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Google admits to “embarrassing glitch”

by Scott Bicheno on 15 May 2009, 09:23

Tags: Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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Mea Culpa

Many of you may have experienced trouble performing a Google search or using your email accounts yesterday. If you did it wasn't your PC suddenly going mad, it was due to your request being routed through Asia.

That's the explanation given by Google SVP of Operations, Urs Hoelzle (pictured), on its blog yesterday. It looks like Google had to reroute a bunch of web traffic, which led to a bottle neck and hence the disruption. For people who find this concept a bit tricky to digest, Hoezle helpfully repackaged it in a plane metaphor.

"An error in one of our systems caused us to direct some of our web traffic through Asia, which created a traffic jam." said Hoelzle. "As a result, about 14% of our users experienced slow services or even interruptions. We've been working hard to make our services ultrafast and ‘always on,' so it's especially embarrassing when a glitch like this one happens."

This isn't the first time Google has had this sort of problem and it will add to concerns about a future dominated by cloud computing - in which we access all our applications over the web instead of installing them on the PC. How can Google expect people to make such a move when their service could be suspended at any time?

Anyway, everything's OK for the time being. "All planes are back on schedule now," reassured Hoelzle. But we would like to hear from readers who have had problems with Google services, please share your experiences in the HEXUS.community discussion forums.

 



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