'The Internet is down.' What does that really mean?

A multiplicity of factors tin interrupt service, from temporary annoyances to long-term issues

Contributing Writer, Computerworld |

Type a URL into your browser, or click on a link. Then you lot look for an instant or two, while your folio loads. But sometimes y'all keep waiting. Or y'all get Error 404: Page Non Constitute. Peradventure, your browser times out while waiting for the server to respond. We tend to summarize all these events with a simple phrase, similar "The Internet is down."

In almost all cases, that worldwide interconnection of networks that gives us the World wide web, email and countless other online services is nonetheless operating. The Internet is withal there; nosotros merely can't become to information technology.

Merely why? The root cause might be virtually anywhere. The culprit could be something inside your computer, attached peripheral equipment, a service break from your own network or Internet access provider. Information technology could be a regional or wider-scale outage acquired by faulty equipment, conditions problems, accidental or malicious damage to cables, disruptions caused past malicious software such as viruses and Trojan horses. Or it could be something as simple as the need for routine maintenance.

Possible points of failure

Inside your local system and close past: A hardware component or connectedness failure is a existent possibility. If the hardware is OK, how nigh software? Windows is notorious for slowing down over time. How long has it been since Windows was installed or since its registry was checked for inconsistencies and cleaned out? Take yous installed the latest service packs and patches to your operating organization and browser? Is your antivirus, antispyware and firewall software up to date and working properly?

Regional upsets: Maybe the problem lies with your office network or Isp. A quick telephone call to the help desk, the network administrator or your Internet service provider volition let you know. Their problems could involve hardware or software. Service might exist down because of severe weather such equally a hurricane, an electrical power outage, or physical harm to a data center or its building caused by anything from an blow to an earthquake to an deed of terrorism. It'south all unlikely -- and all possible. In July 2007, a major electric outage in San Francisco took down for several hours a information centre hosting a number of popular sites, including Craigslist, TypePad, Technorati and Second Life.

Major service provider outages: Uncomplicated things can have unexpected consequences, especially for major service providers. In February 2009, millions of Google users lost admission for more than 2 hours as a effect of unplanned downtime acquired past testing new software during regular data heart maintenance.

Similarly, in Feb 2008, a two-hour global Hotmail outage occurred, which likewise affected MSN Messenger and other Microsoft Live services. In July 2001, MSN Messenger was down for upwards to a week for some users after a disk controller in a database server failed.

Amazon's cloud computing Elementary Storage Service, which provides on-demand storage, suffered an outage in Feb 2008 when a data center's authentication service was overloaded. Similar outages the following June led to speculation that the site was the target of a denial-of-service attack.

A software failure took downward parts of eBay intermittently for almost a twenty-four hours in 1998. The online auction site reportedly lost more than $3 million in revenue because of customer refunds and waived fees. After like problems in 1999, 2002 and 2003, eBay created an outage policy for customers and reassured investors it had resolved reliability issues.

International connections: Despite the wide use of satellites and wireless communications, global communications notwithstanding depend heavily on fiber-optic cables that cover the planet and connect continents. In Dec 2008, millions of Spider web users in the Centre East were put out of communication by damage to a string of underwater cables in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Arab republic of egypt. As much as 70% of all Internet traffic and telephone communications between Europe and Africa was affected, and Internet traffic had to be rerouted through Asia and the U.South. Similar cable damage had occurred less than a twelvemonth before when ships' anchors had torn through a different section of those same cables.

What to exercise?

When you lose Internet service, try these few steps before you telephone call for help. Starting time, expect a few minutes; many Internet outages resolve themselves in curt order. If you become a timeout bulletin, try once again right away. Check all I/O cables, including those fastened to your PC, router, network, and cable or DSL modem. If you're on a wireless connection, endeavor plugging in with a cable.

Adjacent, unless there'due south skilful reason you cannot or should not do so, try restarting your computer and, if applicable, your router and/or modem. Restart, not reset: just unplug them, wait 30 seconds, then plug them back in again and let them reboot. Ix times out of 10 this volition fix the problem. If non, call for help.

Kay is a Computerworld contributing writer in Worcester, Mass. Yous tin can contact him at russkay@lease.net.

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