Could we survive an internet apocalypse? On Monday a tiny error shut down a swathe of the world’s biggest websites. Some say it might point to a future that is not too far away.
The tiny error that took out Snapchat
Swirling into the void: The apps and websites that stopped working this week all used Amazon Web Services. Glossary
Amazon Web Services - Known as AWS, a part of Amazon which provides computing platforms to other businesses.
Data centre - A building or dedicated space which house computer systems storing and organising large amounts of data.
Virginia - A state on the east coast of the US.
Domain Name System - Often called "the internet's phonebook" — it translates website names (such as theday.co.uk) into machine readable Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. They allow your computer to connect to the right server and load the right webpage.
Server - A computer program or device that provides a service to another computer program and its users.
Aether - Also "ether". The upper regions of air beyond the clouds.
Sabotage - Deliberately ruin, destroy or obstruct something — especially to further your own ambitions.
Stock exchanges - Where investors buy and sell shares in a company, hoping to make money as the company grows. There are major stock exchanges in London, New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.
Run on the banks - When lots of people try to take their money out of a bank or banks at the same time, causing banks to run out of cash.
Subsistence agriculture - A farming system in which families grow crops and raise livestock to feed their own family instead of to sell to others.