Disaster Tolerant Computer and Communication Systems

Disaster Tolerance is the characteristic attributed to a system that can withstand a catastrophic failure and still function with some degree of normality. Disaster tolerance of computer and communication systems is described and methods for modeling this form of system robustness are described. Definitions and descriptions of disaster tolerant computing and communications systems are provided and related to more familiar forms of system robustness such as fault tolerance. This paper concludes with a description of future areas of investigation for this new area of systems engineering.