Outage at Amazon Web Services disrupts websites across the internet
A massive outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted major websites and apps on Monday, in a show of how one company‘s online infrastructure has become essential for many modern businesses to function.
Amazon said it was fixing the problem but some disruptions were still ongoing as of Monday evening.
Tech experts tell NPR the incident highlights just how vulnerable companies are to these kinds of outages.
Here’s what to know about what happened and why a single outage could be so damaging.
The outage started early Monday
Amazon reported “increased error rates and latencies” starting around 3 a.m. ET that involved its facility in Northern Virginia.
Users reported trouble with popular websites and apps including Duolingo and the online games Roblox and Fortnite. Financial service companies like Coinbase, Robinhood and Venmo also reported disruptions, as did the companies that operate the chatbots Perplexity and ChatGPT. Amazon said its main website was affected. United Airlines, Canva, Reddit and Flickr also acknowledged problems with their websites. The Associated Press, NPR and The New York Times‘ games also said they had issues.
Amazon said late Monday that it was making “progress” to restoring full functionality.
How Amazon’s cloud computing powers much of the internet
Amazon’s cloud computing service, AWS, is like an invisible scaffolding that helps much of the internet function.
AWS lets companies store and manage data online using its database service DynamoDB, which was the service affected by the outage.
“In other words, they rent out their cloud computing resources to others so they can serve their own customers,” says Chang Lou, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia who specializes in cloud computing.
An early-morning software update to DynamoDB, however, contained an error, which took down the service in Northern Virginia. The error within that update then caused a chain reaction of service failures and disruptions.
Amazon says it has invested more than $50 billion in data centers in the state, which is home to the largest cluster of data centers in the U.S.
Amazon’s importance in cloud computing is a mixed bag for customers
According to Synergy Research Group, AWS holds about 30% of the worldwide cloud computing market. Other big players are Microsoft and Google.
Betsy Cooper, a cybersecurity expert and the director of the Aspen Institute’s Policy Academy, says there are pros and cons to companies using Amazon or another big provider for cloud computing. They offer strong cybersecurity protections and convenience.
“We all have an incentive to use the big companies, because they’re so ubiquitous, and it’s easier for us to access all of our data in one place.”
But, she says, there’s a downside.
“That’s great until something goes wrong, and then you really see just how dependent you are on a handful of those companies.”
Editor’s note: Amazon is a financial supporter of NPR and it pays to distribute some of NPR’s content. Microsoft and Google are also NPR financial supporters.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
