18
2008
Fall down seven times, get up eight
An article by 
Every system we ever use will fail. How we respond to the failure is a test of character and preparedness. This morning all of 37 signals products were out of action because of a problem with a load balancer at their hosting service. Basecamp, Backpack, TadaList, Campfire, Highrise . . . all down.Their reaction – communicate and fix.
37signals System Status via kwout
While the problem persisted the urls of the broken applications were pointed to a system status page. Once a fix was in place the product blog was updated with an apology and an explanation.
What happened this morning? – (37signals) via kwout
Given that Murphy’s Law was operating they handled the situation well; communicated clearly, found the problem, fixed it, and did so promptly. It underlines the need to plan for failure and recover from disasters.
Basecamp help: General via kwout
It is possible to export XML backups from Basecamp but I’m sure that many this morning felt a sinking feeling for a few moments, while some of those with XML files would have been wondering what to do with them.
37signals Product Blog: Exporting data from Basecamp via kwout
Web applications are tremendously convenient, with integration and sharing features that we’d never have dreamed of a few years ago. But still we need to plan for the worst.
Murphy’s Laws – End of the World Production, LLC. via kwout
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