Core Insights - Amazon's cloud computing service experienced a significant outage, affecting numerous companies across various sectors, including retail, airlines, social media, and financial services [2] - The incident highlights the urgent need for diversification within the cloud services industry [2] Incident Details - The outage occurred on October 20 at approximately 3 AM ET, originating from Amazon's data center in Northern Virginia [2] - There was a notable increase in error rates and network latency for multiple core services [2] - By 9:45 AM ET, over 8 million reports of issues related to Amazon's cloud services were logged, primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom [2] - Several UK banks and telecom providers experienced service disruptions due to the outage [2] - Approximately 13 hours after the incident began, Amazon announced that the large-scale internet disruption originating from its cloud data center had been largely resolved [2]

Core Points - Amazon's cloud computing service experienced a significant outage on October 20, impacting numerous websites and applications globally [1][3] - The service disruption began around 3 AM ET, with increased error rates and network delays reported in Virginia, where Amazon's core infrastructure is located [3] - The outage affected various sectors, including e-commerce, social media, and financial services, with notable applications like Snapchat and Robinhood reporting issues [5] Company Impact - Amazon's cloud services are a critical profit center, projected to generate $107.6 billion in revenue for 2024, accounting for 17% of total revenue, and an operating profit of $39.8 billion, representing 58% of total profit [7] - The company is actively working to restore services through multiple technical routes [5]