Reliability concepts: Availability, Resiliency, Robustness, Fault-Tolerance, and Reliability

I came across a comprehensive list of essential topics related to Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), particularly emphasizing the aspect of Reliability. You can find the list here.

Now, let’s delve into the distinctions between the key concepts: Availability, Resiliency, Robustness, Fault-Tolerance, and Reliability.

In essence, these concepts share close ties but each has its own specific focus:

• Availability is concerned with ensuring the system is always ready and operational.
• Resiliency is about adapting to and recovering from disruptions.
• Robustness focuses on handling unexpected situations without crashing or producing incorrect results.
• Fault-tolerance involves designing the system to keep functioning despite component failures.
• Reliability is the overall trustworthiness and consistency of the system’s performance over time.

These principles are fundamental in ensuring the effectiveness and dependability of modern systems and applications, particularly in the field of Site Reliability Engineering.