We study an M/G/1 queueing system with a server that can be switched on and off. The server can take a vacation time T after the system becomes empty. In this paper, we investigate a randomized policy to control a server with which, when the system is empty, the server can be switched off with probability p and take a vacation or left on with probability (1 − p) and continue to serve the arriving customers. For this system, we consider the operating cost and the holding cost where the operating cost consists of the system running and switching costs (start up and shut down costs). We describe the structure and characteristics of this policy and solve a constrained problem to minimize the average operating cost per unit time under the constraint for the holding cost per unit time.
