For fault-tolerant systems, like the Internet: a. Describe the benefits of fault tolerance. b. Explain how a given system is fault-tolerant. c. Identify vulnerabilities to failure in a system.
CSN-1.E.1 The Internet has been engineered to be fault-tolerant, with abstractions for routing and transmitting data.
CSN-1.E.2 Redundancy is the inclusion of extra components that can be used to mitigate failure of a system if other components fail.
CSN-1.E.3 One way to accomplish network redundancy is by having more than one path between any two connected devices.
CSN-1.E.4 If a particular device or connection on the Internet fails, subsequent data will be sent via a different route, if possible.
CSN-1.E.5 When a system can support failures and still continue to function, it is called fault-tolerant. This is important because elements of complex systems fail at unexpected times, often in groups, and fault tolerance allows users to continue to use the network.
CSN-1.E.6 Redundancy within a system often requires additional resources but can provide the benefit of fault tolerance.
CSN-1.E.7 The redundancy of routing options between two points increases the reliability of the Internet and helps it scale to more devices and more people.