Uptime

What Does Uptime Mean?

Uptime is a metric that represents the percentage of time that hardware, an IT system or device is successfully operational. It refers to when a system is working, versus downtime, which refers to when a system is not working.

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Techopedia Explains Uptime

One critical role of the terms uptime and downtime is defining the level of success provided by realtime services or systems. It can be difficult to quantify a service’s success or value without these terms. A service level agreement (SLA) or other real-time service contract may include uptime/downtime ratios that show how much time a service is expected to remain operational.

In other cases, IT professionals use uptime to refer to a total consecutive amount of operational time. When a computer system has been consistently running for three weeks, one could refer to a “three-week uptime,” or say, “uptime is at three weeks and counting.”

In general, uptime is considered the default where uptime is contrasted with downtime. Downtime often requires specific explanation or description, such as downtime for maintenance, downtime as a result of malfunction/error or downtime resulting from crisis.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…