Provides fundamentals of reliability engineering and illustrates practical applications in the area of parallel/distributed systems (Multistage Interconnection Networks) The first part of the book (chapters 1—5) introduces the concept of reliability engineering, elements of probability theory, probability distributions, availability, and data analysis. The second part of the book (chapters 6—11) provides an overview of parallel/distributed computing, network design considerations, classification of multistage interconnection networks, network reliability evaluation methods, and reliability analysis of multistage interconnection networks including reliability prediction of distributed systems using Monte Carlo method. Fundamentals of Reliability Engineering meets the increasing demand for knowledge tools that practicing reliability professionals can use to optimize their reliability decisions. Reliability prediction is important as it determines the usability and efficiency of the network to provide services. Reliability evaluation methods discussed in this book can be applied to analyze the reliability of any other systems. As an example, reliability analysis of distributed systems that consist of layers of switching elements connected together in a predefined topology that provide the connectivity between the set of processors and the set of memory modules, are presented.
