Commit 66b928a

mo khan <mo@mokhan.ca>
2021-04-25 22:11:55
Describe SSTF request starvation problem
1 parent a5f06e6
Changed files (1)
doc/assignment3.md
@@ -208,7 +208,23 @@ Your answer for each question should be about 150 words. (100 marks total)
 
 1. What are the factors influencing the selection of a disk-scheduling algorithm? (8 marks)
 1. Explain the disadvantage(s) of the SSTF scheduling algorithm. (8 marks)
-  Starvation
+  The Shortest Seek Time First algorithm will choose the next cylinder to read
+  from that is closest to the current head position. This ensures that the
+  distance that the head has to travel is minimized and allows for access to
+  nearby data quickly.
+
+  However, if multiple requests are added to the queue that all reside near
+  each other this could cause other requests that are further away to starve.
+
+  For example, if a request is added to a cylinder near the current head
+  position. Then a request is added far away from the head position. Then
+  a larger number of requests are placed that are near the current head
+  position. This could cause the second request to starve while requests
+  that came in later get served sooner. If more and more requests continue
+  to be added to the queue that are deemed to have a shorter seek from
+  the current head then the program waiting for the second request may
+  eventually give up or have severe performance penalties.
+
 1. Explain the concepts of a bus and a daisy chain. Indicate how these concepts are related. (8 marks)
 1. What are the three reasons that buffering is performed? (6 marks)