Jack Janczyck ’28
In late October, students trying to access critical online resources to complete schoolwork were confounded by error messages and perpetually loading web pages. Unbeknownst to these students, they were simply experiencing the effects of an unexpected Amazon Web Services (AWS) that shut down large swaths of the internet, affecting popular websites and apps across the country.
In recent years, big tech companies have invested heavily in cloud computing, which backs up the servers that undergird the internet. Amazon in particular has placed a large focus on the emerging field, with its AWS enterprise playing an important role for companies such as Snapchat, Starbucks, Reddit, Fortnite and Delta Airlines.
The outage was the result of a Domain Name System (DNS) error, a common cause of internet outages. In simple terms, the DNS serves as an internal map for the internet, allowing different users and servers to connect with each other through their domain names. However, on October 20, the mapping stopped working, preventing different servers from interacting with each other and halting the ability of numerous applications.
AWS, at a 39% market share, is the largest cloud computing business in the world, and was uniquely placed to wreck havoc on the internet. Cyber analytics firm CyberCube estimates that costs from the outage may reach up to $581 million. The outage caused disruptions to the entire internet; Delta and United airlines were forced to delay flights and employ other remedies to alleviate the effects of the outage.
At EA, while not completely debilitating, the outage did significantly affect the school day. Upper School Physics Teacher Chrisy Rheam shares, “I don’t teach an AP class, but AP classroom, [which] a lot of the AP teachers use to get AP questions and have students do work, was down as well, which was very frustrating.” The shutdown of many websites used daily by students actively harmed class and in-school productivity. Harrison Miller ’28 says, “I distinctly remember in my history class we couldn’t go on our laptops. We were going to take a quiz in that class.” Furthermore, sophomore exchange student Ashil Singh says, “I was unable to complete the work set for me on Canvas.”
Amidst these complications, staff and students did what they could to facilitate a productive day. Faculty worked around technology, providing written assignments, assessments, and materials, while students made sure to continue their work to the best of their ability. Singh acknowledges this resilience, stating, “EA did what they could, even with a problem that affected many notable apps and services.”
An event like this can reveal the modern world’s reliance on technology, specifically the internet. Miller touched on this topic, saying, “I think that the modern world’s reliance on technology is both a good thing and a bad thing. It allows us to rely on something that can greatly increase our work ethic and what we can do. While it does contribute to a lot that we do in school, I think that we should always have a backup in some way to do our work if we don’t have technology.”
Regarding the possibility of future failures, Rheam explains, “I think the reality is that there are not a lot of providers, and so these types of things happen. There was one day last week when the physics classroom was down because they were having similar outage issues with one of their providers.”
Mishaps when it comes to technology are inevitable. In just this year, the school has been hit by power failures, cyber attacks, and now web service outages. Situations like these, in addition to highlighting the world’s reliance on technology, emphasize the resilience, efficiency, and expertise needed to bounce back like EA did most recently.
