List an example of character I/O device and an example of block I/O device, and list an example of operating system interface that is only applicable to block I/O devices, but not to character I/O device.

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Computers and Technology

Kennedi Grimes

15 October, 01:19

List an example of character I/O device and an example of block I/O device, and list an example of operating system interface that is only applicable to block I/O devices, but not to character I/O device.

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Nicholas Rivas · Answer 1

List an example of character I/O device and an example of block I/O device, and list an example of operating system interface that is only applicable to block I/O devices, but not to character I/O device.

I/0 devices are devices that take in the input from the end-user, forwarded it to the system (physical) and then receive the response from the system. The i/o devices are divided into two: block i/o and character i/o devices. Block devices are noting but devices that communicate with the driver by sending huge blocks of data.

For an example of a block, the device is Hard Disk. Character devices are those that communicate with the driver by sending and receiving single characters (maybe bytes, octets, hexadecimal). For an example of a character, the device is a serial port.

Two Types of operating system interface GUI and CLI GUI works with pixels whereas CLI works with commands. CLI is more preferable with block i/o devices as it can instruct a printer to print a document (thereby sending blocks of data).