'Cloud computing' failure hits Internet

NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- A failure in Amazon.com's so-called cloud computing service knocked many Internet sites out for most of a day, some Web site officials said.

The problems Thursday meant Internet users were unable to access a number of sites, including Quora.com, Reddit.com, GroupMe.com and Scvngr.com, The New York Times reported.

The companies were using Amazon's cloud-based service for their Web sites, applications and files, the newspaper said.

The service lets companies rent space on servers that belong to Amazon with the advantage of large data centers and massive computing power.

But critics point out companies have little control or options if the servers fail.

"We don't think the cloud is enterprise-ready," said Jimmy Tam of Peer Software, which provides data backup for businesses. "Are you really going to trust your corporate jewels to these cloud providers?"

Some Amazon customers said they were looking at options to avoid similar problems in the future.

"Clearly you're not in control of your data, your information," said Campbell McKellar, founder of Loosecubes, one of the Web sites that was off-line Thursday. "It's a major business interruption. I'm getting business interruption insurance tomorrow, believe me, and maybe we get a different cloud provider as a backup."

Amazon had no comment other than to confirm disruptions at a data center in Northern Virginia, the Times reported.