Fundamental Numbers – Reliability Statistics

Numbers are all around us, enticing us to buy and trust, and even affecting how we define success. They give us a sense of something quantifiable and invoke emotion and spark revolutions. As a site reliability engineer (SRE), numbers tell stories and can give us a sense of joy. Yet measurement isn’t always as easy as putting a ruler against an object in today’s world.

In this chapter, we’ll explore the value of reliability statistics and how sometimes perception is just as valued as the raw numbers themselves. We’ll examine the true value of a service-level agreement (SLA) and how it’s often not as you would expect. We’ll explore what that means for external partners, and why inexpensive services going down can cause immense revenue impacts. We’ll give some words of advice on how and when you can negotiate when SLAs are not met. In fact, the SLA and the business around its creation...