| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident of Gmail going down has happened before within the same organization. Prior to the reported incident, Gmail had only been down seven times since its launch in 2007 and only once in the last three years. Google reported high availability percentages for Gmail in 2010 and 2011, indicating that such widespread outages were rare for the service [11202].
(b) The incident of Gmail going down is not explicitly mentioned to have happened at other organizations or with their products and services in the provided article [11202]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be attributed to system development or updates. Google experienced a widespread outage of Gmail, affecting millions of users worldwide. The company did not provide a detailed explanation for the service disruption, indicating a potential failure in the design or development of the system [11202].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase can be linked to the operation or misuse of the system. Users were unable to access their emails for over an hour, encountering error messages like 'Temporary Error 500.' Google acknowledged the issue on Twitter and assured users that they were working on resolving it, indicating operational challenges during the incident [11202]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident of Gmail going down was due to factors originating from within the system. Google reported that less than two percent of their customers were affected by the service shutdown, indicating an internal issue [11202]. Additionally, the error message displayed to users was 'Temporary Error 500,' which suggests an internal server error within the Gmail system [11202].
(b) outside_system: There is no specific information in the articles indicating that the software failure incident was due to contributing factors originating from outside the system. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was due to non-human actions. The Gmail outage was caused by a widespread service shutdown that affected millions of users worldwide. Google reported that less than two percent of their customers were affected by the outage, translating to approximately 5.25 million people. Users encountered a "Temporary Error 500" message when trying to access their accounts, indicating a technical issue with the service. Google acknowledged the problem on their Twitter feed and assured users that they were working on resolving it. The issue was eventually fixed, and Google apologized for the inconvenience caused [11202].
(b) The software failure incident in the article was not explicitly attributed to human actions. The outage was primarily described as a technical glitch that affected Gmail users globally. While some users expressed frustration on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, there was no indication in the article that human actions directly caused the service disruption. Google's response to the incident focused on resolving the technical issue and reassuring users about system reliability [11202]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident related to hardware:
- The article does not mention any hardware-related contributing factors that led to the Gmail outage. Therefore, it is unknown if the software failure incident was caused by hardware issues [11202].
(b) The software failure incident related to software:
- The software failure incident in this case was due to a software issue within Gmail itself. Users were greeted with a "Temporary Error 500" message when trying to access their accounts, indicating a software-related problem [11202]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Gmail outage was non-malicious. The outage was attributed to a glitch or technical issue within the Gmail service, causing millions of users to be unable to access their email accounts for over an hour. Google acknowledged the problem and worked to resolve it, reassuring users that system reliability is a top priority for them [11202]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Gmail outage was not explicitly attributed to poor decisions. The incident was described as a widespread outage affecting millions of users, with Google working to resolve the issue and apologizing for the inconvenience caused [11202].
(b) The software failure incident related to the Gmail outage was described as an accidental event, with users experiencing disruptions in accessing their emails due to a glitch in the service. Google acknowledged the issue, worked on resolving it, and apologized for the inconvenience caused to users [11202]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. Therefore, it is unknown whether the Gmail outage was due to factors introduced by lack of professional competence by humans or the development organization.
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is evident in the article. The Gmail outage was described as a glitch that left approximately 5.25 million customers unable to access their email accounts for over an hour. Google acknowledged the issue and mentioned they were working on resolving it, indicating that the outage was accidental and not intentional [11202]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was temporary. The article mentions that Gmail users were unable to access their emails for a specific duration between 12.42pm and 1.46pm EST on Tuesday [11202]. Additionally, Google acknowledged the issue and assured users that Gmail should be back for everyone soon, thanking them for their patience [11202].
(b) The software failure incident was not permanent as the issue was resolved within a specific timeframe, and Google communicated that the problem with Google Mail should be resolved, apologizing for the inconvenience and thanking users for their patience [11202]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the article can be categorized as a crash as millions of Gmail users were left without email access for over an hour due to a widespread outage of the webmail service [11202].
(b) omission: The omission behavior is not explicitly mentioned in the articles.
(c) timing: The timing behavior is not explicitly mentioned in the articles.
(d) value: The software failure incident can be categorized under the value behavior as users were unable to read, send, or receive emails during the outage, and some users encountered a 'Temporary Error 500' message when trying to access their accounts [11202].
(e) byzantine: The byzantine behavior is not explicitly mentioned in the articles.
(f) other: The software failure incident can also be described as a glitch that was fixed shortly after an hour of the outage [11202]. |