Computing systems are of growing importance because of their wide use in many areas including those in safety-critical systems. This book describes the basic models and approaches to the reliability analysis of such systems. An extensive review is provided and models are categorized into different types. Some Markov models are extended to the analysis of some specific computing systems such as combined software and hardware, imperfect debugging processes, failure correlation, multi-state systems, heterogeneous subsystems, etc. One of the aims of the presentation is that based on the sound analysis and simplicity of the approaches, the use of Markov models can be better implemented in the computing system reliability.

The field of parallel and distributed computing is undergoing changes at a breathtaking pace. Networked computers are now omnipresent in virtually every application, from games to sophisticated space missions. The increasing complexity, heterogeneity, largeness, and dynamism of the emerging pervasive environments and associated applications are challenging the advancement of the parallel and distributed computing paradigm. Many novel infrastructures have been or are being created to provide the necessary computational fabric for realising parallel and distributed applications from diverse domains. New models and tools are also being proposed to evaluate and predict the quality of these complicated parallel and distributed systems. Current and recent past efforts, made to provide the infrastructures and models for such applications, have addressed many underlying complex problems and have thus resulted in new tools and paradigms for effectively realising parallel and distributed systems. This book showcases these novel tools and approaches with inputs from relevant experts.