All shiny and new is not connecting, either.

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

All shiny and new is not connecting, either.

Now thousands of new users who have no idea of the current problems will think that Skype is crap and never try it again...Way to go Skype...release your new version when the network is down.

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PROUD TO BE TFFE!

All shiny and new is not connecting, either.

i am aware of that Sarge - but just like @ BERKELEY . . . Skype is workin' (at present) on the 'algorithm' . . . IT takes tiME . . . all rElax . . . takE a dEEp brEathE . . . and all shall bE fiXed - sOOn Enough . . . ;>

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

As of around 10 minutes ago, Skype seems to be up and running again.

I'm more concerned with extended periods of time that it maintains the connection.
But, I will say in the last 30 to 60 minutes, it's been behaving.

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

As of around 10 minutes ago, Skype seems to be up and running again.

I'm more concerned with extended periods of time that it maintains the connection.
But, I will say in the last 30 to 60 minutes, it's been behaving.

We just had a video call and its workin fine.(what a horror movie! :D)

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Scorpions - Wind Of Change

As of around 10 minutes ago, Skype seems to be up and running again.

I'm more concerned with extended periods of time that it maintains the connection.
But, I will say in the last 30 to 60 minutes, it's been behaving.

We just had a video call and its workin fine.(what a horror movie! :D)

Dare we ask who called and why the video was a horror movie? :)

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

As of around 10 minutes ago, Skype seems to be up and running again.

I'm more concerned with extended periods of time that it maintains the connection.
But, I will say in the last 30 to 60 minutes, it's been behaving.

We just had a video call and its workin fine.(what a horror movie! :D)

Dare we ask who called and why the video was a horror movie? :)

Hehehe ;-) wouldn't you like to know :D

IT was the grand master him self.

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Scorpions - Wind Of Change

As of around 10 minutes ago, Skype seems to be up and running again.

I'm more concerned with extended periods of time that it maintains the connection.
But, I will say in the last 30 to 60 minutes, it's been behaving.

We just had a video call and its workin fine.(what a horror movie! :D)

Dare we ask who called and why the video was a horror movie? :)

Hehehe ;-) wouldn't you like to know :D

IT was the grand master him self.

I thought Darth Maul cut him in half and he fell down a long, high pipe?

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

Skype seems stable just now, and I am downloading the shiney new version.

Let us see if that cocks it all up again?

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

It's been stable 2-2.5 for me.

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

Skype works today woohoo!!!

:P

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

The new Skype downloaded and Installed OK. I have re-signed in and it seems to be ready to work.

Good

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

;> *u* knOw_mi_naME

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

To make matters worse, the scale of the failure exposed a previously unknown bug in the algorithm that should have helped the Skype network recover quickly

well . . . thar you go - "Sound Familiar", Eh . . .

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

Hello

You may or may not know but last week Skype wasn't available for a
couple of days. There were a number of reasons for this and I am
delighted to say that the problem is now well and truly sorted and
everything is back to normal. For those of you who tried to use Skype
during that time but couldn't, we're very sorry. For those of you who
didn't try to use Skype - well thankfully you were not affected but we
want to reassure everyone that Skype is now working happily and the
problem is fixed.

We know we have many faithful users out there who give us feedback
(good and bad) on what we're doing as a company. The Skype community
makes us what we are. Without you, our users, we simply wouldn't
exist. We've helped people stay in touch with their friends and
family over the past four years without any massive hitch and we want
it to stay that way.

When the unexpected happens, it's important to remember the people who
stuck behind us and whose loyalty humbled us. I want to thank
everyone for their support, patience and being part of the Skype
community. And for those of you who missed out on using Skype last
week - I want to especially thank you as well.

As a goodwill gesture to all you faithful Skype Pro, Skype Unlimited,
SkypeIn or Skype Voicemail customers, we're adding an additional seven
days to your current subscription, free of charge. And even if you
didn't miss out on using Skype last week - you can still have a week
free on Skype, on the house!

So please enjoy it, call your loved ones, friends, family and
colleagues and thanks again.


Talk soon,
The people at Skype

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

Yes, that's a key point: it's free if the person you are calling is also on Skype. However, in the past 8 months, the only other people on Skype I know of are via the SETI Cafe and from related sites such as Calm Chaos' board. No one else I call (family, friends, colleagues, potential employers, etc. ...) have mentioned using Skype, even after I tell them my number and that it is via Skype.
(I should say one colleague has used it, but I think he has switched to a different program for price reasons. He is from Palestine and claims to be getting a cheaper deal elsewhere.)

Trust me, Sarge: Businesses see the advantages of having their customer service and sales departments doing business long-distance without having to pay for those long-distance telephone charges. Be patient and I think you'll see those Skype numbers popping up everywhere soon. This is an odd case where business is taking to it faster than the general public is, but if business supports it the public will usually follow.

In hindsight, I suspect you downloaded a plug in Skype provides where you can click on phone numbers that show up on a web page. If so, having used that myself, I can tell you many of the numbers you are seeing listed are not Skype numbers.

