Apple's iCloud and iMessage Services Experiencing Significant Outage [Update: Resolved]

[rmwebs]

Do you actually have insider knowledge of the configuration of the Apple systems or are you just assuming based on things you've read on forums and rumour websites?

Whilst there may only be one or two Apple owned data centres I would be amazed if they weren't using additional facilities to spread the load or replicate for failover. Plus we know for a fact that at least some part of iCloud runs on Amazon and Microsoft clouds and that the majority if not all of content delivery is provided by Akamai.

I've never seen anything to suggest Apple's online services are any less reliable than others either. Google and Amazon have had some pretty bad outages over the last year or two, far worse than anything Apple have experienced.

Part of the problem with very cheap cloud services (such as iCloud) is that it simply wouldn't be cost effective to provide the highest level of fault tolerance as that kind of tech is very, very expensive. Last time I checked the VMware bells and whistles package cost around $20k a server.

Yes, you are correct that they use another cloud, however it was being phased out in favor of their own. They used to use Akami for the iTunes content hosting. However AppStore content is now on the iCloud network, and its likely that most of the iTunes content is - for this usage it isnt too bad as you're only storing content, its when you start putting EVERYTHING in that location that it becomes a major issue. The Apple site (and online store) is still on Akami.

We obviously now know that ALL of the authentication and data retrieval systems are on iCloud otherwise some parts would have still been accessible.

You have to agree though, having absolutely everything hosted in one location is not ideal, which is what Apple is (hopefully temporarily) doing here.

The outage affected literally everything:
- iTunes Store
- Apple ID authentication (meaning that even though the store was online, you wouldn't have been able to login or purchase anything)
- iCloud (Mail/PhotoStream/etc)
- Facetime
- Siri
- Location Services
- iOS6 Maps

This is a problem, and will continue to be a problem and a big weakness until Apple get at least 2 more decent datacenters setup outside the US to act as a failover and load distribution system.

The only reason they bothered building a datacenter was because it worked out cheaper than using a 3rd party, mainly due to the huge tax break they were given. That wont happen elsewhere, so they have little to no incentive to improve the network now.

 

[babyj]

We obviously now know that ALL of the authentication and data retrieval systems are on iCloud otherwise some parts would have still been accessible.

You have to agree though, having absolutely everything hosted in one location is not ideal, which is what Apple is (hopefully temporarily) doing here.

The outage affected literally everything:
- iTunes Store
- Apple ID authentication (meaning that even though the store was online, you wouldn't have been able to login or purchase anything)
- iCloud (Mail/PhotoStream/etc)
- Facetime
- Siri
- Location Services
- iOS6 Maps

This is a problem, and will continue to be a problem and a big weakness until Apple get at least 2 more decent datacenters setup outside the US to act as a failover and load distribution system.

Again, what is your evidence for saying Apple use only one data centre and that everything is hosted in it creating a single point of failure?

The most obvious explanation for this outage was a problem with the Apple user authentication system, which could have been caused by plenty of things other than a system outage - user error, configuration, planned change etc.

 

[NightFox]

One of my children is off school today, and lots of games on her iPod are currently crashing on loading, these are all online 'freemium' type of games (e.g. Snoopy Street Fair, Ice Age), just tried on the wife's iPad and it's the same: I'm guessing this is also somehow related to this outage - maybe some problem with the game accessing the App Store servers to check in-game purchases etc?

 

[gabibbo69]

From Italy; iMessage does not work here

Good day all,
I live in Italy and iMessage is still not working here.

 

[rmwebs]

Again, what is your evidence for saying Apple use only one data centre and that everything is hosted in it creating a single point of failure?

The most obvious explanation for this outage was a problem with the Apple user authentication system, which could have been caused by plenty of things other than a system outage - user error, configuration, planned change etc.

My evidence is actually very simple. Trace your network while it loads itunes, or when you connect via facetime, it'll point you in the right direction. All IP's are resolving to Apple's DC in North Carolina. Some front facing sites (e.g itunes.com) resolve to Apple servers in California, however these are only located on Apple property, which doesn't house a proper DC capable of much more than a standard website. The second you download anything from iTunes, the connection moves across the US to North Carolina. A couple of items tested seemed to still go via servers in NYC, which would be the Akami network. This happened when I tried grabbing a podcast.

Run a network monitoring tool and you'll see the results. Not sure why you're making this out to be some sort of huge conspiracy tho. Apple is obviously in the middle of a transition to the new location, and it looks like most of the content is now in the new DC. Obviously Siri and Facetime are already there.

 

[scorwitz]

Cloudstorm

Reason number 87 not to put your necessary information in the Cloud...

 

[ristlin]

Errr, no.

None of my data is stored via the Internet.
None of my data is in the hands of anyone else.
Every piece of my data is stored locally.

Why would I trust a 3rd party with my "only" copy or my "only" means to access my data? That would be beyond dumb.

You use e-mail? Some of your data is most definitely stored on the Internet.

As for trusting a third-party with your only copy and/or means to data? I don't blame you, I am not too happy about that either. But that's just how the Internet works. You "trust" a third-party to give you access to the Internet, after all.

 

[nrodriguez55]

In need of a serious overhaul

This problem with connecting to iCloud has been happening for quite some time now. For months connections to the service have been sporadic, sometimes working with no problem at all to just plain not working..on ANYTHING..
Sometimes it works only on my cell android cell phone or iPad and not on my Mac computers, sometimes one certain computers and not cell phones...etc, etc...

Apple needs to fix whatever is causing this. I have been paying the annual fee for my mac account for years now and this is the first time I have actually encountered ANY problems with it..I will not continue to pay it if this is the kind of thing I can expect from iCloud.

My guess is that Apple jumped the gun on their cloud services and don't really have a firm grip on how to properly utilize it yet...has anybody used the iTunes Match service?? I'm paying the fee for that and am beginning to regret it.
When the music actually streams (and it is rare that it does so without buffering) the album artwork does not come on...
LOTS of bugs to work out, Apple..

 

[AR999]

so ur saying, that my encrypted backups on icloud are pass-worded locally? that would make no sense. why then would u backup to icloud, if u need to be at ur local pc with itunes to access them?

Please fully correct your grammar and I will respond to any points you raise.

 

[SeattleMoose]

One of Clouds Achilles Heels...

is being exposed.

Wait until the privacy issues start to surface.

Where are all the cloud fanboyz now?

 

[576316]

Recipients weren't receiving iCloud emails for a short while too. I couldn't work out why an email I repeatedly sent to a friend wasn't appearing in their sent box.