Why Were Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram Down?

Dear Reader,

Hope you and your family are doing well. A few weeks ago, social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp experienced technical issues and went down. However, all is well now, and services are up and running smoothly. If you're experiencing issues, it may be due to a mobile device problem or a slow internet connection. Rest assured, these issues are common, and restarting your device can often resolve the problem.

For mobile users, if internet issues persist, try switching to Airplane mode for 10 to 20 seconds, then removing it. This can sometimes improve your internet connection and resolve the issue.

Facebook’s Technical Issue and ‘Snow Day’

For a brief time, Facebook’s servers went down, causing all three platforms to stop working. This issue has since been resolved. Our engineering teams discovered that configuration changes on the backbone routers, which coordinate network traffic between their data centers, were the cause of the interruption in communication. This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect, ultimately bringing down their services.

As a result, their entire internal network went down, leading Facebook employees to call it a ‘snow day’ at the office. Not only did internal conferencing tools stop working, but the routers themselves went offline. To fix this, engineers had to drive to the physical locations to reset them.

We are a reminder that we only need one bad command to experience a significant service disruption. This incident serves as a stark warning about the importance of proper router configuration and disaster recovery plans.

The Impact on Other Services

Not only did Facebook face this issue, but the massive DNS traffic associated with the downtime also strained several smaller DNS servers. Even Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS server faced significant strain due to the heavy reliance on Facebook’s APIs. While there is no tangible reason to back up the cause, the consensus is that the incident can be attributed to networking issues, barring any new information that might alter this assessment.

Conclusion

While such down times can be frustrating, they serve as a valuable learning opportunity. It’s crucial for social media platforms and enterprises alike to adopt robust network management practices, including proper configuration of backbone routers and disaster recovery plans. As for us, we hope the situation is resolved, and all services are up and running smoothly once again.