It's a fact of life that computers and programs can fail. If a computer or program fails it can cause catastrophic damage. Even if a program merely locks up, an unattended computer could be down for days. There are two methods to reduce risk of computer or software failure; (a) redundancy and (b) a watchdog circuit. Neither method offers 100% assurance, but both of these methods reduce risk or consequences of failure. Redundancy, a duplication of computer circuitry, is very expensive. On the other hand, ACCES' Watchdog card offers excellent protection from temporary malfunctions at very low cost.
