“Millions of Microsoft users were left unable to access some online services overnight because of a major service failure,” BBC News reports.
“Hotmail, Office 365 and Skydrive were among the services affected,” The Beeb reports. “Microsoft was still analysing the cause of the problem on Friday morning, but said it appeared to be related to the internet’s DNS address system.”
“Such a major problem is likely to raise questions about the reliability of cloud computing versus local storage,” The Beeb reports. “Especially embarrassing is the temporary loss of Office 365, the company’s alternative to Google’s suite of online apps.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “scottm4321” for the heads up.]
Perhaps they could call it Office 364 now.
Thank you for the best laugh of the day so far!
perfect!
Actually, one in four year has 366 days, so Office365 was not very promising on the reliability part even from before it started operation.
Also, it is not the first day this year when Office365 does not work, so it actually Office363 or something.
Brilliant. Made me laugh out loud!
that’s a bad omen for iCloud since it’s really going to be hosted by Microsoft. or did MDN miss this story last week?
My first thought too. I’m not sure MS’s effort is as reliable as they’ve been touting. Could be a bad move for Apple.
What is their NC data center for, then? Just iTunes?
I quite think MDN does sometimes put its hands up to its eyes and ears at times….
That was a rumor… And was never verified.
It was also based off another rumor that Apple’s new data center was empty.
Apple has had web services since 2000 and doesn’t need a third provider… They are capable of hosting and running their own cloud service… Let’s also not forget that they do run the largest digital content store and are quite capable of mass distribution and usage.
…it’s either really sloppy reporting or ignorant readership that take rumors and speculation and construe them as being facts.
It would be even worse if they were constantly brought to light every time an article relating to it was written… Making seem even more factual than it may be.
Steve jibs even brought up the data center when he introduced iCloud.
Thanks Michael.
it was verified in another story i read. someone with the beta did network tracing while uploading and downloading photos and the network traffic was from Azure.
Apple probably has the master copy in the new DC but they need local copies close to their users to they probably replicate it to amazon and azure. nothing new. the OS X updates are hosted by Akamai
No,no and no. If anything they would use Akamai. Even MS uses Akamai for local area distribution.
And also let’s not forget that Apple knows very well the quality of Microsloth’s programs and services. Would YOU tie your vital business data to Microsoft? Didn’t think so. Now multiply the stakes in reputation, money and reliability a billion-fold…
MIchael, you are incorrect. Apple has been using third party server hosts (“content delivery networks”) like Akamai and Limelight for years. Please verify facts before typing.
I believe they are using both microsoft and amazon solutions for redundancy.
What a bunch of crap. Microsoft isn’t hosting anything for Apple.
I have to agree JimR. Let’s get solid verification before we declare that HELL has frozen over.
I cannot conceive of intelligent Apple allowing POS Windows services to host a tea party (political insult intended). Apple has EXPERTS on UNIX galore. If Apple doesn’t eat its own Mac OS X Server dogfood, you can bet they’re using some other form of UNIX.
Just in case, until this abominable rumor is debunked, I’m keeping my barf bucket by my side.
:-Q**********
That said, even if it is OSX Server it’s probably not running on Apple hardware.
XServes were discontinued. And from remaining server-capable lines, PowerMacs take up far too much room per unit space, Mac Minis don’t scale well, both need additional racking equipment and neither have hot-swappable components or redundant power.
Does Apple have to continue production of the Xserve for sale to the public to be able to use it themselves? Could they not continue to build custom solutions for their own use?
MobileMe Rollout anyone? No cloud service that relies on the internet is without problems.
Will this major failure cause a kernel panic?
Maybe some corporal punishment is due for those responsible.
Microsoft, never known as admiral, can kiss my privates….
Good way to get a virus.
What concerns me has nothing to do with false Apple data center rumors or our typical poking of sticks at Microsoft. Rather, if the issue was caused with the core Internet DNS routers, it’s a problem that could affect any data center, even Apple’s. It’s a problem outside of the control of Apple, Microsoft or any other company, and we should be concerned that the DNS routers were compromised by hackers, such as Anonymous or more unnerving, a foreign government’s military cyber warfare wing.
The concern here is that ALL Internet commerce could be attacked at the DNS routers, illustrating a potentially huge problem for the Internet as we know it. We can only hope that this is something that companies like Apple and yes, Microsoft can work together with governments and academia to solve.
Not to worry, it’s just a case of Microsoft eating their own dog food, much to their regret.
If you know the IP address of the server supplying your cloud service, you can always go straight there by passing the DNS system.
Hey guys, has anyone noticed that if you go into the app store, you can purchase Microsoft Office 2011 for $4.99? I haven’t bought it yet but I was wondering if anyone could check it out and give some feedback as to if this is the real deal. Thanks guys!!
If MS paid me $499 to use Office, I might consider it.
app store search for microsoft office gives no result
It wouldn’t surprise me if the massive Southern California power outage that took place yesterday had something to do with it. Some of the major backbone nodes of the Internet are here in San Diego, and just about everyone was affected. (It’s amazing how infrequently some places test their emergency power systems.)
A perfect example of why I have no interest in the cloud. It reminds me too much of time share computing from the ’60s. Ok I understand the difference. However I also understand the similarities.
Cloud computing is not only about storage. Nevertheless, cloud computing is just a fancy term to name something that has been done since the 1960s, only today through a public network.
I cannot believe there’s people using Microsoft Office 365.
@Al Hobe Sound, Fl
I am sure our post wasn’t there yet when I started mine.
At least there’s one more person that coincides with me.
I wonder if the same DNS issue caused a problem for people trying to get to Google apps?
Reminds me of when they had that massive danger sidekick outage and ended up losing everyone’s personal data.