Popular websites and apps were unavailable for hours on Monday, October 20, following a global outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) the world’s largest cloud computing infrastructure provider.
The blackout, which started around 10 a.m., caused widespread downtime in several countries, including Kenya.
Downdetector monitoring showed that the users reported issues as early as the glitch had started, and over 13,000 reports were filed worldwide by mid-morning.
The blackout in Kenya impacted access to some of the country’s most used platforms Canva, Snapchat, Duolingo, and the gaming platform Roblox.
The majority of Snapchat users reported that the application would crash and wouldn’t load new snaps. The players and developers of Roblox weren’t able to login or connect to servers, so others had to postpone planned tournaments and projects.
Even design platform Canva, utilized by students, marketers, and social media professionals, came under strain. Customers were greeted with empty pages and upload errors when trying to edit or create a design.
Duolingo learners were affected as well, with the language learning app freezing or failing to open altogether disrupting daily lessons and streaks that learners had been accumulating for months.
Other international services, such as Coinbase, Fortnite, PUBG, Apple TV, and The New York Times, also went dark for a period. Even some smart home users experienced problems with Amazon’s Alexa assistant.
Although Amazon did not release an overall statement, analysts report that technical glitches or overloads of the firm’s cloud servers typically result in the type of disruptions witnessed.
Not all was out. Google, Facebook, and Instagram sites were all functioning normally, providing some of their customers with a break to use other means of communication or continue working.
By the night, all the apps had started to restore, but some consumers were still experiencing poor performance.
For most Kenyans who rely on the platforms for business, learning, and entertainment, Monday’s blackout was a wake-up call to just how much everyday life these days hinges on cloud technology and how quickly everything grinds to a halt when it happens.
