Amazon Server Troubles Take Down Wattpad, Hootsuite & Reddit

So Amazon (the tech company, not the website) has been having some troubles today with its cloud servers. A number of sites, including Wattpad, Hootsuite and Reddit have all gone down. Amazon hasn’t said anything yet on whether this is normal server problems or possibly a deliberate attack.

If you think of Amazon as the retail website, then it might surprise you to learn that it is one of the major hosting providers on the Internet. It doesn’t just host small private and business websites; it also hosts some of the biggest and highest traffic sites like Wattpad or Netflix. Yes, Amazon is hosting its competition’s website.

It’s difficult to say how many sites are hosted by Amazon; there’s no single list and most don’t wish to discuss it. Really the only way to tell is to wait for a server to crash and then see who was affected.

If you’re wondering why companies would give up the security of their own servers, the answer is simple: time & energy. When they let someone else make sure the servers are up and running, they can focus all their energy on building the service, growing the customer base, and generally succeeding in the market. Depending on the skill sets hired by the company, it might also cheaper, too.

via AllThingsD

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