Alarm Severity

This describes the alarm severity that is used to define the influence of faults on the services. The alarm severity is divided into four levels: critical, major, minor, and warning.

Table 1 describes the four severity levels.

**Table 1** Different levels of alarms and their handling methods
Alarm Severity	Definition	Troubleshooting
Critical alarm	Reporting faults that affect the services provided by the system These alarms need immediate treatment even during off-work period. For example, some equipment or resource breaks down.	Handle the faults immediately. Otherwise, the system may collapse.
Major alarm	Reporting faults that affect the Quality of Service (QoS). These alarms need treatment during working hours. For example, the performance of some equipment or resource deteriorates.	Handle the faults timely. Otherwise, the system may fail to perform some major functions.
Minor alarm	Reporting faults that are not serious enough to affect the QoS. These alarms need timely treatment or further observation to avoid worsening.	Find and clear any potential fault in time.
Warning alarm	Reporting faults that potentially threaten the system services. No handling is required.	Learn the running status of the system.