Experimental insight into b-hadron lifetimes

A review on the experimental status of the measurement of b-hadron lifetimes is presented. After a brief introduction to the Standard Model, the work done by theorists about b-hadron lifetimes is put in context. The core of the review is devoted to explain the ingredients that are necessary to make a lifetime measurement, from the detector infrastructure and requirements to the statistical treatment of the data. Finally, an overview of current experimental results and future prospects is presented.