What best describes 'high availability' in IT systems?

High availability in IT systems refers to the capability of a system to remain operational and accessible even during unexpected downtimes. This concept is integral to ensuring that critical applications and services continue to function without interruption, thus minimizing the risk of outages that could impact users and business operations. High availability is typically achieved through redundancy, failover mechanisms, and robust system design that anticipates potential failures and responds effectively to them.

The focus of high availability is on maintaining continuous operational readiness rather than simply improving processing speed or having multiple backup locations. While fast processing speed and data backups are important aspects of IT infrastructure, they do not directly address the core principle of ensuring service uptime during unforeseen events. Despite having long-term storage solutions and diverse backup strategies, without high availability mechanisms, systems can still become inaccessible, leading to loss of productivity and trust.