Skype getting back to normal
Over the last few days millions of internet users were affected by a Skype outage. The VOIP leader had an unexpected breakdown when millions of computers were restarted at the same time due to the installation of Microsoft updates. Since Skype depends on peer-to-peer technology, such a large number of users logging off at around the same time caused a lack of resources. An article from PC-World discusses what exactly happened:
“The disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users’ computers across the globe within a very short timeframe” Skype says. But careful read of Skype’s explaination today shows that that led to two seperate meltdown-inducing problems.
There is also widespread speculation about the service as discussed in the following article:
“Outages and quality problems with VoIP service providers are sadly still too common – most service providers have glitches that can last from a few minutes to a few hours,” Main said. “That Skype has gone so long without a prolonged problem is quite an achievement.”