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Computer systems availability evaluation using a segregated failures model
Author(s) -
Vilkomir Sergiy A.,
Parnas David L.,
Mendiratta Veena B.,
Murphy Eamonn
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
quality and reliability engineering international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1099-1638
pISSN - 0748-8017
DOI - 10.1002/qre.917
Subject(s) - computer science , markov chain , reliability engineering , simple (philosophy) , markov model , fault tolerance , architecture , data mining , distributed computing , engineering , machine learning , art , philosophy , epistemology , visual arts
This paper presents the segregated failures model (SFM) of availability of fault‐tolerant computer systems with several recovery procedures. This model is compared with a Markov chain model and its advantages are explained. The basic model is then extended for the situation when the coverage factor is unknown and the failure escalation rates must be used instead. A simple practical analytical approach to availability evaluation is provided and illustrated in detail by estimating the availability of two versions of a reliable clustered computing architecture. For these examples, numeric values of availability indexes are computed and the contribution of each recovery procedure to total system availability is analysed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.