Real time for IT systems
What real time means
Real time means that IT systems must react within a given time window. The size in terms of the time window is not fixed per se. This can be microseconds, but also seconds. How fast real-time capable systems must be depends on the application.
For computer programs, screens or input systems, the desired response times are in the millisecond range. With delay-insensitive controllers and control systems, reaction times in the seconds range also achieve the desired results and behaviour.
Real-time capable systems
Real-time capability technically requires systems to be responsive, not shut down or fail. As a rule, a real-time capable system is highly available and thus equipped with redundancy mechanisms that compensate for the failure of components. The responsiveness of a system is thus maintained without interruption.
