Hi there,
So, who got stuck on something they really needed to do yesterday because of the AWS outage?
Technology issues on a Monday are kind of a tradition for me, so I didn't think much of it when I couldn't get into our project management software and our email marketing platform was sitting on the spinning wheel of death.
I still didn't realize when I asked Alexa to set a timer for my pasta and she sat there unresponsive, pulsing her light at me. I tried a few more times before I swore at her and unplugged her. Poor Alexa, it really wasn't her fault.
If you didn't notice that half the internet was down yesterday, you probably have a healthier work/life balance and less reliance on technology than me.
But for the rest of us, it was a problem.
Because Amazon isn't just the place where you buy random stuff at midnight. They also sell cloud computing services to major companies like Canva, Snapchat, and even Starbucks. Yes, if you didn't get your morning caffeine fix yesterday, you can blame Amazon.
The most shocking part to me wasn't that all these issues were caused by a DNS error (if you're using WP Mail SMTP, you already know DNS is crucial for email authentication, among many other things). No, the shocking bit was finding out that AWS accounts for 30% of cloud services on the internet.
And although we're supposed to be able to rely on these big names, this was a great demonstration that nothing is foolproof.
The answer is always: HAVE A BACKUP.
If your mail server goes down, all the emails sent from your site can be delayed in the best case scenario and lost completely in the worst case.
WP Mail SMTP helps protect you from this scenario by giving you the option to set a backup mailer if your primary email service goes down. And I think this is a great reminder to set it up now if you haven't already.
→ Set up your backup mailer
We also have a guide on what to do if your SMTP server goes down, which is worth reviewing so you can learn how to set up alerts, backup mailers, email logs, and more to minimize the damage in case of an outage.
→ What to do if your SMTP server goes down
And as for me, I'm just glad I don't work at AWS - I'm sure there were quite a few people having a Monday very much worse than mine.
Talk soon,
Rachel
Product Educator, WP Mail SMTP
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