Fault Tolerance

5 minutes 5 Questions

Fault Tolerance refers to the ability of a system, component, or infrastructure to continue functioning without interruption even when one or more of its parts fail. The goal of fault tolerance is to minimize the risk of system downtime, data loss, and other negative impacts on business operations. Fault tolerance can be achieved through various approaches, such as redundancy, load balancing, and failover systems that can take over the failed components. Implementing fault-tolerant systems will involve additional costs. However, it is important for organizations to weigh these costs against the potential losses that could result from system failures and interrupted operations, especially for mission-critical systems.

Guide to Fault Tolerance

Fault Tolerance is an important concept in the area of business continuity and disaster recovery. This concept is essential because it ensures that a system continues to function even in the event of partial system failure.
What is Fault Tolerance?
Fault Tolerance refers to the ability of a system to continue its operations, possibly at a reduced level, rather than failing completely, when some part of the system fails.
How does Fault Tolerance work?
Fault Tolerance works through a combination of redundant hardware and software. This redundancy allows a system to continue to operate even when a component fails. For instance, a server may have multiple hard drives so that if one fails, others can take over.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Fault Tolerance
1. Understand the key concepts: The main idea behind fault tolerance is continued system operation despite partial system failure. This should form the basis of your answers.
2. Know examples of fault-tolerant systems: Being able to describe situations where fault-tolerant systems are used can help illustrate your understanding of the concept.
3. Focus on redundancy elements: Exam questions often focus on how redundancy is used to achieve fault tolerance. Be ready to discuss these points in detail.
Remember that a clear understanding of the key concept and well-organised presentation of your knowledge can help you do well in exam questions on Fault Tolerance.

Test mode:

Exam (Timed)

Practice (With explanations)

Start practice test

Question 1

A hospital has multiple servers for its electronic health records. A server has a hardware failure and goes down. Which strategy could be implemented to avoid data loss and service interruption?

Single Server Redundancy Simple Backup RAID 0 Server Clustering

Correct Answer: Server Clustering

Server Clustering helps in maintaining high availability by grouping multiple servers together. If one server fails, another server in the cluster takes over automatically and continues the service without data loss or interruption.

Question 2

A company has a data center with a single power supply in a hurricane-prone area. Which strategy will best help the company achieve fault tolerance?

Backup generator Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) Increased cooling Voltage regulator

Correct Answer: Uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

UPS provides a consistent power source by using batteries in case of a power outage. This helps to minimize downtime and prevent abrupt system shutdowns.

Question 3

A network technician deploys a new VoIP system in a call center and needs to ensure high availability. What should be implemented?

Redundant power supplies, network switches, and Internet connections Creating a separate VLAN for VoIP Increasing the number of VoIP phone devices Consolidating the servers

Correct Answer: Redundant power supplies, network switches, and Internet connections

To ensure high availability of a new VoIP system in a call center, implementing redundant power supplies, network switches, and Internet connections is the best choice. High availability is about eliminating single points of failure and deploying a reliable, robust infrastructure to maximize the system uptime. This is accomplished by implementing redundancy, essentially having backup components such as power supplies, network switches, and Internet connections1. 'Increasing the number of VoIP phone devices': Simply increasing the number of VoIP devices does not guarantee high availability. More devices could actually lead to more potential points of failure2. 'Creating a separate VLAN for VoIP': While creating a separate VLAN for VoIP can be advantageous for reasons such as security and traffic management, it does not directly contribute to high availability. This solution would be more about quality of service than availability3. 'Consolidating the servers': This action could actually decrease availability as it might lead to a single point of failure, something which should be avoided when aiming for high availability.

Go Premium