancement of dependent tasks.

How does sleep and wake-up affect process scheduling?

Sleeping processes are taken out of the ready queue and put back in when they are woken up (for example, when an event happens or I/O is finished).

What are the limitations of FCFS scheduling?

• Long processes can cause the convoy effect.
• Poor utilization of CPU and I/O devices due to sequential processing.
• Non-preemptive nature makes it unsuitable for interactive systems.

What is time-sharing in process scheduling?

By quickly switching between them, time-sharing enables several users or processes to share system resources and creates the appearance of simultaneous execution.

What is weighted fair queuing (WFQ)?

WFQ assigns different weights to processes or tasks, allowing higher-weighted tasks to get more CPU time, ensuring proportional resource allocation.

What is a time slice, and why is it important?

In preemptive scheduling (e.g., Round Robin), a time slice is the set amount of time allotted to a process. While it guarantees responsiveness and fairness, it must be balanced to prevent poor performance or excessive context switching.

How do soft deadlines differ from hard deadlines in scheduling?

Soft deadlines: Missing the deadline reduces performance but doesn’t cause failure (e.g., video streaming).Hard deadlines: Missing the deadline leads to system failure or unacceptable outcomes (e.g., flight control systems).