Analysis and modeling of correlated failures in multicomputer systems

Author

Tang, Dong ; Iyer, Ravishankar K.

Author_Institution

Center for Reliable & High-Performance Comput., Illinois Univ., Urbana, IL, USA

Volume

41

Issue

5

fYear

1992

fDate

5/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

567

Lastpage

577

Abstract

Based on the measurements from two DEC VAX-cluster multicomputer systems, the issue of correlated failures is addressed. In particular, the characteristics of correlated failures, their impact and their modelling on dependability, are discussed. It is found from the data that most correlated failures are related to errors in shared resources and propagate from one machine to another. Comparisons between measurement-based models and analytical models that assume failure independence show that the impact of correlated failures on dependability is significant. Two validated models. the c-dependent model and the p-dependent model, are developed to evaluate the dependability of systems with correlated failures

Keywords

computation theory; fault tolerant computing; multiprocessing systems; DEC VAX-cluster; c-dependent model; correlated failures; dependability; multicomputer systems; p-dependent model; shared resources; Analytical models; Availability; Failure analysis; Fault tolerant systems; Independent component analysis; Information analysis; Markov processes; Performance analysis; Performance evaluation; Stress measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computers, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9340

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/12.142683

Filename

142683