failover

noun

UK /ˈfeɪlˌəʊvə/

US /ˈfeɪlˌoʊvər/

A backup system that takes over when the main one stops working.

When the main server crashed, the failover kept the website running.

SYNONYMS

backup switchover fallback standby contingency

RELATED WORDS

redundancy resilience server uptime recovery

OTHER MEANINGS

2. The act of automatically switching to a backup system after a failure.

The failover happened in under a second, so users never noticed.

3. A feature of a network or database that keeps service running during problems.

The database uses failover to protect against power outages.

4. In computing, a process that moves work from a broken machine to a healthy one.

Engineers tested the failover to make sure the backup machine could handle the load.