availability environment classification (high availability) (AEC)

The reliability and fail-safety ofhardware components and systems is referred to as availability and, in the case of maximum reliability, as high availability.

There are two evaluation criteria for assessing the effects and impairments in the event of failure: the Availability Level( AL) and the Availability Environment Classification( AEC), which were developed by the Harvard Research Group (HRG).

AEC classes of the Harvard Research Group

The Availability Environment Classification is a rating system consisting of six classes, AEC-0 through AEC-5. Each individual rating class indicates which functionalities are impaired and which limitations must be accepted. This enables an objective comparison of components and systems.