Skip to main content

System dependability

  • I. Parallel Processing, Databases, Networks, and Distributed Systems
  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Future Tendencies in Computer Science, Control and Applied Mathematics (INRIA 1992)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 653))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The paper starts with a brief account of how and why, at about the time of the birth of what is now INRIA, the author and his colleagues became interested in the subject now known as system dependability. The main body of the paper summarizes the work over the last three years of the ESPRIT Basic Research project on Predictably Dependable Computing Systems (PDCS). This is a long term collaborative research activity, centred on the problems (i) of producing quantitative methods for measuring and predicting the dependability of complex software/hardware systems, (ii) of incorporating such methods into the design process, and (iii) of developing appropriate architectures and components as bases for designing predictably dependable systems. A further section of the paper then describes, in somewhat more detail, one of the current activities within PDCS. This is work being carried out by the author in collaboration with an INRIA colleague, Dr. Jean-Charles Fabre, on a unified approach to providing both reliability and security termed Object-Oriented Fragmented Data Processing (OOFDP).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. J. Arlat. Dependability Validation by means of Fault Injection — Method, Implementation, Application. National Polytechnic Institute, Toulouse, France, 1990. Also published as LAAS Report RR 90-399 (in French)

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. Arlat, M. Agucra, L. Amat, Y. Crouzet, J.C. Fabre, J.C. Laprie, E. Martins and D. Powell, “Fault Injection for Dependability Validation — A Methodology and Some Applications,” IEEE Trans. Software Eng., Special Section on Experimental Computer Science, vol. 16, pp.166–182, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  3. J. Arlat, M. Aguera, Y. Crouzet, J.C. Fabre, E. Martins and D. Powell, “Experimental Evaluation of the Fault Tolerance of an Atomic Multicast Protocol,” IEEE Trans Reliability, Special Issue on Experimental Evaluation of Computer Reliability, vol. 39, no. 4, pp.455–467, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  4. J. Arlat, Y. Crouzet and J.C. Laprie. “Fault-Injection for Dependability Validation of Fault-Tolerant Computing Systems,” in Proc. 19th IEEE Int. Symp. Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-19), pp. 348–355, Chicago, IL, USA, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  5. J. Arlat, Y. Crouzet and J.C. Laprie. “Fault-Injection for the Experimental Validation of Fault Tolerance,” in Second Year Report, Volume 3, Chapter 1, Section III, PDCS, 1991. (To appear in Proc. Esprit Conference, (CEC-DGXIII), Brussels, Belgium, November 25–29, 1991.)

    Google Scholar 

  6. O. Babaoglu, “Streets of Byzantium: Network architectures for fast reliable broadcasts,” IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering, vol. SE-11, no. 6, pp.546–554, 1985.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. O. Babaoglu, L. Alivisi, A. Amoroso and R. Davoli. “Paralex: An Environment for Reliable Parallel Programming in Distributed Systems,” in PDCS 2nd year Report, PDCS, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  8. E.H. Bal and A.S. Tanenbaum. “Distributed programming with shared data,” in Proc. of the ICCL, pp. 82–91, Miami, FL, IEEE, Computer Society Press, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  9. L. Blain and Y. Deswarte. “An intrusion-tolerant security server for an open distributed system,” in Proc. of the European Symposium in Computer Security (ESORICS 90), pp. 97–104, Toulouse (France), AFCET, ISBN 2-90367-708-9, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  10. A. Bondavalli and L. Simoncini. “Failure classification with respect to detection,” in Proc. 2nd Workshop on Future Trends of Distributed Computing Systems in the 90s, pp. 47–53, Cairo, IEEE, 1990.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. S. Brocklehurst. A Non-Parametric Approach to Software Reliability Modelling, PDCS Technical Report No. 4, PDCS, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  12. S. Brocklehurst. A Multi-Model Approach to the Analysis of Software Failure Data, PDCS, 1992. (in preparation)

    Google Scholar 

  13. S. Brocklehurst, P.Y. Chan, B. Littlewood and J. Snell, “Recalibrating Software Reliability Models,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 16, no. 4, pp.458–470, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. A. Burns, J.A. McDermid and J.E. Dobson, “On the Meaning of Safety and Security,” Computer Journal, vol. 34, no. 1,1992.

