The generalized Banach match-box problem: Application in disc storage management (Q1084854)

A computer system manages disc storage of finite capacity c blocks. This storage must be divided among N files in such a way that the expected number of disc accesses accomplished until the necessary reorganization is maximized. Each access to the disc appends a record of a fixed length to the ith file with probability \(p_ i\) \((i=1,...,N)\). The reorganization is needed when the chosen file has run out of space. It is shown that the above problem is a generalization of Banach's match-box problem known from the probability theory. A detailed separate analysis for tne \(N=2\) case and for the multivariate case is performed and some approximate results for large c are given.