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EMPLOYEE
May 20: Twitter Downtime
We're in the process of recovering from a database failure which has brought down the site.
We believe the recovery should happen quickly and will update this thread with additional information.
We believe the recovery should happen quickly and will update this thread with additional information.
I’m sad
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The best answers from the company
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We are coming back to life now - the recovery took a bit longer than anticipated.
With outages of this type, there is impaired performance after the database recovers. Essentially, it needs to be restored by handling incoming traffic but it takes a while to catch up with demand.
This process is concluding now but the site will be slow for a while longer.
6 people say
this answers the question
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The issue that we experienced today is actually not related to the problem we experienced yesterday. In turn, these two problems do not share the same cause with the downtime we experienced last week. At root is the database, but the cause is different.
Essentially what has been happening is that we've been trying to make changes in order to improve the long-term reliability of the service. Those changes have introduced instability in the short-term, however. We need to be able to make these kinds of changes and do so without affecting the service. That's our goal and what we're working toward.
6 people say
this answers the question
The best answer from everyone
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Wow. People bitch a LOT about a free service.
Twitter has totally revolutionized the way that people communicate. It has existed for ever and then very suddenly enjoyed MASSIVE growth. This means not just porting to new database servers. It means redesigning entire systems. People who think that can be done without any sort of hiccups are either a) too unforgiving of again a FREE service or b) are total whackjobs.
Thanks for taking the initiative to make Twitter all the more reliable and awesome for the future. I'm willing to go without for a day or two now in exchange for long-term stability.
Slainte.
~Ash.
I’m just fine.
3 people say
this answers the question
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Inappropriate?Any ideas of what is causing the daily downtime? Will this fix that issue?
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?Glad that there is some sort of updates on here, as the problem with the site being down is that you can't post service updates on it.....
I’m thankful
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Inappropriate?Bad news: Twitter is down. Good news: Users *need* it back up. Bad news: Eventually, users *won't* need it back up.
I’m waiting
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Inappropriate?life in high-tech is hard. My own network is crawling at snail pace today without a visible reason, I had a dsl outage, yesterday, e-mail didn't work. I'm actually pretty happy that those things seem to cluster this time.
I’m in a state of oblivion
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Inappropriate?This is going to sound super dorky but...when Twitter is down I don't find myself angry or frustrated, I find myself thinking about how easy it would be for governments to shut down free flow of information. Twitter serves as a real time portal for ideas and up to the minute info. and the more i twitter the more i realize that so many members of the 'community' have brilliant and subversive and creative ways of changing their RL communities and passing that info on...I'm not paranoid or a weirdo (ok I *might* be a weirdo :p ) but it really does make me think.
I’m crazy
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Inappropriate?The issue that we experienced today is actually not related to the problem we experienced yesterday. In turn, these two problems do not share the same cause with the downtime we experienced last week. At root is the database, but the cause is different.
Essentially what has been happening is that we've been trying to make changes in order to improve the long-term reliability of the service. Those changes have introduced instability in the short-term, however. We need to be able to make these kinds of changes and do so without affecting the service. That's our goal and what we're working toward.
6 people say
this answers the question
4 Comments Add a comment
This answers the question
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Thanks for the updates! -
Thanks goldtoe. We all miss us some Twitter but I feel for you guys. I know you're doing everything possible to keep things going smoothly. It is appreciated.
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Sometimes database = hydra. There's nothing incompetent in this; it's just the nature of the beast, especially for a fast-growing, hyper-dynamic entity like Twitter. Long term reliability seems like a must-have, to me.
There, see? I don't sound like a totally jonesing addict at all, do I. Guess that head-banging therapy really does work. -
Thanks for keeping us updated. Just remember we wouldn't all be so frustrated with the downtime if we didn't love twitter (and what twitter is all about). Hope you can find a way to stabilize the beast! :)
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Inappropriate?I won't ditch twitter this time, but I doubt whether I will ditch the service next time.
I’m frustrated
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This answers the question
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as it is a free service, i doubt they'll miss your business. i'm just sayin'. you don't pay for it. you're not going anywhere.
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Inappropriate?Mass exodus to Pownce, anyone? Will Pownce have scaling issues? Frustrated Twitter users will find out. I'd sell Twitter to Yahoo and enjoy the reliability.
I’m not suprised
1 person says
this answers the question
2 Comments Add a comment
This answers the question
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I'm already there :-(
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pownce is clunky. otherwise we'd all be there already.
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Inappropriate?I didn't realize I was a Twitter Addict. I'm a Twiddict going through withdrawal.
I’m frustrated
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Inappropriate?---Quote---
"The issue that we experienced today is actually not related to the problem we experienced yesterday. In turn, these two problems do not share the same cause with the downtime we experienced last week. At root is the database, but the cause is different."
---Quote---
You do realize how incompetent the statement above makes you look right?2 Comments Add a comment
This answers the question
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Not to mention it's a different reason each time.
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You would prefer the *same* reason each time? As far as I'm concerned that would be a paddlin'.
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Inappropriate?The "growing pains" excuse is getting tired. Don't get me wrong... I love me some Twitter. Hope it's fixed soon!
I’m giving twitter a raspberry
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This answers the question
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That would be true if in fact they had stopped growing, but I'm fairly certain that Twitter's growth is accelerating meaning that it's an increasingly valid "excuse".
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Inappropriate?Ugh, this must be very frustrating for you! Here's to getting it fixed soon.
I’m unconcerned
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Inappropriate?I assume you're doing a great job. Awaiting a long-term stable service, go for it :-)
I’m thankful
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Inappropriate?i just signed up this morning so this isn't exactly a good first impression. does this happen often?
I’m curious
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This answers the question
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Quote from a Twitter employee above...
"The issue that we experienced today is actually not related to the problem we experienced yesterday. In turn, these two problems do not share the same cause with the downtime we experienced last week."
I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions by reading his post. -
quite often... at least i don't know any other service that is down so often ;) allthough i love twitter very much
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