Today, IFIP Working Group 10.4 announced that an outstanding paper has been selected as winner of the 2021 Jean-Claude Laprie Award in Dependable Computing:
The Award Citation:
“Measurement and modeling of computer reliability as affected by system activity" authored by R. K. Iyer, D. J. Rossetti, and M. C. Hsueh and published in ACM Transactions on Computer Systems in 1986 was one of the first papers to perform empirical studies of failures in real systems (IBM Mainframe and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Computing System). The paper showed that there exists a strong correlation between the nature of the workload and its intensity and the failure rate of the system. This was a seminal result in that it showed that one needs to understand the overall system’s composition and behavior, in order to make predictions of its overall reliability. It also established the primary role of empirical measurements of failures of real systems, rather than rely upon (simple) analytical or simulation models of failures, and hence established the scientific foundations of the field of empirical reliability measurement.
The paper has had a tremendous impact in shaping subsequent empirical studies, as well as those in analytical modelling of computer systems. The idea has been incorporated in classical dependability textbooks (e.g., Reliable Computer Systems: Design and Evaluation, Third Edition, By Daniel P. Siewiorek, Robert S. Swarz), dependability tools (e.g., SHARPE) and into many commercial systems for dependability measurement (e.g., by IBM). This paper has been considered as a landmark paper in the field of computer system reliability by the evaluation committee, which resulted in its unanimous selection for the award.”
The award was created in 2011, in honor of Jean-Claude Laprie (1944-2010), whose pioneering contributions to the concepts and methodologies of dependability were influential in defining and unifying the field of dependable and secure computing. The award recognizes outstanding papers that have significantly influenced the theory and/or practice of Dependable Computing.
For more information on the Jean-Claude Laprie Award please visit http://jclaprie-award.dependability.org
IFIP Working Group 10.4 was established in 1980 with the aim of identifying and integrating approaches, methods and techniques for specifying, designing, building, assessing, validating, operating and maintaining dependable computer systems, that is those that are reliable, available, safe, and secure. Its 75 members from around the world meet twice a year to to conduct in-depth discussions of important technical topics to further the understanding and exposition of the fundamental concepts of dependable computing.
For more information on IFIP WG10.4 visit http://wg10.4.dependability.org
IFIP is a non-governmental, non-profit umbrella organization for national societies working in the field of information processing. It was established in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO as a result of the first World Computer Congress held in Paris in 1959. It is the leading multinational, apolitical organization in Information & Communications Technologies and Sciences.
For more information on IFIP visit http://www.ifip.org
Media Contact:
Charles B. Weinstock
412-298-9747
weinstock@dependability.org