Fault-Tolerant Systems

CHAPTER 1 Preliminaries

The past 50 years have seen computers move from being expensive computational engines used by government and big corporations to becoming an everyday commodity, deeply embedded in practically every aspect of our lives. Not only are computers visible everywhere, in desktops, laptops, and PDAs, it is also a commonplace that they are invisible everywhere, as vital components of cars, home appliances, medical equipment, aircraft, industrial plants, and power generation and distribution systems. Computer systems underpin most of the world’s financial systems: given current transaction volumes, trading in the stock, bond, and currency markets would be unthinkable without them. Our increasing willingness, as a society, to place ...