<s>
Continuous	B-General_Concept
availability	I-General_Concept
is	O
an	O
approach	O
to	O
computer	O
system	O
and	O
application	O
design	O
that	O
protects	O
users	O
against	O
downtime	O
,	O
whatever	O
the	O
cause	O
and	O
ensures	O
that	O
users	O
remain	O
connected	O
to	O
their	O
documents	O
,	O
data	O
files	O
and	O
business	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Continuous	B-General_Concept
availability	I-General_Concept
describes	O
the	O
information	O
technology	O
methods	O
to	O
ensure	O
business	O
continuity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
increasing	O
use	O
of	O
mobile	O
computing	O
,	O
global	O
access	O
to	O
online	O
business	O
transactions	O
and	O
business-to-business	O
communication	O
,	O
continuous	B-General_Concept
availability	I-General_Concept
is	O
increasingly	O
important	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
support	O
customer	O
access	O
to	O
information	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Solutions	O
to	O
continuous	B-General_Concept
availability	I-General_Concept
exists	O
in	O
different	O
forms	O
and	O
implementations	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
software	O
and	O
hardware	O
manufacturer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
terms	O
high	O
availability	O
,	O
continuous	O
operation	O
,	O
and	O
continuous	B-General_Concept
availability	I-General_Concept
are	O
generally	O
used	O
to	O
express	O
how	O
available	O
a	O
system	O
is	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
refers	O
to	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
avoid	O
unplanned	O
outages	O
by	O
eliminating	O
single	B-Architecture
points	I-Architecture
of	I-Architecture
failure	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
defining	O
such	O
a	O
percentage	O
it	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
specified	O
if	O
it	O
applies	O
to	O
the	O
hardware	O
,	O
the	O
IT	B-Application
infrastructure	I-Application
or	O
the	O
business	O
application	O
on	O
top	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Continuous	B-General_Concept
availability	I-General_Concept
combines	O
the	O
characteristics	O
of	O
high	O
availability	O
and	O
continuous	O
operation	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
keep	O
the	O
business	O
application	O
running	O
without	O
any	O
noticeable	O
downtime	O
.	O
</s>
