| This report has been submitted for publication. It has been issued as a research report for early peer distribution. (2007) | |||||||||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||||||||
| Abstract Dependability is the system property that integrates such attributes as reliability, availability, safety, security, survivability, maintainability. The aim of the presentation is to summarize the fundamental concepts of dependability. After a historical perspective, definitions of dependability are given. A structured view of dependability follows, according to a) the threats, i.e., faults, errors and failures, b) the attributes, and c) the means for dependability, that are fault prevention, fault tolerance, fault removal and fault forecasting. T he protection and survival of complex information systems that are embedded in the infrastructure supporting advanced society has become a national and world-wide concern of the highest priority 1. Increasingly, individuals and organizations are developing or procuring sophisticated computing systems on whose services they need to place great reliance--- whether to service a set of cash dispensers, control a satellite constellation, an airplane, a nuclear plant, or a radiation therapy device, or to maintain the confidentiality of a sensitive data base. In differing circumstances, the focus will be on differing properties of such services--- e.g., on the average real-time response achieved, the likelihood of producing the required results, the ability to avoid failures that could be catastrophic to the system's environment, or the degree to which deliberate intrusions can be prevented. The notion of dependability provides a very convenient means of subsuming these various concerns within a single conceptual framework. Our goal is to present a concise overview of the concepts, techniques and tools that have evolved over the past forty years in the field of dependable computing and fault tolerance. | |||||||||||||||
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