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Technology Stocks : EMC How high can it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tom jones who wrote (6314)	5/6/1999 7:42:00 PM
From: Tony Viola	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17183

Tom, What is a single point of failure? A single point of failure (SPF) is any part of a machine, that, if it fails, can take the whole machine down with it. There are several ways that companies who design for the highest reliability get away from this problem. 1. The simplest way is to have redundancy for all critical parts that can, by themselves, take the machine down. Basically, have an identical part, right next to the one we're worried about, that, if the original part fails, picks right up for it without the machine missing a beat. Imagine big rig trucks...every tire has a companion next to it. 2. Error detection and correction. If a part fails, the fact that it has is sensed by other hardware and/or software, and that hardware/software corrects the failure and presents "good" data to the rest of the machine. If done right, no part of the machine, nor the customer, notices any difference. Examples of single points of failure in your car could be your engine completely running out of oil and freezing up, or the transmission losing all fluid and freezing up at high speed. Examples of failures that would not usually be SPFs are a flat to one tire, one headlight going out, your front wheel brakes failing, assuming rear and emergency brakes work, one spark plug, etc. Sorry if I got carried away. Quiz later ;-/ Tony