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/web_services_browser/windows_update_skype_me.html?kc=EWKNLSTE082107STR1

August 20, 2007 5:48 PM
Windows Update: Skype Me

Joe Wilcox

Skype has identified the smoking gun that brought down the service last week: Windows Update. Say what?

According to a post today by Villu Arak on the Skype Heartbeat blog:

"The disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users' computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update. The high number of restarts affected Skype's network resources. This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the lack of peer-to-peer network resources, prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact."

I hadn't realized that Microsoft had in Windows Update a weapon against peer-to-peer networks. Maybe record labels and movie studios should rejoice. If Windows Update can bring down Skype, what could all that massive rebooting do to P2P illegal file sharing networks?

The question is asked in jest. Arak acknowledged that the massive reboot triggered a "previously unseen software bug within the network resource allocation algorithm." Windows Update may have set off the outage, but the ultimate flaw lies with Skype.

Not So Super Nodes
Skype relies on supernodes—user computers acting as proxies for others—to maintain the network's data connectivity. If too many supernodes fall off the network too quickly, service integrity could collapse. Based on Arak's explanation, too many supernodes shut down while too many re-log-ins occurred. The re-log-ins overwhelmed the remaining supernodes, leading to a cascading failure.

At some point, a critical mass of supernodes failed, making a service restart nearly impossible. I wouldn't be surprised if the service only recovered after a critical mass of Skype users gave up their log-in attempts.

The real questions: Why then? Why now? Microsoft issues new patches every second Tuesday around 1 p.m. ET, which during Daylight Savings Time is 17:00 GMT. But the Skype outage occurred on Thursday. Also, Microsoft has used this second Tuesday schedule for about four years.

Windows' default automatic update time is daily at 3 a.m. local time. I've reset my computer to 8 p.m. When set to automatic mode, Windows Update checks for updates when the computer connects to the Internet. The user can then optionally install the updates, otherwise Windows will automatically do so at the scheduled time. Windows also can force installation when the computer is put to sleep or shut down.

At first glance, the math doesn't quite add up, getting from 3 a.m. local time on August 14 or 15 to a service failure on August 16. For example, 3 a.m. in Beijing comes two hours after Microsoft is supposed to release second-Tuesday updates. But the updates often aren't available everywhere at once. It's conceivable then that many computers in Asia would have started installing updates on the afternoon of August 15 in the United States. From there, it's not a stretch to see a service problem starting late on August 15, as would appear to be the case.

So, I buy the idea of Windows Update as the trigger—as computers rebooted or shut down across time zones for the installation of second-Tuesday updates. If enough supernodes shut down fast enough, service interruption would be inevitable. But why now, when Microsoft second-Tuesday updating is a longstanding practice? Skype doesn't offer any real explanation.

Off the Hook at a Bad Time
The timing is fortuitous for Microsoft, which is making a major push into unified communications, including voice over IP. Skype is used by some enterprises and probably by even more small businesses. Skype has been adding presence and call routing features that are reminiscent of some Microsoft Office Communicator capabilities. Microsoft and Skype are moving from opposite sides into the same business market segments.

Businesses depend on reliability—for smaller shops perhaps even more so because they might not have a backup option. Additionally, their small size magnifies the impact of any services outage. Microsoft has new versions of Office Communicator and Office Communications Server in the queue. Granted, these products cost a whole lot more than does Skype. But Microsoft can tout reliability.

For many businesses, reliability will matter more than cost. Skype's service problem is a Microsoft sales opportunity to generate some fear, uncertainty and doubt.

The outage also calls into question Skype's broader services architecture. Rather than rely on dedicated servers, Skype infrastructure depends on its users—particularly those designated as supernodes. What happens in the future should a worm spread across the Skype network, possibly one designed to choke IP traffic among supernodes? This outage reveals potential weakness that somebody is sure to try and exploit.

It's a good week for Microsoft to tout Office Communicator.

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/web_services_browser/windows_update_skype_me.html?kc=EWKNLSTE082107STR1

August 20, 2007 5:48 PM
Windows Update: Skype Me

Joe Wilcox

Skype has identified the smoking gun that brought down the service last week: Windows Update. Say what?

According to a post today by Villu Arak on the Skype Heartbeat blog:

"The disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users' computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update....

Re: your post Sarge

Its interesting that this modus-operandi has finally been identified and that it has been disrupted at this particular time. The same sort of world wide peer-peer net-working has traditionally been considered "stable". Our traffic logs (feeding through a "Linux Server/Firewall" with extensive logging) show an unusually-long disconnect from the network by all MS box's and hence the internet as well, more like a "net-disconnect-and-sleep-600-seconds" command...before any reboots.

Our link across the pacific (vpn) shows all offices with MS box's disconnecting in what almost looks like a sequence, our loss of the first office shows from the far end firewalls logs.

Perhaps we could get Knightmare to cook up a conspiracy theory on this one... laugh

http://www.pugbus.net/artman/publish/08227002_11_godskype.shtml.
Conspiracy?
:)

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Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes.

It was God's fault. Well, I'll be....

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Account frozen...