Compaq 112726-001 - ProLiant - 6500 Administrator's Manual page 232

Availability A measure of how well a computer system can deliver services to its
clients continuously. Availability is typically expressed as a
percentage, with 100 percent being the best possible rating.
Client LAN A local area network dedicated to servicing requests between
network client machines and between the cluster nodes and the
client machines. This is different than a cluster interconnect, which
is dedicated to servicing information requests to and from cluster
nodes only.
Cluster An integration of software and hardware technologies that enables a
set of loosely coupled servers and storage to present a single
system image to clients and to operate as a single system.
Clustering is a way to improve availability and scalability.
Downtime The period of time that a computer system is unable to service
clients' requests.
Ethernet A standard network protocol that operates mostly on a physical
level, using network interface cards and cabling to transmit data
between computers. Transfer rates are normally 10 or 100 megabits
per second.
Fault tolerance A characteristic that allows continued operation of a computer entity
when a fault (or failure) is encountered. Fault tolerance applies to a
computer component, an individual computer, or a cluster of
computers, primarily through designing redundant elements into
the entity.
Glossary