    Google Scholar 

  15. W.C. Carter. “A Time for Reflection,” in Proc. 12th IEEE Int. Symp. on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-12), pp. 41, Santa Monica, CA, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  16. R. Chakka and I. Mitrani. “Multiprocessor Systems with General Breakdowns and Repairs,” in Proc. Sigmetrics — Performance '92, Newport, RI, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  17. C.-K. Cho. Quality Programming: Developing and Testing Software with Statistical Quality Control, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  18. P.-J. Courtois and P. Semal, “Bounds for the Positive Eigenvectors of Non-Negative Matrices and for their Approximations by Decomposition,” J. ACM, vol. 31, no. 4, pp.804–825, 1984.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  19. P.-J. Courtois and P. Semal, “Computable Bounds for Conditional Steady-State Probabilities in Large Markov Chains and Queueing Models,” IEEE Trans SAC, vol. 4, no. 6, pp.926–937, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  20. P.-J. Courtois and P. Semal. “Bounds for Transient Characteristics of Markov Chains with Large State Spaces,” in Proc. First Int. Conf. on Numerical Solutions of Markov Chains, Raleigh, NC, USA, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  21. F. Cristian. “Agreeing on Who is Present and Who is Absent in a Synchronous Distributed System,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-18), pp. 206–211, Tokyo, Japan, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  22. F. Cristian, H. Aghili, R. Strong and D. Dolev. “Atomic Broadcast: From simple message diffusion to Byzantine agreement,” in Proc. 15th IEEE Int. Symp. on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-15), pp. 200–206, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Y. Deswarte, L. Blain and J.C. Fabre. “Intrusion Tolerance in Distributed Computing Systems,” in Proc. 1991 IEEE Symposium on Research in Security and Privacy, Oakland, California, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  24. F. Di Giandomenico and L. Strigini. “Adjudicators for Diverse-Redundant Components,” in Proc. 9th Symposium of Reliable Distributed Systems, pp. 114–123, Huntsville, Alabama, IEEE, 1990.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  25. J.E. Dobson and J.A. McDermid. An Investigation into Modelling and Categorisation of Non-Functional Requirements, YCS 141, University of York, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  26. K. Echtle and Y. Chen. “Evaluation of Deterministic Fault Injection for Fault Tolerant Protocol Testing,” in Proc. 21st IEEE Int. Symp. Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-21), pp. 418–425, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  27. P. Ezhilchelvan, I. Mitrani and S.K. Shrivastava, “A Performance Evaluation Study of Pipeline TMR Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, vol. 1, no. 4, pp.442–456, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. J.C. Fabre and B. Randell. “An Object-Oriented View of Fragmented Data Processing for Fault and Intrusion Tolerance in Distributed Systems,” in Proc. ESORICS'92, Toulouse, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  29. J.-M. Fray, Y. Deswarte and D. Powell. “Intrusion Tolerance Using Fine-Grain Fragmentation-Scattering,” in Proc. IEEE Symp. on Security and Privacy, pp. 194–201, Oakland CA, USA, IEEE, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  30. J.M. Fray and J.C. Fabre. “Fragmented Data Processing: an Approach to Secure and Reliable Processing in Distributed Computing Systems,” in Proc. 1st IFIP Int. Working Conf. on Dependable Computing for Critical Applications, pp. 131–137, Santa Barbara, California, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  31. M. Gaschignard and M.C. Gaudel. “Diversification from Algebraic Specification,” in PDCS Project First Year Report, ESPRIT Project 3092, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  32. U. Gunneflo, J. Karlsson and J. Torin. “Evaluation of Error Detection Schemes using Fault Injection by Heavy Ion Radiation,” in Proc. 19th IEEE Int. Symp. Fault-Tolerant Computing, pp. 340–347, Chicago, IL, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  33. A. Jassim, B. Littlewood, P. Mellor and D. Lazenby. Random testing compared with structural testing, City University, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  34. K. Kanoun, M. Kaaniche, C. Beounes, J.C. Laprie and J. Arlat. “Reliability Growth of Fault-Tolerant Software,” in PDCS 2nd year Report, 2 Chapter 2 Part 3, PDCS, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  35. E. Kligerman and A. Sloyenko, “Real-Time Euclid: A Language for Reliable Real-Time Systems,” IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering, vol. SE-12, no. 9, pp. 941–949, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Y. Koga, E. Fukushima and K. Yoshihara. “Error recoverable and securable data communication for computer network,” in Proc. 12th IEEE Int. Symp. on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-12), pp. 183–186, Santa Monica, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  37. H. Kopetz, G. Grünsleidl and J. Reisinger. “Fault-Tolerant Membership Service in a Synchronous Distributed Real-Time System,” in Dependable Computing for Critical Applications, ed. A. Avizienis and J. C. Laprie, pp.411–429, Springer-Verlag, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  38. H. Kopetz and K. Kim. “Temporal Uncertainties in Interactions among Real-Time Objects,” in Proc. 9th Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems, pp. 165–174, Huntsville, AL, USA, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1990.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  39. J.C. Laprie, (Ed.). Dependability: basic concepts and terminology — in English, French, German, German and Japanese, Vienna, Springer-Verlag, 1992, 265p. p.

