| Recurring |
one_organization, multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization:
The article reports that Amazon Web Services (AWS) suffered its third outage in a month, with previous outages occurring two weeks ago and last week [122030]. These incidents highlight the recurring nature of software failures within the same organization, AWS.
(b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization:
The article mentions that AWS is not the only cloud provider facing challenges, as more companies are considering using multiple cloud systems simultaneously due to the potential risks associated with relying on a single provider [122030]. This indicates that software failure incidents are not unique to AWS but are also a concern for other cloud service providers. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
operation |
The software failure incident reported in the articles seems to be more related to the operation phase rather than the design phase. The incidents were attributed to issues such as power outages at data centers, malfunctioning network devices, network congestion, and data center power issues, which are more aligned with operational challenges and the day-to-day functioning of the cloud services rather than issues stemming from the design or development phases [122030]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage can be categorized as within_system. The articles mention that the outages were caused by glitches in automated software, network congestion due to internal engineering decisions, and power issues at data centers [122030]. These factors are internal to the AWS system and infrastructure, leading to service disruptions within the system itself. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
The software failure incidents reported in the articles are primarily attributed to non-human actions such as power outages at data centers, malfunctioning network devices, glitches in automated software, unexpected network congestion, and data center power issues. These non-human factors have led to connectivity issues, service disruptions, and outages affecting various online services and platforms relying on Amazon Web Services [122030]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
The software failure incident reported in the article was attributed to a power outage at a data center in Northern Virginia, which triggered connectivity issues and disrupted a wide range of online services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) [Article 122030]. This power outage was a hardware-related issue that led to the failure of the software services hosted on the affected servers.
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
The article does not specifically mention any software-related contributing factors that led to the software failure incident. It primarily focuses on the hardware-related issue of a power outage at the data center causing connectivity issues and service disruptions. Therefore, there is no direct information provided in the articles about software-related contributing factors to the software failure incident. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage in Northern Virginia was non-malicious. The outage was triggered by a power outage at a data center, which disrupted a wide range of online services and highlighted the vulnerabilities of an interconnected web [Article 122030].
The article mentions that the outage was caused by a power outage at a data center in Northern Virginia, leading to connectivity issues for various online services. There is no indication in the article that the outage was caused by malicious intent or actions. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The articles do not provide specific information indicating that the software failure incident was due to poor decisions. However, they do mention that the recent AWS outages were caused by glitches in automated software, unexpected behavior overwhelming networking devices, network congestion due to internal engineering errors, and data center power issues [122030]. These incidents suggest that the failures were more likely due to technical issues rather than poor decisions. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
accidental |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to development incompetence:
The articles do not specifically mention the software failure incident occurring due to development incompetence. Therefore, it is unknown.
(b) The software failure incident occurring accidentally:
The articles mention that the recent AWS outages, including the one on Wednesday, were attributed to various technical issues such as a glitch in automated software, network congestion, and data center power issues. These incidents were not explicitly linked to intentional actions but rather described as unexpected events that overwhelmed the systems [122030]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the articles is temporary. The incidents mentioned in the articles describe specific circumstances that led to the outages, such as a glitch in automated software overwhelming networking devices, network congestion due to internal engineering errors, and data center power issues triggering connectivity problems. These incidents were not permanent failures but rather temporary disruptions that were resolved within a certain timeframe [Article 122030]. |
| Behaviour |
omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The articles mention that the AWS outages resulted in disruptions to a wide range of online services, such as work chat rooms of Slack and the gaming store of Epic Games, due to a power outage at a data center in Northern Virginia [Article 122030].
(b) omission: The outages caused by malfunctioning network devices knocked offline Amazon’s Ring doorbells and Roomba vacuums, indicating an omission in performing their intended functions [Article 122030].
(c) timing: The article does not specifically mention any failures related to timing.
(d) value: The outages caused by glitches in automated software and network congestion led to unexpected behavior and incorrect movement of traffic, resulting in the system performing its intended functions incorrectly [Article 122030].
(e) byzantine: The articles do not mention any failures related to the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions.
(f) other: The other behavior observed in the software failure incident is the potential inadequacy of some backup systems to handle the task, as suggested by Steven Bellovin, a computer science professor at Columbia University [Article 122030]. |