Three safeguards added after a three-hour website outage
A small web service with a few hundred users, including , went completely offline on a Saturday. Its had no automatic checks and learned about the outage only three hours later, when a stranger mentioned the on Twitter and asked whether it was shutting down. The hosting company sent no alert.
By then, four support emails had arrived, two customers had canceled, and several users never returned. The operator estimated that the cancellations removed about $340 a year in , while a $6-a-month service could have sent a warning within 60 seconds. Every new project now gets automatic availability checks before it is announced, text-message alerts as well as email, and a public page where customers can see whether the service is working.
The setup took about 10 minutes, and a is enough for a basic start.
Key points
- Do not assume a hosting company will warn you; set up a separate automatic check.
- Enable outage alerts before announcing any new project.
- Use text messages as well as email so urgent warnings are harder to miss.
- Provide a public where customers can check the service themselves.
- A basic setup can take about 10 minutes, and s are available.