MENTAL MODEL · M0589

SLO SLA SLI

BusinessHigh supportManagement

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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

SLI (indicator, e.g., latency) → SLO (objective, e.g., 99% of requests <200ms) → SLA (agreement, compensation if not met).

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Expectation management. Don't just promise "the system is stable." Define SLOs. If your system's stability exceeds the SLO (e.g., you promise 99.9% but actually achieve 99.99%), you are wasting cost. You should use the excess stability budget (Error Budget) to ship new features.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Use indicators (SLI) to quantify the current state, use objectives (SLO) to define acceptable reliability ranges, and use agreements (SLA) to stipulate consequences for breach. Error Budget converts the "unavailability allowance beyond SLO" into consumable innovation resources, thereby balancing "stability" and "speed": when the budget is sufficient, release with confidence; when exhausted, prioritize stability.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/4

Practice this model in one real situation:

Choose SLIs (e.g., latency, availability, error rate)
Set SLOs (e.g., 99.9% of requests <200ms)
Sign SLAs externally (including breach compensation)
Use Error Budget to decide when to take risks in releases and when to apply the brakes.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

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Source support: Explicit

link
baike.baidu.comhttps://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%9C%8D%E5%8A%A1%E7%AD%89%E7%BA%A7%E7%9B%AE%E6%A0%87ZH · Explicit
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