Single Point Of Failure
Somewhere along the line, I suspect during University a decade ago, I picked up the phrase
”Single point of failure”.
I have the vague recollection that it was while I was learning about hazards, risks and risk assessments in regard to insurance policies regarding information technology. I think during a subject on cryptography.
What it refers to, is a single point along a timeline at which everything started to fail within a specific circumstance.
This is really important in regards to insurance, risk management and especially information technology when investigating how something failed.
Airplane crash investigators use this method to find out what went wrong with various incidents to see if they can prevent it from happening in the future. It also makes great television.
Some of these points can be minor with small failures and some of them can be major with catastrophic failures.
Some can be tiny and have major impacts, like a miniscule fleck of paint in space travelling at thousands of miles an hour and hitting a spaceshuttle.
Possible Solutions
The solution to these failures is often referred to as a redundancy. This is where either a failsafe device or backup system is put in place.
The potential failures are factored into the design.
This is why you are asked to pack and double check your parachute! Chuckle. And also why there is a back up emergency release included.
An I.T. company would have multiple file servers in case a single one of them fails.
A hospital should have backup emergency electricity and lighting in case of power outages, etc.
It's also the reason why you're given two house keys when you move in. You get the idea.
Another form of redundancy is called decentralisation, or not "putting all of your eggs in one basket". If you're on or around Hive long enough you'll become more famiar with this concept.
Hive operates on multiple nodes for the same reason.
Hive nodes fail every so often, so having many of them, each with a record of the current state of the blockchain is essential to keep you reading and posting all of your wonderful posts.
Having multiple Hive witnesses is also based on the same principle.
Everyday Single Points Of Failure
The spark for this particular blog post is having enountered a few of these single points of failure in my everyday life.
Most of these come from either technological faults on my part or management decisions outside of my control.
Some of them, however, are due to my own negligence, laziness, anxiety, clumsiness, forgetfulness, lack of communication and or ineptitude in the moment.
Everyday Points Of Failure
Our lives hinge on many small things, and if we cannot access these things we start to panic or become anxious or angry.
Have you ever lost your house keys or your car keys?
Those small pieces of metal are points of failure.
You are going to have a bad time without them.
Do you forget to save and back up your computer based work on other storage devices?
If your computer dies, do you have ways to get back to where you were in a short period of time?
If you lost your job, do you uave other forms of income set up? (Hive is a good back up “just in case” if you put in the work).
Do you have insurance?
Do you have powerbanks in case of power outages?
Do you have non perishable food in your cupboards?
Do you have a strong social network with a lot of social capital (what is your reputation with them like?).
Your relationships can fail if you aren’t actively listening and understanding each other clearly.
The lesson here is to factor in these single points of failure,
with humility, and incorporate buffers against them because bad things can and do happen.
Thank you for reading.
Until next time, insist on being treated with dignity and respect and treat others the same.
Shaidon***
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