Abstract: An adaptable heartbeat failure detection method is proposed for high reliable distributed computing system.It dynamically estimates the heartbeat detection timeout and changes the heartbeat sending interval according to the processor load and transmission delay of the system.It adapts to the change of the system state so as to reduce false detections.Simulation results show that the failure detector has less false detections and shorter detection time compared with normal failure detector and NFD-E.It can adapt the change of the state of high reliable distributed computing system,and achieve a compromise between a good detection time and the need of avoiding false detections.