Google Outage Halts 40 Percent of Internet Traffic

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 08/19/2013 08:13 AM | source: | 19 comment(s)

Google is pretty big. In fact, in terms of the internet as a whole Google is pretty well Kaiju-sized. So large is the internet titan that when it went down for mere minutes on Friday, a whopping 40 percent of worldwide traffic went down with it. The Google outage began at 4:37 Pacific Time and, by most estimates, lasted anywhere from one to five minutes.

During that brief period countless service under the Google umbrella were unavailable. This would include, of course, things like YouTube, Gmail, Google Drive and even the Google search engine, among many others reportst the escapist.

Currently, there's no explanation for what happened to bring Google down, but the consequences of its collapse, even temporary, are somewhat startling when you consider the sheer breadth of it and the possibility of it someday happening again. After all, yesterday's outage was, by most accounts, only a few minutes long. What would happen if it were an hour? Or a day? Even just personally, when I consider everything I have wrapped up in Google, the thought of it all suddenly not being there for my easy access makes me sweat a bit.

But then that's also arguably one of the risks we take with the further digitization of our world. It may be more convenient to be able to access something with the push of a button, but at the end of the day technology can fail and systems can crash. Convenience comes with a cost, and for two minutes yesterday the world got a brief glimpse into what the cost of Google could potentially be.

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HonoredShadow
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#4639520 Posted on: 08/19/2013 10:11 AM

Testing to see if they can switch off the internet in case of civil disobedience maybe?

Or someone unplugged it and plugged in the microwave instead for pop corn.

Texter
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#4639523 Posted on: 08/19/2013 10:16 AM

So basically, YOUTUBE was down. Take away Youtube, Bittorrent and Steam and suddenly the streets in the Western hemisphere will be full of people again.

John
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#4639525 Posted on: 08/19/2013 10:24 AM

Was this a global outage? Ie, were all their datacentres around the world down, or just their US based ones? If the latter, it's even more incredible.

H83
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#4639572 Posted on: 08/19/2013 01:01 PM

No big surprise, without Google porn is much harder to find...

Andrew LB
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#4639582 Posted on: 08/19/2013 01:49 PM

Testing to see if they can switch off the internet in case of civil disobedience maybe?

My thoughts exactly. Because SOPA and ACTA failed so dramatically, people in power will find new ways to shut things down when the time comes, regardless of its legality. The current regime has already taken control of the banking/monetary sector (40% of economy) through Dodd/Frank financial reform bill, healthcare via Obamacare (20% of the economy), most of the domestic auto industry, and while they try again and again to grab the last bastion of freedom, the internet... they're monitoring every word you type, what you say on the phone, and where you are.

And you know who the enemy is??

People who believe their constitutional rights are non-negotiable, military veterans, entrepreneurs, people who have family values, and people who believe in God, not government.

Isn't it funny how only a month after taking office in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security came out and said this clear as day in this DHS document.

It actually claims that veterans coming home from iraq and afghanistan are highly likely to be terrorists, as well as the other groups i mentioned. Even more stunning... the document makes NO MENTION of Islamic Extremism as being a threat...

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