MTBF

MTBF measures how long a service typically runs before failing. A higher MTBF indicates greater reliability. It's calculated by dividing total uptime by the number of failures in a given period. MTBF is used in availability calculations: Availability = MTBF / (MTBF + MTTR). Improving MTBF requires better design, preventive maintenance, proactive problem management, and quality engineering. For critical systems, organisations track MTBF trends to predict when failures are likely and schedule preventive maintenance accordingly.