Why AWS Outage Took Hours to Resolve

Major AWS Outage Cripples Snapchat and Robinhood, Disrupts Global Internet Services.A massive outage at Amazon Web Services on Monday brought down major websites and apps worldwide. The disruption impacted popular platforms like Snapchat, Robinhood, and Coinbase. The problem originated in the US-EAST-1 region, one of AWS’s largest data centers.Amazon confirmed increased error rates and latencies. The outage caused a ripple effect, disrupting services from finance to social media that rely on AWS infrastructure.

Widespread Impact on Major Platforms

According to Reuters, the outage began in the morning and persisted for hours. Downdetector showed massive spikes in outage reports for Amazon’s own services, including Prime Video and Alexa. Payment service Venmo and AI tool Perplexity AI also confirmed disruptions.The issue highlighted the internet’s deep dependency on a few cloud providers. Services experienced login failures, transaction errors, and complete inaccessibility.

Why the AWS Failure Caused a Global Domino Effect

Amazon Web Services holds about one-third of the global cloud market. This dominance means a single regional failure can have outsized consequences. The US-EAST-1 region is a critical hub for countless online services.Companies like Delta Air Lines and United Airlines also reported website issues. This shows the outage’s reach extended far beyond tech into travel and finance.

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The global AWS outage serves as a stark reminder of modern digital infrastructure’s fragility. The widespread disruption underscores a critical need for diversification in cloud computing services to ensure future stability.

Thought you’d like to know

What caused the AWS outage?

Amazon initially identified a underlying DNS issue as the root cause. The problem was fully mitigated after several hours, allowing services to recover.

Which apps were affected the most?

Snapchat, Robinhood, and Coinbase were among the most prominent services reporting major disruptions. Amazon’s own platforms, including Prime Video, were also hit.

How long did the AWS outage last?

The most severe disruptions lasted for several hours. Amazon reported “massive signs of recovery” later in the day, though some services took longer to fully stabilize.

Was the outage limited to the United States?

No, the outage had global effects. Reports from Europe indicated impacts on mobile operators, banks, and other services reliant on the affected AWS region.

Could this type of outage have been prevented?

Experts suggest that diversifying cloud providers can mitigate such risks. However, the concentration of internet infrastructure with a few major companies makes widespread outages difficult to avoid entirely.