The Reliability reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Reliability

In engineering in general, reliability is the capacity of a component or a system of such components to perform as designed. See reliability theory. Computer codes exist to quantify complex system reliability, for example, the SAPHIRE software.

In telecommunication, the term reliability has the following meanings:

1. The ability of an item to perform a required function under stated conditions for a specified period of time.
2. The probability that a functional unit will perform its required function for a specified interval under stated conditions.
3. The continuous availability of communication services to the general public, and emergency response activities in particular, during normal operating conditions and under emergency circumstances with minimal disruption.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C in support of MIL-STD-188

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In psychometrics, reliability is the precision (i.e., freedom from error) of the scores of a measure, see Reliability (psychometric).

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