Spooled Devices – GATE 1996 – Operating System Previous Year gate question papers and answers

Spooled Devices – GATE 1996 – Operating System Previous Year gate question papers and answers

Here is the detailed information regarding the GATE 1996 Operating Systems question on spooled devices:

GATE 1996 – Operating Systems – Question on Spooled Devices

Question 1.20:
Which of the following is an example of a spooled device?

Options:
A. A line printer used to print the output of a number of jobs.
B. A terminal used to enter input data to a running program.
C. A secondary storage device in a virtual memory system.
D. A graphic display device.

Correct Answer: A. A line printer used to print the output of a number of jobs.

What Is a Spooled Device?

Spooling stands for Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On-Line. It is a technique where data is temporarily held to be used and executed by a device, program, or the system. In the context of operating systems:

• Spooled devices are those that can have their data queued for processing.
• Line printers are classic examples. When multiple processes send print jobs, the data is spooled (typically to a disk) and then printed sequentially.
• This allows the CPU to proceed with other tasks without waiting for the printing to complete.

Additional Resources

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• GATE Overflow provides discussions and explanations for various GATE questions:
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If you need more information on spooling, operating system concepts, or additional GATE preparation materials, feel free to ask!

Spooled Devices – GATE 1996 – Operating System Previous Year gate question papers and answers