Amazon Web Services (AWS) is so prevalent in their cloud services they could be considered an internet backbone. Their cloud computing network is so ubiquitous with online web hosting it would be difficult to find a business that doesn’t utilize their service for some or all of their online hosting requirements.
So, when an outage occurs on their networks the effects are far reaching and severe. This week's outage lasted five hours and effected major players – such as Netflix, Southwest Airlines, the Associated Press, Delta and more. The outage mostly occurred on the east coast but even Amazon’s own e-commerce site was affected, which may cause delays in some deliveries as Christmas shopping is in full swing.
This outage echo’s the Facebook outage that happened on October 4th in that there is a ripple effect that occurs when these large providers have an outage. This instance is also similar in that, like with Facebook, there has been no word as of posting as to why yesterday’s outage even happened.
The outage didn’t just affect big businesses either, many smaller businesses that utilize AWS for their company hosting found themselves locked out services necessary to complete their job duties. It points to the issues that can occur when all of our information is locked into just a few centralized places.
When the internet was first established it was originally designed to be a decentralized network. No one business was meant to control most of it, that was so no single point failure could level it. Now “Big Tech” has eroded that goal and it will be difficult to undo the current state of things.
It’s hard to argue though that AWS Isn’t a convenient service to use, they have streamlined the cloud computing process where many others have sought to make it convoluted for the end user, they have flexible payment options and it’s accessible on demand. When you compare it to Azure, who groups users under a domain (making it difficult to access the one you need) and is slower when it comes to large data transfers unless you have a premium subscription, it’s easy to see why many businesses choose AWS.
Still, diversifying our networks would help protect us from outages such as these and major breaches. If you’re a business looking into cloud solutions, you might consider the Multicloud Redundancy approach. What this means is you might have some of your data and services hosted by AWS and some hosted by another provider.
Another option is hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud is when you have a mixture of on premises storage (such as your office server), private cloud services and public cloud services (like AWS).
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At Valley Techlogic we utilize AWS, but we also take the hybrid cloud approach. In fact, our backup program TechVault utilizes three different methods of storing your data. In this world of uncertainty when it comes to cybersecurity attacks and online outages that you have no control over, diversity is key.
If you would like to learn more about TechVault or need help with your cloud service choices, reach out to us today.
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This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, IT service provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic.
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