    Google Scholar 

  40. J.C. Laprie, J. Arlat, C. Beounes and K. Kanoun, “Definition and Analysis of Hardware-and-Software Fault-Tolerant Architectures,” IEEE Computer (Special Issue on Fault Tolerant Systems), vol. 23, no. 7, pp.39–51, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  41. J.C. Laprie and K. Kanoun. “X-ware Dependability Modelling and Evaluation,” in PDCS 2nd year Report, 2 Chapter 2 Part 1, PDCS, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  42. J.C. Laprie, K. Kanoun, C. Beounes and M. Kaaniche, “The KAT — Knowledge-Action-Transformation — Approach to the Modeling and Evaluation of Reliability and Availability Growth,” IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering, no. April,1991.

    Google Scholar 

  43. J.C. Laprie and B. Littlewood. “Quantitative Assessment of Safety-Critical Software: Why and How?,” in Int. Conf. on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, Beverley Hills, 1991. (Presented, but not in Proceedings.)

    Google Scholar 

  44. B. Littlewood. “Modelling growth in software reliability,” in Software Reliability Handbook, ed. P. Rook, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  45. B. Littlewood, S. Brocklehurst, N.E. Fenton, P. Mellor, S. Page, D. Wright, J.E. Dobson, J.A. McDermid and D. Gollman. Towards Operational Measures for Computer Security, Second Year Report, Volume 3, PDCS Project, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  46. B. Littlewood and L. Strigini. “Validating Ultra-High Dependability for Software-Based Systems,” in PDCS 2nd year Report, PDCS, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  47. C. Liu. “A General Framework for Software Fault Tolerance,” in PDCS 2nd year Report, PDCS, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  48. M. Makpangou, Y. Gourhant, J.-P.L. Narzul and M. Shapiro. Structuring Distributed Applications as Fragmented Objects, Research Report 1404, INRIA, Rocquencourt, France, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  49. B. Meyer, “Eiffel: Programming for Reusability and Extendibility,” ACM SIGPLAN, vol. 22, no. 2, pp.85–94, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. D.R. Miller. “The Role of Statistical Modeling and Inference in Software Quality Assurance,” in Software Certification, ed. B. d. Neumann, pp.135–152, Elsevier Applied Sciences, UK, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  51. D. Mitra and I. Mitrani. “Asymptotic Optimality of the Go-Back-n Protocol in High Speed Data Networks with Small Buffers,” in Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Data Communication Systems and Their Performance, Barcelona, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  52. D.L. Parnas, A.J.v. Schouwen and S.P. Kwan, “Evaluation of Safety-Critical Software,” Communications of the ACM, vol. 33, no. 6, pp.636–648, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. D. Powell. “Delta4: A Generic Architecture for Dependable Distributed Computing,” in Research Reports ESPRIT (Vol. 1), Springer-Verlag, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  54. P. Puschner and C. Koza, “Calculating the Maximum Execution Time of Real-Time Programs,” Real-Time Systems, vol. 1, no. 2, pp.159–176, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. M.O. Rabin, “Efficient Dispersal of Information for Security, Load Balancing and Fault-Tolerance,” Journal of the ACM, vol. 36, no. 2, pp.335–348, 1989.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  56. B. Randell and J.C. Fabre. “Fault and Intrusion Tolerance in Object-Oriented Systems,” in Proc. Int. Workshop on Object-Orientation in Operating Systems, pp. 180–184, Palo Alto, CA, IEEE Technical Committee on Operating Systems and Application Environments (TCOS), 1991.