Michael Henson's

Glossary of Computer Science Terms

Index | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


F

failure mode: a way of failing in which conditions in the system determine the method or severity at which the system fails
failure semantics: a description of the ways in which a server may fail
fail-stop server: a server that, when it is about to fail, changes to a state that allows other servers to detect the failure, then it stops
failure transparency: a type of transparency that enables the concealment of faults, allowing users and programs to complete tasks despite the failure
fault: a failure caused by hardware or software
fault tolerance: the ability of a system to recover from failures
fault-tolerant system: a system which can detect a fault and either fail gracefully or hide the fault from the user
feature: either an attribute or an operation of a class
file service: a distributed system component that is analogous to a file system
file system: an OS component that is responsible for everything to do with files
firmware: programs that are stored in ROM
flat file service: a file service that is responsible for implementing operations on the the contents of files
front end: 1. a user interface;
2. a component responsibile for passing messages between clients and replica managers
full-duplex: a term applied to data transmission in which data can be sent and received simultaneously
functional model: description of aspects of a system that transform values using functions, mappings, constraints, and functional dependencies
fundamental principle of fractions: the basic rule used in obtaining equivalent fractions, which states that multiplying or dividing the numerator and denominator by the same non-zero number results in a fraction that is equivalent to the original fraction