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LABORATORY 14
Disk Scheduling

OBJECTIVE
■■ Watch how the operating system schedules the reading or writing of disk tracks.

REFERENCES
Software needed:
1) Disk Scheduling app from the Lab Manual website (Disk Scheduler.jar)

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BACKGROUND
Review these topics from your textbook, lecture notes, or online resources:
■■ First-come, first-served disk scheduling
■■ Shortest seek time first disk scheduling
■■ SCAN disk scheduling

ACTIVITY
The Operating Systems lab simulated how the operating system places jobs into memory
and schedules jobs. In this lab, we’ll look at how the operating system handles scheduling
the reading and writing of disk tracks. The Disk Scheduling app presents an imaginary
100-track, single-surface disk drive. That is the tall yellow bar on the left side of the
screen. Track 0 is at the top, and track 99 is at the bottom.

Requests arrive continuously and are kept in a list. Depending on the scheduling
algorithm that the operating system uses, a given request may be processed when it is
received or much later, depending on where the disk read/write currently is.

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For this app, you’ll type in a list of requests. To simplify things, our requests have
been stripped down to just which track should be visited next. (In the real world, a
request would include information like whether this is a read or a write, which sector to
read, what data are to be written, etc.)
Once you have entered some track numbers, click on the Run button. You can
also preload a list of requested track numbers by clicking on Example. To start the
simulation, click Run.
As the simulator is running, you can add new requests by typing in new track
numbers into the text field next to the Add button, and then clicking on the Add
button or simply hitting Enter. In the real world of operating systems, the disk driver
is constantly receiving a stream of requests from user programs, which is what you are
simulating when you add a new track request.
The read/write head’s position is symbolized by a red bar that moves up and down
inside the yellow area. As the operating system handles requests, the red bar stops briefly
at the current track number; the operating system then removes the request and its
number when the request has been completed. Exactly where the red bar moves to next
is the subject of the scheduling algorithm.
This app allows you to experiment with the three scheduling algorithms. Select one
of the three from the pull-down menu. The benefits and drawbacks of each algorithm are
explained in textbooks, lecture notes, and online resources.

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EXERCISE 1
Name_____________________________________ Date_____________________

Section____________________________________

1) Start the Disk Scheduling app.

2) Click on the Example button, which fills the list with some requests.
3) Select First-Come First-Served from the pull-down menu and click the Run button. Time the app
with your watch or the computer’s clock, and write down how many seconds it takes.

4) Select Shortest Seek Time First and run the app again. Measure the time that takes and write it
down. Also write down the order of the tracks that are visited. (This is different from the original
request list.)

5) Repeat step 4 after selecting SCAN Disk (elevator).

6) Which algorithm took the least time?

7) Based on your observations of the three algorithms on the example request list, state what kind of
request list would make first-come, first-served take up a lot of time. In other words, what pattern
would the numbers in the request list have to follow so that first-come, first-served consumes a lot
of time?

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EXERCISE 2
Name_____________________________________ Date_____________________

Section____________________________________

1) Some request lists might cause the disk scheduler to act the same when the three different
algorithms are run. Create a request list of five track numbers that will cause all three algorithms to
visit the same tracks in the same order.

2) If shortest seek time first starts with the disk head positioned at either 0 or 99, instead of at 50 (in the
middle), which algorithm would it resemble: first-come, first-served or SCAN?
Why?

3) Based on your past lab experiences with stacks and queues, is the request list of the disk scheduler
a stack or a queue?

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EXERCISE 3
Name_____________________________________ Date_____________________

Section____________________________________

1) Start the Disk Scheduling app and type the following numbers into the Requests text area:

8
20
35
80
10
90
5
87
26
94

These numbers have been chosen so that there are two clusters, one at the lower end of the scale and
the other at the upper end.
2) Select First-Come First-Served and click on Run. When the disk head has reached 35, type “30” into
the Add area and press Enter. This will add a request to seek to track “30” to the list. What happens?
Does the disk drive respond to this new request or not?

3) Stop the app and remove “30” from the end of the list. Choose Shortest Seek Time First and rerun
the app. When it consumes 35, type “30” into the add area, and press Enter. Write down what
happens. (Warning! You have to be fast, because the app might move into the upper cluster quickly.
In that case, just retry.)

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4) Stop the app, remove “30” from the end of the list, and choose SCAN. Run it, and when it consumes
35, type “30” again. Write down what happens. Again, you must be fast!

5) Which algorithm is least responsive to new requests?

6) Stop the app, remove “30” from the end of the list, choose Shortest Seek Time First, and click on
Run. Now try to “trap” the disk head into the lower cluster by typing in disk tracks that are in the
lower half of the disk drive, pressing Enter after each one. Write down what happens. You have to be
quick, and you may have to try it several times.

7) Redo step 6, but choose SCAN instead. Once again, try to “trap” the disk head into the lower cluster
by typing in disk tracks that are in the lower half of the disk drive, pressing Enter after each one.
Were you successful?

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8) In real life, disk drives may see a cluster of track requests that could trap it in one section of the disk
drive. What implications does this have for programs that requested tracks outside the busy area?
(Hint: Computer scientists have a gruesome term for this phenomenon: “starvation.” Why do you
think they chose this term?)

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DELIVERABLES
Turn in your handwritten answers.

DEEPER INVESTIGATION
The next time you are standing in front of an elevator, waiting for it to arrive, think about
the conflicts between fairness and efficiency that the elevator (and operating systems)
have to resolve. Though you are undoubtedly the most important person waiting for the
elevator, the controlling computer probably isn’t aware of this and you won’t get priority
treatment. What would happen to these scheduling algorithms if some requests did have
a higher priority? Do you suppose operating systems ever prioritize disk track requests?
Under what circumstances would that be a good idea? What kinds of unforeseen effects
might result?

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