A multicore processor with 4 cores has 15 attached tape drives. There is a large number of jobs submitted to the system that each requires exactly 4 tape drives to complete execution. Assume that each job runs on 4 tapes for the entire duration of its execution. Also assume an endless supply of such jobs. The scheduler in the operating system will not start a job unless there are 4 tape drives available. When a job is started, 4 drives are utilized immediately for its execution and are not released until the job finishes. Required:
a. What is the maximum number of jobs that can be in progress at once ?
b. What are the maximum and minimum number of tape drives that may be left idle at a given time as a result of this policy?