CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G.

Manimaran) 1
Basic Concepts
Reliability, MTTF, Availability, etc.
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 2
Definitions

Reliaility o! a system is "e!ine" to e t#e proaility

t#at t#e $i%en system &ill per!orm its re'uire" !un(tion
un"er spe(i!ie" (on"itions !or a spe(i!ie" perio" o!
time.

MT)F (Mean Time )et&een Failures): *%era$e time a

system &ill run et&een !ailures. T#e MT)F is usually
e+presse" in #ours. T#is metri( is more use!ul to t#e
user t#an t#e reliaility measure.
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) ,
Approaches to increase the reliability of a system
Increasing reliability of a system
1. Worst case design
2. Using high quality
components
3. Strict quality
control procedures
1. Redundancy
2. Typically employed
3. Less expensive
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 4
Reliability expressions

E+ponential Failure -a&:

Reliaility o! a system is o!ten mo"ele" as:

.
R(t) / e+p(01t)

&#ere 1 is t#e !ailure rate e+presse" as

per(enta$e !ailures per 1222 #ours or as !ailures
per #our.
.
3#en t#e pro"u(t 41t5 is small6

R(t) / 1 0 1t
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 5
Relation between MTBF and the Failre rate

MT)F is t#e a%era$e time a system &ill run et&een

!ailures an" is $i%en y:
. MT)F / 7
2
R(t) "t / 7
2
e+p(01t) "t / 1 8 1
.
9n ot#er &or"s6 t#e MT)F o! a system is t#e
re(ipro(al o! t#e !ailure rate.
.
9! 415 is t#e numer o! !ailures per #our6 t#e MT)F
is e+presse" in #ours.

CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) :
A simple example

* system #as 4222 (omponents &it# a !ailure rate o!

2.22; per 1222 #ours. Cal(ulate 1 an" MT)F.

1 / (2.22 8 122) < (1 8 1222) < 4222 / = < 12

04

!ailures8#our

MT)F / 1 8 (= < 12
04
) / 1252 #ours
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) >
Relation between Reliability and MTBF

R(t) / (1 . 1t) / (1 . t 8 MT)F)

T#ere!ore6
. MT)F / t 8 (1 . R(t))
Time t
Reliability
R!t"
1.#
#
#.$
#.%
#.&
#.2
1 'T() 2 'T()
#.3%
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) =
An example

* !irst $eneration (omputer (ontains 12222

(omponents ea(# &it# 1 / 2.5;8(1222 #ours). 3#at is
t#e perio" o! ??; reliaility@
MT)F / t 8 (1 . R(t)) / t 8 (1 . 2.??)
. t / MT)F < 2.21 / 2.21 8 1
a%
. 3#ere 1
a%
is t#e a%era$e !ailure rate
. A / Ao. o! (omponents / 12222
. 1

/ !ailure rate o! a (omponent
/ 2.5; 8 (1222 #ours) / 2.22581222 / 5 < 12
0:
per #our
T#ere!ore6 1
a%
/ A 1 / 12222 < 5 < 12
0:
/ 5 < 12
02
per #our
T#ere!ore6 t / 2.21 8 (5 < 12
02
) / 12 minutes
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) ?
Reliability for different confi!rations
R R R R R
1 2 3 & *
+,erall reliability - R
o
- R . R . R/. R - R
*
1. Series 0onfiguration
2. 1arallel 0onfiguration
R
R
R
1
2
*
R
o
- 1 2 !probability that all of the
components fail"
R
o
- 1 2 !1 3 R"
*
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 12
Reliability for different confi!rations
R R R
1 2 *
+,erall reliability - R
o
- 4
3. 5ybrid 0onfiguration
R
R
R
1
2
'
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 11
Reliability for different confi!rations
&. Triple 'odular Redundancy !T'R"
R
R
R
1
2
'
6oting
+,erall reliability - R
o
- 730
2
. R
2
. !13R"8 9 7R
3
8
Reliability calculation a more complicated example
B
A C E F
D
B
A E F
D
B
A F
E
D
System
S1
S2
Assuming C is faulty
Assuming C is fault
free
R
s1
can be
calculated
using
parallel
series
formulae
eeds
furt!er
reduction
R " R
c
R
s2
# $1%R
c
& R
s1
B
A E F
D
S2
Assuming E is faulty
Assuming E is fault
free
R
s2
" R
E
R
s'
# $1%R
E
& R
s(
S'
S(
B
A F
D
B
A F
S'
A F
D
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 14
Maintainability

Maintainaility o! a system is t#e proaility o!

isolatin$ an" repairin$ a 4!ault5 in t#e system &it#in a
$i%en time.

Maintainaility is $i%en y:
.
M(t) / 1 . e+p(0Bt)
.
3#ere " is t#e repair rate
.
*n" t is t#e permissile time (onstraint !or t#e
maintenan(e a(tion
.
B / 18(Mean Time To Repair) / 18MTTR
.
M(t) / 1 . e+p(0t8MTTR)
CprE 545: Fault Tolerant Systems (G. Manimaran) 15
Availability
*%ailaility o! a system is t#e proaility t#at t#e system &ill e
!un(tionin$ a((or"in$ to e+pe(tations at any time "urin$ its
s(#e"ule" &orCin$ perio".
*%ailaility / System up0time 8 (System up0time D System "o&n0time)
System "o&n0time / Ao. o! !ailures < MTTR
System "o&n0time / System up0time < 1 < MTTR
T#ere!ore6
. *%ailaility / System up0time 8 (System up0time D (System up0time <
1 < MTTR)
/ 1 8 (1 D (1 <MTTR)
. *%ailaility / MT)F 8 (MT)F D MTTR)