A computer system has 7 tape drives. There 'n' processes competing for them. Each process may need 2 tape drives. What is the maximum value of 'n' for which…
A computer system has 7 tape drives. There 'n' processes competing for them. Each process may need 2 tape drives. What is the maximum value of 'n' for which the system is guaranteed to be deadlock free?
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Correct answer: (B) 3
Explanation
The key fits a need of 3 drives per process: deadlock is impossible if n(3 − 1) + 1 ≤ 7, so n = 3. (If each needed only 2 drives as written, up to 6 processes would be safe.)