In the IBM/370, memory protection is provided through the use of keys. A key is a 4-bit quantity. Each 2K block of memory has a key (the storage key) associated with it. The CPU also has a key (the protection key) associated with it. A store operation is allowed only if both keys are equal, or if either is zero. Which of the following memory-management schemes could be used successfully with this hardware? a. Bare machine b. Single-user system c. Multiprogramming with a fixed number of processes d. Multiprogramming with a variable number of processes e. Paging f. Segmentation
Explanation / Answer
a. Protection not necessary, set system key to 0. b. Set system key to 0 when in supervisor mode. c. Region sizes must be fixed in increments of 2k bytes, allocate key with memory blocks. d. Same as above. e. Frame sizes must be in increments of 2k bytes, allocate key with pages. f. Segment sizes must be in increments of 2k bytes, allocate key with segments