On the optimal assignment of servers and a repairman

Abstract

We consider an N-server queue with arbitrary arrivals and service times which are random but with differing rates for different servers. Customers arriving when all servers are occupied do not enter the system. We show that the policy of always assigning an arrival to that free server whose service rate is largest (smallest) stochastically minimises (maximises) the number in the system. We then show that in a particular component-repair context with exponential repair times the policy of repairing failed components with the smallest failure rate stochastically maximises the number of working components.