Cisco Networking Simplified

Chapter . High Availability

Twenty-Four Seven

Network availability (commonly referred to as “high availability”) is the design and measurement of a network in terms of the accessibility of the network services. The network must be available to access the services on it. High availability simply refers to the goal to keep the network available all of the time. Nonstop networking services is another term. Network uptime describes the availability of the network.

Designing networks for high availability

• Prevents financial loss

• Prevents productivity loss

• Reduces reactive support costs

• Improves customer satisfaction and loyalty

Businesses measure their network downtime in terms of average cost per hour. For example, if a portion of a credit-card transaction ...