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  57. B. Randell and J.C. Fabre. FDP techniques in Object-Oriented Systems, Research Report N∘91.114 (Also TR 337, Computing Laboratory, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1991.), LAAS, Toulouse, France, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  58. P.G. Ranéa, Y. Deswarte, J.M. Fray and D. Powell. “The Security Approach in DELTA-4,” in Proc. of the European Telematics Conference (EUTECO-88) on Research into Networks and distributed Applications, pp. 455–466, Vienna, Austria, North-Holland, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  59. W. Schütz. “Real-Time Simulation in the Distributed Real-Time System MARS,” in Proc. 1990 European Simulation Multiconference, pp. 51–57, Nuremberg, Germany, The Society for Computer Simulation International, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  60. A. Shamir, “How to Share a Secret,” Comm. ACM, vol. 22, no. 11, pp.612–613, 1979.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  61. M. Shapiro, Y. Gourhant, S. Halbert, L. Mosseri, M. Ruffin and C. Valot, “SOS: An Object-Oriented Operating System — Assessment and perspectives,” Computing Systems, vol. 2, no. 4, pp.287–338, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  62. A.C. Shaw, “Reasoning About Time in Higher-Level Language Software,” IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering, vol. SE-15, pp.875–889, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. S.K. Shrivastava, G.N. Dixon and G.D. Parrington, “An Overview of the Arjuna Distributed Programming System,” IEEE Software, vol. 8, no. 1, pp.66–73, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. L. Strigini and F. Di Giandomenico. “Flexible schemes for application-level fault tolerance,” in Proc. 10th Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems, pp. 86–95, Pisa, Italy, IEEE, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  65. P. Thévenod-Fosse. “Software validation by means of statistical testing: retrospect and future direction,” in Proc. 1st Int. Working Conference on Dependable Computing for Critical Applications., pp. 23–50, Santa Barbara, USA, Springer-Verlag, 1989. (Dependable Computing and Fault-Tolerant Systems.Vol. 4, 1991.)

    Google Scholar 

  66. P. Thévenod-Fosse. “On the Efficiency of Statistical Testing with respect to Software Structural Test Criteria,” in Proc. IFIP Working Conference on Approving Software Products, pp. 29–42, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, FRG, North Holland, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  67. P. Thévenod-Fosse and H. Waeselynck. On Software Dependability Evaluation from a Statistical Testing Approach, 90.235, LAAS, Toulouse, France, 1990. PDCS Report No. 28

    Google Scholar 

  68. P. Thévenod-Fosse and H. Waeselynck, “An Investigation of Statistical Software Testing,” J. of Software Testing, Verification and Reliability, vol. 1, no. 2, pp.5–25, 1991. (PDCS Report No. 46)

    Google Scholar 

  69. P. Thévenod-Fosse, H. Waeselynck and Y. Crouzet. “An Experimental Study on Software Structural Testing: Deterministic versus random input generation,” in Proc. 21st IEEE Int. Symp. on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-21), Montreal, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  70. G. Trouessin, J.C. Fabre and Y. Deswarte. “Reliable Processing of Confidential Information,” in Proc. of the 7th Int. Conf. on Computer Security, IFIP/SEC'91, Brighton, UK, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  71. A. Vrchoticky and P. Puschner. “On the Feasibility of Response Time Predictions An Experimental Evaluation,” in Second Year Report, 2, PDCS, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  72. J. Xu. “Fault Tolerance Based on System Diagnosis Techniques,” in PDCS Project Second Year Report, ESPRIT Project 3092, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

A. Bensoussan J. -P. Verjus

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Randell, B. (1992). System dependability. In: Bensoussan, A., Verjus, J.P. (eds) Future Tendencies in Computer Science, Control and Applied Mathematics. INRIA 1992. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 653. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56320-2_51

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56320-2_51

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-56320-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47520-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics