Resilience, Reliability, and Recoverability (3Rs)

Recent natural and human-made disasters, mortgage derivatives crises, and the need for stable systems in different areas have renewed interest in the concept of resilience, especially as it relates to complex industrial systems with mechanical failures. This concept in the engineering systems (infrastructure) domain could be interpreted as the probability that system conditions exceed an irrevocable tipping point. But the probability in this subject covers the different areas that different approaches and indicators can evaluate. In this context, reliability engineering is used the reliability (uptime) and recoverability (downtime) indicators (or performance indicators) as the most useful probabilistic tools for performance measurement. Therefore, our research penalty area is the resilience concept in combination with reliability and recoverability. It must be said that the resilience evaluators must be considering a diversity of knowledge sources. In this thesis, the literature review points to several important implications for understanding and applying resilience in the engineering area and The Arctic condition. Indeed, we try to understand the application and interaction of different performance-based resilience concepts. In this way, a collection of the most popular performance-based resilience analysis methods with an engineering perspective is added as a state-of-the-art review. The performance indicators studies reveal that operational conditions significantly affect the components, industry activities, and infrastructures performance in various ways. These influential factors (or heterogeneity) can broadly be studied into two groups: observable and unobservable risk factors in probability analysis of system performance. The covariate-based models (regression), such as proportional hazard models (PHM), and their extent are the most popular methods for quantifying observable and unobservable risk factors. The report is organized as follows: After a brief introduction of resilience, chapters 2,3 priorly provide a comprehensive statistical overview of the reliability and recoverability domain research by using large scientific databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. As the first subsection, a detailed review of publications in the reliability and recoverability assessment of the engineering systems in recent years (since 2015) is provided. The second subsection of these chapters focuses on research done in the Arctic region. The last subsection presents covariate-based reliability and recoverability models. Finally, in chapter 4, the first part presents the concept and definitions of resilience. The literature reviews four main perspectives: resilience in engineering systems, resilience in the Arctic area, the integration of “Resilience, Reliability, and Recoverability (3Rs)”, and performance-based resilience models

A Review of Metrics and Modeling Techniques in Software Fault Prediction Model Development

This paper surveys different software fault predictions progressed through different data analytic techniques reported in the software engineering literature. This study split in three broad areas; (a) The description of software metrics suites reported and validated in the literature. (b) A brief outline of previous research published in the development of software fault prediction model based on various analytic techniques. This utilizes the taxonomy of analytic techniques while summarizing published research. (c) A review of the advantages of using the combination of metrics. Though, this area is comparatively new and needs more research efforts

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Software Engineering Workshop

Experiences in measurement, utilization, and evaluation of software methodologies, models, and tools are discussed. NASA's involvement in ever larger and more complex systems, like the space station project, provides a motive for the support of software engineering research and the exchange of ideas in such forums. The topics of current SEL research are software error studies, experiments with software development, and software tools

Software analysis handbook: Software complexity analysis and software reliability estimation and prediction

This handbook documents the three software analysis processes the Space Station Software Analysis team uses to assess space station software, including their backgrounds, theories, tools, and analysis procedures. Potential applications of these analysis results are also presented. The first section describes how software complexity analysis provides quantitative information on code, such as code structure and risk areas, throughout the software life cycle. Software complexity analysis allows an analyst to understand the software structure, identify critical software components, assess risk areas within a software system, identify testing deficiencies, and recommend program improvements. Performing this type of analysis during the early design phases of software development can positively affect the process, and may prevent later, much larger, difficulties. The second section describes how software reliability estimation and prediction analysis, or software reliability, provides a quantitative means to measure the probability of failure-free operation of a computer program, and describes the two tools used by JSC to determine failure rates and design tradeoffs between reliability, costs, performance, and schedule

Modeling of Security Measurement (Metrics) in an Information System

Security metrics and measurement is a sub-field of broader information security field. This field is not new but it got very least and sporadic attention as a result of which it is still in its early stages. The measurement and evaluation of security now became a long standing challenge to the research community. Much of the focus remained towards devising and the application of new and updated protection mechanisms. Measurements in general act as a driving force in decision making. As stated by Lord Kelvin “if you cannot measure it then you cannot improve it”. This principle is also applicable to security measurement of information systems. Even if the necessary and required protection mechanisms are in place still the level of security remains unknown, which limits the decision making capabilities to improve the security of a system. With the increasing reliance on these information systems in general and software systems in particular security measurement has become the most pressing requirement in order to promote and develop the security critical systems in the current networked environment. The resultant indicators of security measurement preferably the quantative indicators act as a basis for the decision making to enhance the security of overall system. The information systems are comprised of various components such as people, hardware, data, network and software. With the fast growing reliance on the software systems, the research reported in this thesis aims to provide a framework using mathematical modeling techniques for evaluation of security of the software systems at the architectural and design phase of the system lifecycle and the derived security metrics on a controlled scale from the proposed framework. The proposed security evaluation framework is independent of the programing language and the platform used in developing the system and also is applicable from small desktop application to large complex distributed software. The validation process of security metrics is the most challenging part of the security metrics field. In this thesis we have conducted the exploratory empirical evaluation on a running system to validate the derived security metrics and the measurement results. To make the task easy we have transformed the proposed security evaluation into algorithmic form which increased the applicability of the proposed framework without requiring any expert security knowledge. The motivation of the research is to provide the software development team with a tool to evaluate the level of security of each of the element of the system and the overall system at the early development stages of the system life cycle. In this regard three question “What is to be measured?”, “where (in the system life cycle) to measure?” and “how to measure?” have been answered in the thesis. Since the field of security metrics and measurements is still in the its early stages, the first part of the thesis investigates and analyzes the basic terminologies , taxonomies and major efforts made towards security metrics based on the literature survey. Answering the second question “Where (in the system life cycle) to measure security”, the second part of the thesis analyzes the secure software development processes (SSDPs) followed and identifies the key stages of the system’s life cycle where the evaluation of security is necessary. Answering the question 1 and 2, “What is to be measured “and “How to measure”, third part of the thesis presents a security evaluation framework aimed at the software architecture and design phase using mathematical modeling techniques. In the proposed framework, the component based architecture and design (CBAD) using UML 2.0 component modeling techniques has been adopted. Further in part 3 of the thesis present the empirical evaluation of the proposed framework to validate and analyze the applicability and feasibility of the proposed security metrics. Our effort is to get the focus of the software development community to focus on the security evaluation in the software development process in order to take the early decisions regarding the security of the overall system

Model-based risk assessment

In this research effort, we focus on model-based risk assessment. Risk assessment is essential in any plan intended to manage software development or maintenance process. Subjective techniques are human intensive and error-prone. Risk assessment should be based on architectural attributes that we can quantitatively measure using architectural level metrics. Software architectures are emerging as an important concept in the study and practice of software engineering nowadays, due to their emphasis on large-scale composition of software product, and to their support for emerging software engineering paradigms, such as product line engineering, component based software engineering, and software evolution.;In this dissertation, we generalize our earlier work on reliability-based risk assessment. We introduce error propagation probability in the assessment methodology to account for the dependency among the system components. Also, we generalize the reliability-based risk assessment to account for inherent functional dependencies.;Furthermore, we develop a generic framework for maintainability-based risk assessment which can accommodate different types of software maintenance. First, we introduce and define maintainability-based risk assessment for software architecture. Within our assessment framework, we investigate the maintainability-based risk for the components of the system, and the effect of performing the maintenance tasks on these components. We propose a methodology for estimating the maintainability-based risk when considering different types of maintenance. As a proof of concept, we apply the proposed methodology on several case studies. Moreover, we automate the estimation of the maintainability-based risk assessment methodology

Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Software Engineering Workshop

The Software Engineering Laboratory, software tools, software errors and cost estimation are addressed

Archaeological palaeoenvironmental archives: challenges and potential

This Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) sponsored collaborative doctoral project represents one of the most significant efforts to collate quantitative and qualitative data that can elucidate practices related to archaeological palaeoenvironmental archiving in England. The research has revealed that archived palaeoenvironmental remains are valuable resources for archaeological research and can clarify subjects that include the adoption and importation of exotic species, plant and insect invasion, human health and diet, and plant and animal husbandry practices. In addition to scientific research, archived palaeoenvironmental remains can provide evidence-based narratives of human resilience and climate change and offer evidence of the scientific process, making them ideal resources for public science engagement. These areas of potential have been realised at an imperative time; given that waterlogged palaeoenvironmental remains at significant sites such as Star Carr, Must Farm, and Flag Fen, archaeological deposits in towns and cities are at risk of decay due to climate change-related factors, and unsustainable agricultural practices. Innovative approaches to collecting and archiving palaeoenvironmental remains and maintaining existing archives will permit the creation of an accessible and thorough national resource that can service archaeologists and researchers in the related fields of biology and natural history. Furthermore, a concerted effort to recognise absences in archaeological archives, matched by an effort to supply these deficiencies, can produce a resource that can contribute to an enduring geographical and temporal record of England's biodiversity, which can be used in perpetuity in the face of diminishing archaeological and contemporary natural resources. To realise these opportunities, particular challenges must be overcome. The most prominent of these include inconsistent collection policies resulting from pressures associated with shortages in storage capacity and declining specialist knowledge in museums and repositories combined with variable curation practices. Many of these challenges can be resolved by developing a dedicated storage facility that can focus on the ongoing conservation and curation of palaeoenvironmental remains. Combined with an OASIS + module designed to handle and disseminate data pertaining to palaeoenvironmental archives, remains would be findable, accessible, and interoperable with biological archives and collections worldwide. Providing a national centre for curating palaeoenvironmental remains and a dedicated digital repository will require significant funding. Funding sources could be identified through collaboration with other disciplines. If sufficient funding cannot be identified, options that would require less financial investment, such as high-level archive audits and the production of guidance documents, will be able to assist all stakeholders with the improved curation, management, and promotion of the archived resource