| Recurring |
one_organization, multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization:
The article mentions that Facebook had its own previous internet outage issues, similar to the recent outage that occurred on Monday and Tuesday [119715].
(b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization:
The article references other outages, including the Cloudflare outage in 2020 and the Fastly outage in June, indicating that similar incidents have occurred at other organizations as well [119715]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase was due to a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between Facebook's data centers. This change had a cascading effect, bringing all Facebook services to a halt [119715].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase was exacerbated by the fact that Facebook's own internal systems are run from the same place, making it difficult for employees to diagnose and resolve the problem. Additionally, employees were reportedly unable to access their own communications platform and office due to the security pass system being caught up in the outage [119715]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident was primarily caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers within Facebook's system, which had a cascading effect on all Facebook services [119715]. Additionally, Facebook's own internal systems were affected by the outage, making it challenging for employees to diagnose and resolve the problem [119715].
(b) outside_system: The software failure incident was also influenced by external factors related to the internet infrastructure. Cloudflare explained that the incident involved the Domain Name System (DNS) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which are essential components of the internet's infrastructure [119715]. Facebook accidentally sent an update to a deep-level routing protocol on the internet, causing a disruption in the routing paths to Facebook and all services it runs [119715]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
The Facebook outage was caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers. This change had a cascading effect, bringing all Facebook services to a halt [119715].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
The outage was a result of a configuration change made to the backbone routers, which was likely a human error or oversight. Additionally, Facebook staff were reportedly unable to access their own communications platform, Workplace, due to the outage, indicating the impact of human actions on the incident [119715]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware, software |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
- The outage of Facebook and its platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger was caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers [119715].
- Facebook sent an update to a deep-level routing protocol on the internet that essentially stated that they no longer had any servers, leading to a disruption in the routing paths to Facebook and its services [119715].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
- The outage was primarily caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers, which is a software-related issue [119715].
- The incident involved sending updates to routing protocols that affected the availability of Facebook and its associated services, indicating a software-related error [119715]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Facebook outage was non-malicious. The outage was caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers, which had a cascading effect, bringing all Facebook services to a halt. This was not an intentional act to harm the system but rather a mistake that led to the outage [119715]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions, accidental_decisions |
(a) poor_decisions: The software failure incident involving Facebook going down globally for close to six hours was primarily attributed to a poor decision related to a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers. This configuration change had a cascading effect, bringing all Facebook services to a halt [119715].
(b) accidental_decisions: The incident also involved accidental decisions or mistakes, as Facebook accidentally sent an update to a deep-level routing protocol on the internet that essentially stated that they no longer had any servers. This unintentional update disrupted the routing paths not only for Facebook but for everything Facebook runs, leading to the outage [119715]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to development incompetence:
The Facebook outage was attributed to a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers. This change had a cascading effect, bringing all Facebook services to a halt. Additionally, Facebook accidentally sent an update to a deep-level routing protocol on the internet that disrupted the paths to Facebook and everything it runs, causing the outage [119715].
(b) The software failure incident occurring accidentally:
The outage was also described as accidental, as Facebook essentially told the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) through a series of updates that the paths to Facebook no longer existed, affecting not just Facebook but all of its services. This accidental disruption led to people being unable to reach Facebook due to the inability to find the path to access it [119715]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was temporary. The outage of Facebook and its associated platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, lasted close to six hours globally [Article 119715]. The outage was caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers, leading to a cascading effect that brought all Facebook services to a halt. The outage was eventually resolved by sending a technical team to manually reset the servers where the problem originated [Article 119715]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, timing, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in this case can be categorized as a crash. The outage of Facebook and its associated platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, resulted in a complete halt of services for close to six hours. This was caused by a configuration change to the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between the company’s data centers, leading to a cascading effect that brought all Facebook services to a halt [Article 119715].
(b) omission: The software failure incident can also be categorized as an omission. During the outage, the affected services, including Facebook's internal systems, were not performing their intended functions. Employees were reportedly locked out of offices and unable to access their own internal communications platform [Article 119715].
(c) timing: The software failure incident can be associated with timing issues. The outage lasted for close to six hours, with services beginning to be restored after more than five hours. The duration and severity of the outage meant that systems were being brought back to full capacity slowly [Article 119715].
(d) value: The software failure incident can be linked to value issues. The outage resulted in Facebook and its associated services not performing their intended functions correctly. Users were unable to access the platforms, and businesses that rely on Facebook for various purposes were impacted [Article 119715].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident does not align with a byzantine behavior as described in the articles.
(f) other: The software failure incident can be categorized as a combination of crash, omission, timing, and value issues, as described in the articles. The incident involved a system crash leading to a complete halt of services, omission of intended functions, timing issues in restoring services slowly, and incorrect performance of functions during the outage [Article 119715]. |