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Single Point of Failure

Overview

A Single Point of Failure, (SPOF), is a part of a system which, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working . They are undesirable in any system whose goal is high availability

High availability

High availability is a system design protocol and associated implementation that ensures a certain degree of operational continuity during a given measurement period....

, be it a network, software application or other industrial system.

The assessment of a potentially single location of failure identifies the critical components of a complex system that would provoke a total systems failure in case of malfunction

Malfunction

A malfunction is when something functions wrongly or does not function at all.Some types of malfunctions are:*Malfunction , malfunction of a parachute*Sexual malfunction, also called "sexual dysfunction"**See also dyspareunia...

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Encyclopedia

A Single Point of Failure, (SPOF), is a part of a system which, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working . They are undesirable in any system whose goal is high availability

High availability

High availability is a system design protocol and associated implementation that ensures a certain degree of operational continuity during a given measurement period....

, be it a network, software application or other industrial system.

The assessment of a potentially single location of failure identifies the critical components of a complex system that would provoke a total systems failure in case of malfunction

Malfunction

A malfunction is when something functions wrongly or does not function at all.Some types of malfunctions are:*Malfunction , malfunction of a parachute*Sexual malfunction, also called "sexual dysfunction"**See also dyspareunia...

. Highly reliable

Reliability engineering

Reliability engineering is an engineering field, that deals with the study of reliability: the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time...

systems may not rely on any such individual component.

The strategy to prevent total system failure is
Reduced Complexity: Complex systems shall be designed according to principles decomposing complexity to the required level.
Redundancy

Redundancy (engineering)

In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of critical components of a system with the intention of increasing reliability of the system, usually in the case of a backup or fail-safe....

: Redundant systems include a double instance for any critical component with an automatic and robust switch or handle to turn control over to the other well functioning unit (failover

Failover

In computing, failover is the capability to switch over automatically to a redundant or standby computer server, system, or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously active application,server, system, or network...

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Diversity: Diversity design is a special redundancy concept that cares for the doubling of functionality in completely different design setups of components to decrease the probability that redundant components might fail both at the same time under identical conditions.
Transparency: Whatever systems design will deliver, long term reliability is based on transparent and comprehensive documentation.