Availability in cloud computing
Intuitively and generically, the word availability conveys that something is available or can be used. In order to be used, it needs to be up and running and in a functional condition. For example, if your car is on the driveway, is working, and is ready to be used, it meets some of the conditions of availability. However, in order to meet the technical definition of availability, it also needs to be turned on. A server that is otherwise working properly but is shut down is not going to be of much help to run your website.
It does not matter if your computing environment is on your own premises or if you are using the cloud – availability is paramount and critical to your business. A system's availability is the amount of time over a period of time that the system and its components are available.
If a component of the system goes down and you can only perform certain functions, the system is said to be partially available. If a component...