An extensive disruption at Amazon’s cloud computing service caused widespread app and website issues globally on Monday, impacting customers and businesses.
Amazon Web Services announced that the disruption, which began early in the morning, was resolved by Monday evening.
Here’s the breakdown of the incident.
Understanding AWS
Amazon Web Services is Amazon’s cloud services segment, offering digital solutions to organizations, governments, and individuals.
According to Shion Guha, a human-centered data science professor at the University of Toronto, while most people associate Amazon with its online store or Prime Video, AWS is a significant revenue generator for the company.
Guha explained that businesses are drawn to AWS for its centralized server network and various software products.
Companies utilize AWS for tasks like hosting websites and acquiring computing power to conduct data analysis.
As per research by Gartner, Amazon leads in cloud infrastructure and platform services, holding more than 41% of the market share, with Google and Microsoft as key competitors.
Impacted Parties
The Monday morning outage affected popular social media platforms such as Snapchat and Reddit, disrupting operations for businesses worldwide.
Gaming sites like Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale, and Clash of Clans were offline, while financial platforms like Venmo and Chime faced disruptions, as reported by outage tracking site Downdetector.
Additionally, food delivery services, rideshare apps, messaging platforms like Signal, streaming services including Netflix and Disney+, video conferencing app Zoom, and Amazon’s own services were among those impacted.
Amazon’s cloud services unit (AWS) reports recovery from a widespread outage that disrupted various businesses and services, including popular websites and apps.
Guha noted that Canadian users experienced the outage in multiple ways, such as telecom companies hosting backend operations on AWS, potentially causing issues like bill payments.
Moreover, various government agencies across Canada rely on AWS, leading to potential challenges like driver’s license renewals during outages.
“Essentially, our vital dependencies are tied to one company’s products,” Guha stated, emphasizing the cascading effects on businesses and government entities during such outages.
By 2:20 p.m. ET, Downdetector received over 13 million user reports related to the incident, including 351,000 from Canada.
Davi Ottenheimer,