Skype dispels outage rumors, still restoring service

by Brad Linder Aug 17th 2007

We got Skype to connect this morning. And then it went out on us again. Not everyone's been this lucky. More than a day after Skype's network outage began, the VoIP provider is still struggling to get users back online.

Yesterday there were a lot of rumors floating around as to what had caused the outage. It could have been a Microsoft Update. But it turns out that not everyone affected had installed the update. It could have been aliens. OK, probably not.

Here's the official list of what didn't go wrong, as provided by Skype:

The outage had nothing to do with Wednesday's planned maintenance.
The outage was not caused by any sort of malicious attack.
The Skype system did not crash.
The outage had nothing to do with alien invaders (yeah, Skype didn't mention this one, but we just wanted to quash any rumors before they get started).

And the official explanation of what did go wrong? A "deficiency in an algorithm within Skype networking software." That should satisfy all those people and small businesses who threw away their land lines for the promise of cheap VoIP service. There was an algorithm deficiency. Sounds simple enough, right? But why is it taking more than 24 hours to repair. And how can we be certain that it won't happen again?

Tags: outage, skype, voip

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

justareader said 10:16AM on 8-17-2007

"But why is it taking more than 24 hours to repair. And how can we be certain that it won't happen again?"

I can answer both of these questions:

1) It's taking more than 24 hours to repair, because Skype doesn't fully understand how to repair the damage yet.

2) You can't be certain it won't happen again; or even that Skype will exist at all. AT&T could purchase Skype and shut it down (or degrade it such that people abandon it.)

Tying your lifelines to internet-only services is a huge, huge mistake. Online email, file saving, communication ... all should be fallback, conveniences, to be used when it can be, but not relied upon for anything truly important.

Peter said 10:31AM on 8-17-2007

justareader - Yeah, you know because the Internet is just a fad. Did you write your post on a stone tablet?

Grammar freak said 11:24AM on 8-17-2007

This is bush league

Mysterius said 5:57PM on 8-17-2007

So, offline utilities never experience outages?

Peter said 5:57PM on 8-17-2007

jak - I'm not saying I would base my entire business model on Skype being around and functional, but to write off all web based options simply because they are web based is foolish.

The OP was treating web based businesses as novelties rather than the legitimate new businesses options they are. They are as many shady and crooked physical businesses as web based ones and any business, web based or not, can fold with no notice.

If we didn't accept new options we'd all be riding in horse-drawn carriages and writing with fountain pens.

adam said 7:47AM on 8-18-2007

~
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Great to know there are other alternatives to Skype like www.jajah.coma nd www.zoippe.com
!
!

adam said 7:47AM on 8-18-2007

Great to know there are other alternatives to Skype like www.jajah.coma nd www.zoippe.com

Andy said 7:49AM on 8-18-2007

While Skype was OUT, one of my business associates suggested another similar app - DAMAKA. (http://www.damaka.com). I downloaded it and we ave been using it since. We both like it a lot. Simple and easy to use, packed with a lot of features. I love the conferencing - the fact that I can do video conferencing (for free) is really cool. We were actually paying for VIDEO Conferencing from another company, but after we found damaka, we will save more than $45 per month. (Just on video alone). Really cool!!!

Make sure you go to their features page to see how they can save you money:

The website address is:
http://www.damaka.com

Andy

Andy said 7:50AM on 8-18-2007

jak said 3:59PM on 8-19-2007

Peter - What happens when all these web 2.0 apps go down? Their all in 'Beta' so sooner or later they are all going down if google doesn't buy them.

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