5.7. Conlusion

This chapter considered the interdependencies of fault models and survivability approaches. It was shown that fault models have to be considered in any survivability approach since recovery depends on the types of faults assumed. The design for the survivability paradigm gives some useful suggestions for possible approaches and limitations or trade-off spaces. One of the great challenges of any approach is that of overcoming the problem of single points of failure, which leads us to take a closer look at the issues associated with decentralization. Whereas intentional decentralization was argued to potentially improve survivability, it has its own problems, especially if the application is largely decentralized to begin with. Finally, a model was presented that may allow technology transfer from other well-established fields. Besides opening up survivability applications to possible solutions adapted from those fields, it may serve as a platform for complexity analysis and comparison.