By how much, on average, would the total number of customers
(the sum of those in all queues plus those in all
servers) change if two servers were pooled in the
following setting (note: all answers are rounded to whole
minutes):
1) Before pooling, there are two servers each with their own
queue.
2) Each server has an arrival rate of 5 customers per hour,
arriving randomly.
3) Each server has a processing time of 10 minutes per customer,
with a standard deviation of 10 minutes.
Remember, the question is asking about the TOTAL number of
customers in all queue(s) plus those in all servers.
A. Before pooling: 5.2 customers, after pooling: 2.4 customers,
so decrease of 2.8 customers
B. Before pooling: 5 customers, after pooling: 5.5 customers, so
increase of 0.5 customers
C. Before pooling: 8.3 customers, after pooling: 3.8 customers,
so decrease of 4.5 customers
D. Before pooling: 4.2 customers, after pooling: 3.8 customers,
so decrease of 0.4 customers