robust

Robust ( pronounced RO-buhst ) is an adjective commonly applied in marketing literature to information technology products in several ways. It derives from the Latin robustus , meaning "strength."

1) A robust product can be one that doesn't break easily. Thus, an operating system in which any individual application can fail without disturbing the operating system or other applications can be said to be robust.

2) Robust is also sometimes used to mean a product or system of products designed with a full complement of capabilities. Thus, in the context of the business world, early UNIX systems were not considered as robust as IBM's mainframe operating systems, such as MVS , which were designed for continuous operation with a very low failure rate and features such as automatic backup of file systems.