Design of dependable computing systems. (English) Zbl 0995.68008
Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. xix, 672 p. EUR 140.00; $ 129.00; £88.00 (2002).
The book consists of 19 chapters divided into preface and 4 parts: 1. “Destructive Mechanisms”, 2. “Protective Mechanisms”, 3. “Fault Avoidance Means”, 4. “Fault Tolerance Means” and of some appendixes. In a preface the aims of book creation are described, the main one is to give a basic knowledge about dependability of computing systems.
In the part I (chapters 2-5) the following questions are considered: life cycle (specification, design, production, operation), causes of faults, internal and external effects of faults, and fault and error models. The part II (chapters 6-8) is devoted to the main fault and error protective mechanisms. At first 3 groups of dependability means are considered: fault prevention, fault removal and fault tolerance. In chapter 7 quantitative and qualitative assessments are described, the following criteria are considered: reliability, testability, availability, safety and security. Then the authors present a detailed description of redundancy. In the part III (chapters 9-14) fault avoidance means are described. In the chapters 9, 10 the methods of increasing dependability at the specification stage and during design are described. Chapter 11 deals with prevention of technological faults. Later in the part III a thorough description of removal of technological faults by testing, of structural testing methods and of account of testability at design stage are given. In the part IV (chapters 15-19) fault tolerance means are presented. In the chapter 15 an introduction to error detecting and correcting codes is given. In the chapter 16 the on-line testing is described. Fail-safe systems and methods of their development are given in the chapter 17. The chapter 18 is devoted to the fault tolerant systems and includes such questions as backward and forward recovery. In the chapter 19 the summary of the book main statements is given.
The book includes a lot of figures, exercises with answers and is accessible to all engaged in activity linked with the problems of dependability and of information system creation. It may be also used as a textbook.
In the part I (chapters 2-5) the following questions are considered: life cycle (specification, design, production, operation), causes of faults, internal and external effects of faults, and fault and error models. The part II (chapters 6-8) is devoted to the main fault and error protective mechanisms. At first 3 groups of dependability means are considered: fault prevention, fault removal and fault tolerance. In chapter 7 quantitative and qualitative assessments are described, the following criteria are considered: reliability, testability, availability, safety and security. Then the authors present a detailed description of redundancy. In the part III (chapters 9-14) fault avoidance means are described. In the chapters 9, 10 the methods of increasing dependability at the specification stage and during design are described. Chapter 11 deals with prevention of technological faults. Later in the part III a thorough description of removal of technological faults by testing, of structural testing methods and of account of testability at design stage are given. In the part IV (chapters 15-19) fault tolerance means are presented. In the chapter 15 an introduction to error detecting and correcting codes is given. In the chapter 16 the on-line testing is described. Fail-safe systems and methods of their development are given in the chapter 17. The chapter 18 is devoted to the fault tolerant systems and includes such questions as backward and forward recovery. In the chapter 19 the summary of the book main statements is given.
The book includes a lot of figures, exercises with answers and is accessible to all engaged in activity linked with the problems of dependability and of information system creation. It may be also used as a textbook.
Reviewer: Telman Aliev (Baku)
MSC:
| 68M15 | Reliability, testing and fault tolerance of networks and computer systems |
| 68M99 | Computer system organization |
| 68Q60 | Specification and verification (program logics, model checking, etc.) |
| 68U99 | Computing methodologies and applications |
| 68-01 | Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to computer science |
| 90B25 | Reliability, availability, maintenance, inspection in operations research |
