Patent ID: 8041984

Claim:
A method, comprising: providing a first unit and a second unit in a multi-layer computing system, wherein the first unit is at a higher layer than the second unit in the multi-layer computing system, and wherein the first unit is a higher level unit and the second unit is a lower level unit; sending, from the higher level unit to the lower level unit, information to adjust a threshold for failure of components coupled to the lower level unit, wherein the higher level unit has more information on a degree of redundancy in the multi-layer computing system than the lower level unit, wherein the threshold for failure of components coupled to the lower level unit is maintained in a first data structure in the lower level unit, and wherein the information on the degree of redundancy in the multi-layer computing system is maintained in a second data structure in the higher level unit; and adjusting, by the lower level unit, the threshold for the failure of the components, by using the information sent from the higher level unit.