An argument against a small time quantum: Efficiency. A small
time quantum requires the timer to generate interrupts with
short
intervals. Each interrupt causes a context switch, so overhead
increases with a larger number of interrupts.
An argument for a small time quantum: Response time. A large
time quantum will reduce the overhead of context switching
since
interrupts will be generated with relatively long intervals,
hence there will be fewer interrupts. However, a short job will
have to wait
longer time on the ready queue before it can get to execute on
the processor. With a short time quantum, such a short job will
finish
quicker and produces the result to the end user faster than with
a longer time quantum