Introduction to Distributed System Failures

Learn about the failures in distributed systems and the importance of independent vantage points.

Introduction

Once in a while, we encounter the failure of a service that’s a household name, and individuals and businesses react to them. As system designers, we might wonder how carefully designed services that have been perfected over years by experienced teams can also fail.

This chapter discusses some of the major failures of well-known services and the measures that can be taken to mitigate such failures.