In the last decade of Computer Science development, we can observe a growing interest in fault-tolerant computing. This interest is the result of a rising number of appl''ications where reliable operation of computing systems is an essential requirement. Besides basic research in the field of fault-tolerant computing, there is an increasing num­ ber of systems especially designed to achieve fault-tolerance. It is the objective of this conference to offer a survey of present research and development activities in these areas. The second GI/NTG/GM~ Conference on Fault-Tolerant Computing Systems has had a preparatory time of about two years. In March 1982, the first GI conference concerning fault-tolerant computing systems was held in Munich. One of the results of the conference was to bring an organiza­ tional framework to the FTC community in Germany. This led to the founding of the common interest group "Fault-Tolerant Computing Systems" of the Gesellschaft fur Informatik (GI), the Nachrichtentechnische Gesellschaft (NTG), and the Gesellschaft fur MeB- und Regelungstechnik (VDI/VDE-GMR) in November 1982. At that time, it was also decided to schedule a biannual conference on fault-tolerant computing systems. One of the goals of this second conference is to strengthen the relations with the international FTC community; thus, the call for papers was extended not only to German-speaking countries, but to other countries as well.