Skip to main content
The homepageVoxVox logo
The homepageVoxVox logo

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Google Attributes Gmail Outage to Internal Software Bug

by Liz Gannes

Google’s post-mortem on Friday’s outages for services including Gmail, Google+ and Google Calendar puts the blame on “an internal system that generates configurations—essentially, information that tells other systems how to behave.” Google said the configuration was wrong for about 15 minutes before it corrected itself, but it took a while to propagate fully for all users. Meanwhile, the Onion benefitted from a flurry of traffic to a 2012 parody video titled “Google Shuts Down Gmail For Two Hours To Show Its Immense Power.”

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

See More:

Most Popular

  1. The alcohol crisis quietly hitting high-stress, “high-status” workers
  2. Donald Trump messed with the wrong pope
  3. Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword
  4. What trainers actually think about the 12-3-30 workout
  5. The Air Quality Index and how to use it, explained

More in Technology

Technology
The case for AI realismThe case for AI realism
Technology

AI isn’t going to be the end of the world — no matter what this documentary sometimes argues.

By Shayna Korol
Politics
OpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agendaOpenAI’s oddly socialist, wildly hypocritical new economic agenda
Politics

The AI company released a set of highly progressive policy ideas. There’s just one small problem.

By Eric Levitz
Future Perfect
Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.Human bodies aren’t ready to travel to Mars. Space medicine can help.
Future Perfect

Protecting astronauts in space — and maybe even Mars — will help transform health on Earth.

By Shayna Korol
Podcasts
The importance of space toilets, explainedThe importance of space toilets, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

Houston, we have a plumbing problem.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Technology
What happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputerWhat happened when they installed ChatGPT on a nuclear supercomputer
Technology

How they’re using AI at the lab that created the atom bomb.

By Joshua Keating
Future Perfect
Humanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious missionHumanity’s return to the moon is a deeply religious mission
Future Perfect

Space barons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk don’t seem religious. But their quest to colonize outer space is.

By Sigal Samuel