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August 21, 2007 12:00 AM

Skype Outage Caused by Windows Update ... Sort Of

Windows IT Pro
InstantDoc ID #96862
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Internet phone service Skype revealed Monday that the three day service outage it experienced worldwide was caused by a "previously unseen software bug" that was triggered by Microsoft's regularly schedule monthly security update release. According to Skype's Villu Arak, the disruption started when Microsoft's monthly update caused Windows-based PCs around the globe to restart within a very short timeframe.

So is Arak actually blaming Microsoft for a Skype software error? Sort of. "The high number of restarts affected Skype's network resources," he writes in the Skype corporate blog. "This ... prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact. Normally Skype's peer-to-peer network has an inbuilt ability to self-heal, however, this event revealed a previously unseen software bug within the network resource allocation algorithm which prevented the self-healing function from working quickly." Skype also verified that the outage had nothing to do with a malicious act of any kind.

The bug caused most Skype customers to lose access to the service for over 48 hours, though outages continued sporadically around the world for another day. Several million people are typically using the Skype service to make PC-to-PC and phone-to-PC calls at any time, and Skype reports that nearly 220 million have downloaded the software. About 50 million people regularly use the service.

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Comments
  • Oscar
    5 years ago
    Aug 23, 2007

    lotsa, reread my post. I use words like "inferred", "pretty clear" and "in a way". In no way did I say that Skype absolutely blamed MS for their problem. jersey also uses the work "implied", which also means that they didn't say it, but one could make that association, and make it pretty easily.

    However, it was reported that way across MANY news sites, and only after the reaction to it did they backpedal and clarify their position. I'm sure that they were trying to pass the buck as much as possible, but later realized that would not be possible especially considering the length of the outage. You're in marketing, you should know all about how this works.

    And this whole bit about being insecure is just totally false. The moniker "Dipsh!t Admin" is meant as a joke, which I explained the last time you "implied" that I was insecure. No where else on the Internet do I use that name, as it is only something that this comment section would understand.

  • Lotsa
    5 years ago
    Aug 23, 2007

    "And Skype made it clear AFTER they posted remarks that implied they were on some level blaming Microsoft."

    I would argue that you (and others) inferred it, not that Skype implied it. Clearly, their clarification makes their point very clear...that it is not, nor never was, their intent to blame Microsoft.

  • Will
    5 years ago
    Aug 22, 2007

    If you look deep down at this, the chain of events started with a scenario that is unique to Windows Update.

    Through no other course of events, could what have happened, happened. What I'm saying is, the headline is basically right, Windows Update is the cause. Now the fault is clearly in the hands of Skype,

    1, for an overestimation in their failsafe QoS system

    2, for misconfiguring windows update. Microsoft gives you 2 options. First, you can stagger the reboot schedule so that only a small percentage of servers are down at a time. Or second, you can disable the servers ability to reboot itself without user initiation.

    So yes, Windows Update killed Skype. In the same fashion as a handgun commits a murder.

  • Chris
    5 years ago
    Aug 22, 2007

    And Skype made it clear AFTER they posted remarks that implied they were on some level blaming Microsoft.

  • Lotsa
    5 years ago
    Aug 22, 2007

    "dipsh", you can only interpret that as a slam against Microsoft if you're insecure to begin with. The facts are what they are, and Skype has made it clear--repeatedly--that they, and they alone, are responsible for the outage.

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