ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Microreboot

Have you ever played a video game where you can pause the game and start again right where you left off? Well, a microreboot is just like that, but for a computer!

When you use a computer, it's like the computer is playing a really long game with itself. Sometimes, something might go wrong in the game and the computer needs to pause and start again. This is called a reboot.

A regular reboot takes a long time because the computer has to start the game all over again from the beginning. But a microreboot is like a really quick pause and start again - almost like hitting the reset button on a video game console.

During a microreboot, only certain parts of the computer stop and start again, rather than the whole thing. This makes it much faster than a regular reboot. It's kind of like when you're playing a game and you have to restart just one level, instead of starting the entire game over.

Microreboots are often used on big computer systems, like the ones that run banks or hospitals. By using microreboots instead of regular reboots, these systems can keep working without interruptions for as long as possible. And that's something we all can appreciate.