Massive Amazon Server Outage Leads to Disruptions in Deliveries, Streaming Services
The logo of US online retail giant Amazon is displayed on the Brieselang logistics center, west of Berlin on November 11, 2014. The center is one of nine in Germany. AFP PHOTO / JOHN MACDOUGALL (Photo credit should read JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
A crippling outage on Tuesday brought Amazon deliveries and other services to an hours-long standstill.
According to The Verge, a disruption to Amazon Web Services caused issues with a number of services including streaming platforms that use the company's cloud-computing unit. They include Disney Plus and services such as Alexa, Kindle, Amazon Music, Chime and Ring security cameras.
An update to the AWS webpage early Tuesday afternoon said the company had identified the root cause of the outage as "impairment of several network devices in the US-EAST-1 Region." At 4:35 p.m. PST, about eight hours after the outage was reported, Amazon announced that many of its services had "recovered" and their network device issues had been resolved.
During the outage, other services such as financial platforms Coinbase and Robinhood were said to have also been hit during the outage, per the outlet. Online games such as Valorant and League of Legends were affected as well, Business Insider reported.
"AWS is the biggest cloud provider and us-east-1 is their biggest data center, so any disruption there has big impacts to many popular websites and other internet services," Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at the network intelligence firm, Kentik Inc., told the Associated Press.
Delta Airlines customers were also affected, and had trouble booking or changing trips, the outlet reported.
In response to a social media message on Ring's Twitter account notifying users of a service interruption, one user wrote, "Eek, just in time for my newly-in-beds triplet toddlers' nap. Now I have no idea what they're doing up there."
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On Reddit, Amazon workers discussed not being able to access the company's A to Z app, which allows employees to manage their schedules.
With delivery services being affected, warehouse workers said they sang karaoke and did other activities to pass the time if they weren't offered voluntary time off.
"We've been down since like 10:30. So bored," a worker wrote.
One Amazon driver in Washington state told CNBC that the delivery facility where he worked had been "at a standstill" since 8 a.m. local time — with drivers and warehouse workers instructed to be on stand by.
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Employees also shared images that allegedly showed Amazon's automated warehouse shelves no longer working. Many workers also seemed to express delight at having a momentary break during what is likely a busy holiday season.
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"First time there's been peace at Amazon," one person wrote on Reddit.
It remains unclear how many warehouses and delivery stations were impacted by the AWS outage.
